TITANIC; A Classic like no Other

The name Titanic means different things to many people. For some, it is a moral tale of God's omnipotence. For others, it is a cheesy romance movie played in the theaters every February 14.

What really is Titanic? 

In the early 20th century, two shipping companies, White Starline and Conrad were competing for the best provider of quality transport services.

Conrad manufactured two fast moving ships. This put them at the top of the table.

White Starline, determined not to be undone, began the creation of what will eventually be known as the biggest ship in the world. The Titanic.

The Titanic was a sensation to the rich and the poor. It was a luxurious Royal Mail Steam with a compact design that made her "unsinkable."

She reflected the European class system with her first, second and third class compartment system.

She was launched on May 31, 1911 on the dock of Southampton, England. Her maiden voyage was scheduled for April of the following year.

Everyone was desperate to get aboard this ship. This was partly because the world had never seen its likes before. Another reason English men sold all they had just to purchase a ticket was because Titanic's destination was New York, the land of opportunities.

April 10, 1912 was a joyous day for the people of England. Nearly 3000 people boarded the ship while the rest crowded the dock and cheered parting cries to the lucky travellers.

As the mighty steamship majestically parted, the travellers had no thought that its maiden voyage would be its last.

Titanic would never reach the US. It crashed against an iceberg in the Atlantic ocean. The ship's design proved faulty and the ship along with more than half of its passengers who couldn't get into the scarce life boats, sunk.

The 1997 movie Titanic was basically history with a touch of fiction. Nearly everyone knows the history of Titanic, but reliving it with a close up detail of the dreadful fate of its characters is engrossing.

Titanic centres on two fictional Titanic passengers; Jack Dawson (Leo DiCaprio) and Rose Dewitt Bukateer (Kate Winslet).

Rose is a charming lady of high spirits. She is trapped by the hypocrisy and restrictions of her class. Jack is a poor artist who bet all he had to get a ticket on the Titanic.

"When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose." Jack.

They meet at the ship's stern when Rose attempts to take her life due to her depression. The meeting leads to a romantic relationship much to the consternation of Ruth, Rose's mother and Caledon Hockley, Rose's fiance.

Rendezvous after rendezvous brings them closer. Jack and Rose are in love and are determined to face anything just to be together.

This decision is made at a crucial moment in the film. The Titanic has crashed against the iceberg and the ship is set to sink in a short time.

"She can stay afloat with the first four compartments breached, but not five." Not five.

Chaos, panic and confusion take the scene. With only a few lifeboats available, many are fated to die and humans turn animals in their scramble for life and survival.

Rose is put on board a life boat with the other women and children. She jumps back on board showing us just how crazy she is for Jack. This upsets Caledon who tries to murder them with his gun, and then with the help of Lovejoy, his butler.

Still, Jack and Rose make it back to the stern of the ship where they first met. Together, they sink with the ship and a door keeps them afloat in the deadly cold water.

Not for long.

Their fate is determined and Rose and the audience must part with Jack, their cheerful and charming artist. As for Rose, she holds on to life and to her promise to Jack. She is saved by a lifeboat, and is destined to tell the untold story of Titanic to Brock Lovett and his crew of treasure hunters 84 years later.

The story is told, and Rose finds that it's time to let go of the "Heart of the Ocean" stone of King Louis XVI.

As Jack predicts, she dies, "...an old...an old lady warm in her bed. Not here."

In an ecstatic dream, Rose rejoins the late crew of Titanic, and meets her love, Jack, at the top of the Grand Staircase. They kiss and the people applaud while the clock behind them shows 2:20am, the time the Titanic sank.

James Cameron, the director and producer of Titanic showed the world the limitless limit of his creativity in this 1997 classic.

What began as a deep love for ship wrecks led him to the Titanic, the greatest ship wreck ever. Then, the IMAX version of Titanic, Titanica, got Cameron thinking, "I want something like that."

A muse saw a willing spirit in him and Cameron began the making of the movie, Titanic. He went about his work convinced that the movie, which cost 200 million dollars with an additional 50 million dollars, would leave him bankrupt. Luckily, he was proved wrong.

Titanic had the largest movie box ticket sales and accrued a revenue of 2 billion dollars!

Titanic was a success! It marvelled cinema lovers and engrossed the world. It drove its audience to tears and left them asking, "Why did Jack die?"

The movie also attracted criticisms and got downright disapproval due to its erotic love scenes and its famous nude moment. Everyone had a thing to say concerning Titanic's perfection, flaws, morals and vices.

When Titanic resurfaced in 2012, it was still a hit. Many signs show that it will always be a hit, if not for its extreme romance, then at least for its heart piercing re-enaction of the tragedy of the Titanic ship.

We just can't get enough of Cameron. His fuse of fiction and history are so clever. Take the movie set for example. It is a close to perfect replica of the Titanic ship.

I say close to perfection because the ship was only built with one side. They had already spent so much on film production. The side built was the starboard side. The problem of this was that the real ship was docked at the other side.

What did Cameron do?

He filmed it anyway but had to reverse the writings, the movements of the characters etc. So, when he flipped the footage during editing, it was the real deal.

Cameron took it up a notch by bringing to life some factual passengers of the Titanic. If we are familiar with some footages of the real ship taken before its voyage, we can recall a photo of a young boy spinning a top on the ship's deck. This same boy was seen again in Cameron's movie.

The film director is admired for his genius productions (one of which is Avatar) but if you have to film a movie with him, you won't exactly find him admirable.

Cameron was a perfectionist. He was hell bent on reproducing the emotions and he didn't mind yelling at his crew members.

Kate Winslet bore witness to this as she narrated how she nearly drowned, sustained injuries and suffered cold from staying in the water while filming Titanic.

It's hard to keep one's eyes dry while watching Titanic. The terror and frustration; the fear and hate; the love... All the emotions in Titanic just manage to cut us to the heart and leave us sorrowful.

The scene of the woman putting her children to sleep for the last time was a heavy blow. The old couple that laid in bed as the water surged in put us in a catharsis of emotions. They are the same couple we encountered earlier in a scene where a woman told her husband, "As we have lived, so we will die together." (The couple, Isidor and Ida Straus are not fictional. They were passengers of the real Titanic. They chose to die together when Ida refused to get on a life boat without her husband, saying, "Wherever you go, I go.")

The scenes led us through a "slow swell of chaos." We wept, "...and the band played on."

 _Nearer my God to thee..._

Quick Fact!*😃

It was later discovered that one of the passengers of Titanic was a J Dawson; J for Joseph.

This created a wave of conspiracies and J Dawson's grave is honoured till this day.

 Why did Jack die?

This is obviously the most popular question of Titanic fans.

Fans, being fans, took it upon themselves to research. They discovered that the door which kept Rose afloat could have accommodated Jack as well.

So, was Rose being greedy or was Jack being a selfless gentleman?

Here's what James Cameron has to say, "I think you guys are missing the point. The script says, Jack died. He has to die."

An unsatisfactory answer, but let's focus on the lesson.

Jack was the tool that liberated Rose from her prison. He helped her to be herself and live life to the fullest. With his work done, it was only right for him to take a bow and leave (or sink).

Never let go...

Like I mentioned earlier, Titanic means different things to many people. Opinions must differ, but the important lesson must not be lost.

"Life is short... Make every moment count."

At the end of this tribute to Titanic, both the fact and fiction, I wish to pay respect to all the unfortunate victims of the ship wreck, and to all victims of circumstance in this ephemeral world.

Finally, I drop my pen. I doubt there's a need to recommend Titanic. Classics speak for themselves, and Titanic is a classic like no other.

❤️❤️❤️