In popular culture

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

Pirates are a frequent topic in fiction and are associated with certain stereotypical manners of speaking and dress, some of them wholly fictional: "nearly all our notions of their behavior come from the golden age of fictional piracy, which reached its zenith in 1881 with the appearance of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island."[88] Some inventions of pirate culture such as "walking the plank" were popularized by J. M. Barrie's novel, Peter Pan, where Captain Hook's pirates helped define the fictional pirate archetype.[89] Robert Newton's portrayal of Long John Silver in Disney's 1950 film adaptation of Treasure Island also helped define the modern rendition of a pirate, including the stereotypical "pirate" accent.[89] Other influences include Sinbad the Sailor, and the recent Pirates of the Caribbean films have helped kindle modern interest in piracy and have succeeded quite handsomely in box office grosses.
The classic Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance focuses on The Pirate King and his hopeless band of pirates on the South coast of England. The Pirate King is often believed to be inspiration for Jack Sparrow. One of the stereotypical features of a pirate, the eye patch, dates back to the Arab pirate Rahmah ibn Jabir al-Jalahimah who wore it after losing an eye in battle in the 18th century.
Running Wild, a long running Speed metal/Power metal act from Germany, have utilized a piracy gimmick since the late 1980s, releasing albums and songs with names such as Under Jolly Roger, Port Royal, "Treasure Island", "Calico Jack", "Jennings' Revenge" (about the hugely successful 1715 pirate raid by Henry Jennings) and Rogues en Vogue.
In Japan, there has been an increasing interest in pirates due to the popularity of the anime and manga series One Piece, which began airing in 1999 and also the manga and anime series Black Lagoon.
Pirate Master is a CBS reality show which premiered on May 31, 2007. Pirate Master is about a modern day pirate crew searching for lost treasure. The National Geographic Channel aired a documentary about Samuel Bellamy on January 7, 2008 called Pirate Treasure Hunters. This featured footage of the exploration of the wreck of the Whydah Gally by excavation expert Barry Clifford.[90]
Long John Silver is portrayed as an anti-hero in the 2008 novel SILVER—My Own Tale As Told By Me With A Goodly Amount Of Murder by Edward Chupack.[91]
MTV's The State aired a sketch in which they parody MTV's "Free Your Mind" campaign of the early 1990s. A pirate (Ben Garant) and a clown (Ken Marino) exchange insults at each other based on the other's profession (e.g. "X marks the spot, map makin', parrot lovin'" "Fat lady knowin', cotton candy stinkin'"). The pirate and clown end up brawling and an announcer in a cowboy hat (Thomas Lennon) steps in and asks the viewer, "Can't clowns and pirates just try to get along? Nobody wins this game."
"Space pirates" show up in science fiction, such as in the TV series Firefly, with storylines in which future space shipping is under some of the same worries as ocean shipping.
Pirates are also common mascots and names of sports teams.