I used to have a tradition for my birthday to watch James Cameron’s Titanic. Since I was born on the 80th anniversary of the Titanic colliding with a massive iceberg, it felt appropriate to me. For some reason, in my mid teens, I stopped this tradition. I know I went through a brief phase of resentment because it felt pushed onto me (my family always reminded me of the disaster on my birthday, after all)… but then in my early twenties I started to appreciate it again.
Being born on the 80th anniversary of the ocean liner colliding with the iceberg does help to keep me interested.
As a kid, my Father and I would go through every piece of literature on the disaster at the library and then relay new facts we’d learn. By the time I was eight, I had an idea of whom Captain Smith and Murdoch were. I was aware of Molly Brown being called “unsinkable Molly”, because of her track record as a passenger. Knowing that the ship herself is in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Newfoundland, gives the story an eerie Canadian flare.
It wasn’t until I was 11 years old that I finally got to watch the movie with my Dad. Maybe I watched it before hand with my Mother, but I can’t remember.
I’ll be honest, I thought the romance was dreadfully boring at the time. Like many other girls, I thought Jack was cute and Rose was beautiful. As an adult, I can appreciate the pathway to empathy via Jack (as he’s meant to make us care about the third class passengers). I can also appreciate the relatability of Rose; she’s a free spirit much like Jack, but is held back by her familial circumstances. Her suicidal depression hits harder now that I understand why she wanted to jump off the railing. I just wish that her mental breakdown scene was left in, so there’d be less room for people to intentionally misunderstand her.
One thing I attest to is that once the Titanic collided with the massive iceberg, I quickly found myself missing the slow burn romance. No matter how many times I’ve watched this movie, I always hold out a small bit of hope that maybe I’m watching a version with an alternate ending where Jack lives.
The sinking itself is downright terrifying to watch unfold. Made worse by the fact that this disaster happened in real life. Something about it being based on true events makes the second half of the film nightmare fuel.
Now to address the elephant in the room:
No, John Isnay never put pressure on the Titanic crew to speed up. He simply said that the ship, theoretically, could arrive a day sooner than planned. He has been made into the villain since day 1, and I think it’s time to put that embellishment to rest. Hasn’t the poor man been through enough slander and defamation?
There’s also no evidence that William McMaster Murdoch ever shot a passenger, let alone ended his own life during the sinking. I know that if I were a descendant of his, I too would object to the way he is portrayed in the film.
The rest of the inaccuracies I can overlook, but those two are the ones that I cannot. There were no real villains in real life on the ship. Why not have Billy Zane’s character be the one to do those things to add tension? He was already a villain by the time the iceberg collision happened, and has the benefit of being a fictional character. I know that James Cameron has already said that he regrets how he portrayed Ismay and Murdoch, but I think it’s a valid criticism.
Go ahead and try to argue that it wouldn’t be on brand for Cal to put pressure on the crew to speed up the ship. Try and tell me that him shooting a fictional passenger isn’t something he’d do.
There are more historical inaccuracies, but I won’t go into them because I don’t think any of the readers would be thrilled about it. Plus, many of them are pretty minor (but glaring to fashion historians paying attention to Jack’s wardrobe).
All in all, I still like the movie despite the inaccuracies. It always makes me cry seeing the passengers scramble to safety, knowing most of them will perish.
I’d give it a 7/10
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