Hmm, it looks like we better close the entire forum since it consists only of opinions

. I am going to take this opportunity to tell you, that the tactic of pointing our that "its just an opinion" and "you didn't cite sources/ I don't agree with your sources" are fallacies, they do not add anything to the discussion and in many cases are the end of it.
Now I will deal with the intelligent replies:
I've suffered a weight increase lately. Doesn't that make my skeleton-factor less??
Well, in the metaphorical sense that we might tease a skinny friend by calling them a skeleton, yes your appearance after gaining weight is a less skeletal one. In the sense of the cursed PotC-Skeletons, the way I see it is that you are less satisfied by smaller amounts of food, it takes larger amounts to satisfy because you sense of enjoying-food is somewhat less per bite, you need more overall bites to make up for the desensitization. So your PotC-Skeleton factor has increased.
Myself. I find that with age, I am capable of appreciating a wider range of experiences and of appreciating them on a deeper level than when I was younger.
I agree, but the effect is mental, viz. we have increased awareness and increased experience. With food we savor each bite more slowly, and carefully detect individual flavors. But why do children enjoy hot dogs? Because everything taste good to them, they have less skeleton-factor.
You are aware that PotC is FICTION, right?
No, I am so dumb that I am not aware that PotC is fiction.
Again, this seems to be your opinion, but clearly others disagree with your opinion. People enjoy it for several reasons, none of which has anything to do with your skeletons in the closet view.
Showing your true mental age, you bore me by pointing out that everything is an opinion, then state one of yours as if to refute me so finally that my view is so unworthy of consideration that we all may as well confuse it with the phrase "skeletons in the closet".
No content!
1) They've been to Disney and enjoyed the Pirates of the Carribean ride, so also enjoyed the humor of seeing some of those scenes played out in the movie. (It's uncommon to have a theme park ride turned into a movie...usually things happen in the opposite order.)
2) They like Johnny Depp...he's a great actor.
3) It was funny! The movie is meant to be an over-the-top comedy, and that's what people enjoyed.
4) It had pirates...pirates are always fun.
Yes, we all agree that these are reasons for the success of PotC. Are there more reasons? Undoubtedly. Is my topic one of them? I still don't know.
You're definitely reading way too much into it. Nobody is having trouble facing reality if they don't think they are turning into a fictional movie character. Someone who DOES think they are turning into something fictional is more likely having a bit of difficulty remaining fully attached to reality.
Did you misunderstand that badly, or is that the best straw man you could construct? I never said that we are cursed, or that we are becoming cursed, or that anyone could ever be cursed like the skeleys were. I used "Skeleton-factor" to mean the extent to which our sense of physical sensation is like that of the PotC-Skeletons, i.e. :
1. Food turns to ash in their mouth.
2. Sex is our of the question, aside from the urge to be lewd.
3. Alcohol has no physiological effect, but they still do it for social reasons.
...etc
Can anyone see the parallels between these cursed-skeleton issues and the issues that are be faced by many people in the primary (late teens/ early twenties) demographic that enjoyed the film?