Titanic (James Cameron Film)

About

Titanic is an American romantic drama film about a love affair between Rose, a young British woman engaged to a rich businessman, and Jack, a poor young artist in pursuit of the American Dream, aboard the doomed RMS Titanic which sank on April 15th, 1912.

Premise

The film opens with a modern-day maritime excavation team led by treasure hunter Brock Lovett (played by Bill Paxton) looking through the wreckage of RMS Titanic on the seafloor of the North Atlantic Ocean on a mission to locate and retrieve the "Heart of the Ocean," a necklace with a massive, rare diamond that is rumored to have sunken with the ship more than eight years ago. However, the most of the film's plot is told retrospectively by Rose Dawson Calvert (portrayed by Gloria Stuart), an elderly woman who had survived the sinking of RMS Titanic, as she recounts the story behind the necklace that was given to
her younger self, Rose DeWitt Bukater (portrayed by Kate Winslet), as an engagement gift from her fiancé during the ship's maiden voyage in 1912, and more importantly, a short-lasted and ill-fated romantic encounter she had with a poor artist named Jack Dawson (portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio) before the ship's demise.

History

Titanic^[1] was released on December 19th, 1997. The film starred Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, the poor young man who falls in love with wealthy Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet). Billy Zane played Cal Hockley, Rose's fiance, while Kathy Bates played real life Titanic passenger Molly Brown and Victor Garber played Thomas Andrews, who designed the ship. On April 4th, 2012, a 3-D version of the film was released.

Reception

Upon its release, Titanic was a critical and commercial success, becoming the highest grossing film^[2], a position it held until it was edged out by another James Cameron film, Avatar, in 2010. During its theatrical run the film grossed more than 2.1 billion dollars. The film also gained positive reviews, earning a rating of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes^[3] and a score of 74 on Metacritic.^[4]

Accolades

Titanic won 11 Academy Awards in 1998 including Best Picture, Best Director (James Cameron), and Best Music, Original Song ("My Heart Will Go On"). It also won four Golden Globes including Best Motion Picture (Drama), Best Original Song – Motion Picture ("My Heart Will Go On), Best Director – Motion Picture (James Cameron), and Best Original Score – Motion Picture (James Horner).

Online Presence

As of April 2014, Titanic's official Twitter account^[5] has over 130,000 followers and its Facebook page^[6] has gained over 50 million likes. Netflix subscribers can also access the film as of April 2014.

Fandom

In addition to the film's branded online presence, there are many fan run sites including Makeitcount^[19] and the Titanic Fan Club Facebook page.^[20] There are also several Tumblr blogs dedicated to the film including jackrosedawson^[9], alwaystitanic^[10], and titanic-confessions.^[11] As of April 2014, DeviantArt has over 215,000 submissions tagged Titanic, and Fanfiction.net has over 2,200 Titanic submissions.

Millennials' Reaction

After the 3D re-release in April 2012, some younger viewers who saw it for the first time discovered that it is based on a historical event. On April 9th, 2012, Buzzfeed^[21] collected some of these viewers' tweets to illustrate their ignorance and surprise.

Notable Examples

Viral Videos

On February 19th, 2007, YouTuber gtotheordon^[12] uploaded a video titled "titanic in 5 seconds," (below, left) which features a man insisting the ship could not sink immediately followed by footage of it sinking. As of April 2014, the video has gained over 10.7 million views. On April 5th, 2012, Screen Junkies^[13] uploaded an Honest Trailer parody of the film (below, right). As of April 2014, the video has gained over 8.9 millions views.

On June 28th, 2012, How It Should Have Ended ^[14] uploaded an animated alternative ending for the film (below, left). As of April 2014, the video has gained over 8.6 million views. On November 7th, 2013, Cinema Sins^[15] uploaded a video titled "Everything Wrong With Titanic In 9 Minutes Or So" (below, right). As of April 2014, the video has gained over 3.4 million views.

Related Memes

"Draw Me Like One of Your French Girls"

'Draw Me Like One of Your French Girls' is an expression from Titanic which is often used to caption photos of people or animals laying down in an alluring pose. In a scene in the film after seeing nude drawings Jack Dawson (DiCaprio) had done, Rose (Winslet) tells him, "Jack, I want you to draw me like one of your French girls" (shown below).^[2]

"I'm King of the World"

“I’m King of the World” is an expression from the film that Jack says as he stands at the front of the boat with his arms stretched out as if he was flying (shown below).

Often quoted and parodied, one of the most famous references in popular culture can be found in the Lonely Island music video for "I’m on a Boat" (“I’m the king of the world, on a boat like Leo”), which was uploaded to the group’s official YouTube channel^[22] on June 16th, 2009. In addition, the phrase has been also used to caption photographs of people or animals with their arms outstretched.

"Gentlemen, It Has Been a Privilege Playing with You Tonight"

“Gentlemen, It Has Been a Privilege Playing With You Tonight” is a memorable quote said by a violinist to his fellow Titanic musicians who decided to keep playing as the ship went down (shown below).

In image macros and reaction images, “playing with you tonight” is swapped out for another action, for example “redditing with you tonight.”

The Driftwood Debate

The release of the 3-D version of the film revived a debate online as to whether both Jack and Rose could have fit on the piece of wood Rose stayed on while Jack froze to death in the water. On April 18th, 2012, The Huffington Post^[16] published a post titled "Proof That Jack And Rose Could Have Fitted On That 'Titanic' Plank Of Wood Pretty Easily " which featured a picture of two people sitting and laying on the outline of the piece of wood from the film in various positions.

On September 12th, IGN uploaded a video to their YouTube channel^[17] which featured an interview with Titanic director James Cameron in which he explains^[18] why Jack and Rose could not have both been on the board, explaining:

"It’s not a question of room; it’s a question of buoyancy. Jack puts Rose on the raft, then he gets on the raft -- He’s not an idiot; he doesn’t want to die -- and then the raft sinks. So it’s clear that there’s really only enough buoyancy available for one person. So, he makes a decision to let her be that person.”

On an episode of the science showMyth Busters which aired on October 7th, 2012, two cast members attempt to float on the board at the same time, and are able to once they use "Rose's" life jacket to add buoyancy, proving Jack and Rose could have both used the board and survive.

Search Interest

External References