[5] Look Out for Booby Traps

 

IN THE FILM: Following One-Eyed Willy's treasure map, the Goonies find themselves faced with the captain's intricate system of deadly booby traps throughout the underground caverns leading to his hidden pirate ship. Along the way, the Goonies escape near death, outsmarting a series of falling boulders, a pit of spikes, and a very creepy organ constructed entirely from human bones. The only way to beat the organ booby trap is to play the notes written on the back of One-Eyed Willy's map. One wrong note and the floor falls apart, revealing a deadly cavern filled with sharp spikes below. Thankfully, none of the Goonies are sent plummeting to their untimely deaths, and the conquering of the bone organ successfully opens the door to the lagoon, hosting The Inferno in all of its glory. A final booby trap is revealed to be inside the pirate ship itself, taking the form of a scale weighed down with precious doubloons belonging to One-Eyed Willy. If his treasure is removed from the scale, a series of pulleys will reel in the ship's anchor, freeing her from the dark clutches of the hidden lagoon. This is the final scene that we see at the end of the film -- which calls for plenty of 'hurrahs' and fist-pumps -- as somehow The Inferno is seen sailing on the open seas once more. 

IN REAL LIFE: The questions we have now are, did pirates actually ever use booby-traps, and why did the concept become so popularized in western culture and media? A simple internet search of 'pirate booby traps' shows us that nowadays, the first things to pop up are homemade booby-trapped packages meant to ward off alleged 'porch pirates' (a hilarious and ingenious idea in concept, and something that would make Data proud, but I concede...). 

While there is yet to be any legitimate historical evidence pointing to pirate booby-traps, there are a few instances of other boobytrapped treasures in history. The Money Pit of Oak Island in Nova Scotia is a prime example of a boobytrap that actually existed and is well-known. It was initially discovered in 1795 by local teenagers who noticed an indentation in the ground and proceeded to dig it up, only to discover a man-made shaft over 100 feet deep. The shaft contained several wooden platforms every ten feet down, with tunnels dug at various depths that would flood with seawater any time someone would try to dig any further. While it mostly remains shrouded in mystery, excavators have found many interesting items within the booby-trapped pit, including "old china, a mysterious piece of parchment paper and traces of gold on the end of drill bits," as well as several coins dating back to the 16th century and allegedly, a "stone bearing indecipherable inscriptions" (Homer). 

However, since we have yet to come across any legitimate records or concrete evidence indicating the existence of real-life booby-traps regarding pirates, it is best to conclude that a system such as One-Eyed Willy's is no more than a clever way to show off special effects, and indulge an audience fascinated with the suspense and thrill of booby-traps. After all, we've seen this trope time and time again in the action films that we all know and love, like Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider, and even Aladdin. However, as people continue to search for -- or stumble across -- hidden fragments of history, who knows what else is out there, waiting to be rediscovered...

A diagram of the Money Pit of Oak Island

Film Clip:

"Playing One-Eyed Willy's Bones"

The Bone Organ

Sources

Harris, Karen. “Boobytrapped Treasures to Make Indiana Jones Quake with Fear.” History Daily, 29 June 2019, https://historydaily.org/boobytrapped-treasures-to-make-indiana-jones-quake-with-fear.

Homer, Aaron. “What Is the Oak Island Money Pit?” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2020, https://www.history.com/shows/the-curse-of-oak-island/articles/what-is-the-money-pit.