Never Forget: There’s A Brothel In ‘Hook’s Neverland

In what is either the heartwarming story of how a beloved literary character is reawakened by his love for his children, or the depressing tale of an overworked businessman’s psychotic break from reality, Steven Spielberg’s Hook is all about how an adult Peter Pan returning to Neverland to battle his long-time nemesis … and also make out with a pixie who’s definitely not his wife.

There’s a lot of weird stuff going on in Hook – not the least of which being how Peter leads an army of child soldiers and totally hooked up with his kids’ grandmother. But let’s talk for a minute about Captain Hook’s pirate village. While it mostly looks like a family-friendly fake pirate-themed locale, akin to what you might find on a Disneyland ride or at a below-average seafood restaurant, there’s a decidedly adult component to this town.

In the scene where Smee brings Hook his famous metal appendage, he clearly passes a building advertising several “peeks” available for purchase, housing several women who seem to know Smee, shall we say, intimately? Later, we see that there are fees charged by the hour, day, and week – implying that there are more than peeks for sale. 

We’re not here to shame the sex workers of Neverland, nor their buccaneer clientale, but it is more than a bit odd that Steven Spielberg made a children’s Peter Pan movie that features a literal brothel in plain sight. As to why these characters (simply billed as “Prostitutes” in the end credits) pop by for 4 seconds, never to be mentioned again, well, it seems as though they were going to be featured more prominently in a scrapped musical number. 

Yup, Hook was originally supposed to be a full-on musical. That is until Spielberg scrapped the musical elements just one week into filming because, according to the director, he “chickened out” (and also presumably because absolutely nothing rhymes with “Rufio”). 

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Thumbnail: TriStar Pictures