Revised “Unsinkable Ship”
The movie Titanic is an epic portrayal of the tragic sinking of an “unsinkable” ship. The main story begins with Rose, an upper class passenger, boarding the ship. She is accompanied by her mother and her very wealthy fiancé. During her first night on the ship, she becomes overly aware that she is very unhappy with her life, and contemplates jumping off the boat. It is that moment when she meets Jack, a third class passenger, who saves her from falling into the icy waters. From that point on, the two instantly have a bond and soon fall in love. This leads to problems for Rose because her mother does not approve. Her fiancé obviously is also enraged about the situation. Rose has to choose between true love, and a life of wealth and prestige. In the end, Rose picks Jack and the two brave the sinking of the ship together. Unfortunately, Jack does not survive. However, Rose never regrets her choice.
The overall purpose of this movie is to show that love and happiness are more important than money and status. The main character is forced to make the decision between the two, and she chooses love. The directors were able to use history to further their purpose by setting the movie in 1912, when the Titanic actually sailed. During the early 1900’s, wealth determined not only how much income you had, but who your friends could be, the clubs and restaurants in which you were allowed in, the jobs for which you were eligible, and in the case of the Titanic, the part of the ship upon which you were allowed to reside. The fact that wealth held so much power in that time makes Rose’s choice more poignant. She was not just giving up money, but also all the status and privileges that came along with it. In this day and age, social classes, while still present, are not so rigidly defined. If the movie was set in the present, her choice would not have been as meaningful. The directors did a good job of showing how separated the two classes of people were. Besides the huge differences in accommodations of the two classes, the directors made a strong point of showing that Jack needed special permission to even enter the first class dinning hall. Cruise ships these days have one dinning hall, and all passengers are allowed to enter, regardless of the type of room or ticket they have.
The directors also furthered their purpose by using Rose as the narrator of the movie. The point of view was from an upper class passenger, but one whom was unhappy with her status. The audience is given a first hand glimpse of what life was like for the upper class. There are scenes which show wealthy men spending their entire nights smoking cigars and boasting about how wonderful they are, and a scene which shows a mother fretting about whether or not her daughter is folding her napkin properly. The directors were able to use Rose’s perception of the people around her to convey how trite and almost silly life was for the upper class. In the end of the movie, when you see these exercises in etiquette contrasted with the real and horrific scenes of the sinking, you cannot help but agree with Rose’s choice. When one is facing death, status and material possessions no longer matter. The movie would not have been as compelling if told from Jack’s point of view. Being a third class passenger, he was surrounded by people who already knew and appreciated the value of love over material possessions. The audience would not have been able to watch them learn the hard lesson we see the upper class passengers learning.
This movie is aimed at a very broad audience. There are story lines involving characters of all ages and social classes. The fact that the main character is shown both while she is a young woman on the ship, and as an older woman recounting her tale, reinforces the universal appeal. The younger women can identify with the younger Rose and vice a versa. Likewise, most young men can identify with Jack and his friends, and older men can identify with various scenes of older gentlemen on the ship.
The cinematography adds to the power of the movie because the scenes are both vivid and realistic. The directors chose to show all the horrendous details of the sinking. The audience sees people both falling and voluntarily jumping off the boat. Some of these individuals hit the water hard, while others crash into metal bars or propellers. There are people are fighting to get on life boats, and guards shooting at them like dogs. Children are lost and screaming for their parents. Various ship members commit suicide, some out of fear, and some out of guilt. This climax is followed by the erie sight of thousands of bodies frozen in the water. These scenes truly capture the tragedy of what happened that night. The death is palpable, and the worst part is that everyone watching knows it all could have been prevented. The audience is told in the beginning of the movie that the number of life boats were decreased for upper class aesthetic purposes. This ultimately shows how people can get so caught up with their money and material things, they forget the priceless value of just being alive.
Lastly, as far as the historical accuracy of the movie, the directors were on point. The design and structure of the ship were very accurate. The physics of how the ship hit the ice berg and sank were also correct. Some of the characters, like “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” and John Jacob Astor were real people on the ship, and the other characters were fair representations of the other passengers. It is true that there were only about half the required number of life boats, and that they were being sent out only half full. It is true that Captain was given ice berg warnings which he chose to ignore, and it is true that he felt so guilty that he did choose to go down with his ship. The only part of the movie which seemed to be somewhat inaccurate was the love story between Jack and Rose. In reality, the chances of a first class lady even talking to a third class guy are very slim. The chances of them interacting enough to fall in love and are even slimmer. The two classes were really kept very separate and it was inappropriate for them to mingle. It is not to say it would be impossible for these two characters to meet and fall in love, but it is highly unlikely. The love story definitely served the directors dramatic and thematic purpose, but this type of romance probably did not actually happen on the Titanic.
Regardless of the real world plausibility of the romance between Rose and Jack, the story line made for a powerful movie. The directors took an infamous piece of history and molded it into an important lesson for future generations. Money and power are fleeting, but the joy of just living and loving are what will last forever.