The "message" in Titanic

Discussion in 'TV & Media' started by Trekker4747, Jan 13, 2012.

  1. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

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    So in the movie "Titanic" one of the messages it seems to want to convey is that rich people are stuff full-of-themselves snobs and poor people are fun-having ordinary people. And the rich people aren't accepting of the "lessers" in their society.

    This is no more evident than in the dinner scene where Jack is invited by Cal Hatley to join him and others to dinner in First Class as a "reward" of sorts for saving Rose from falling off the ship. The movie seems to want to suggest the rich people aren't as accepting. Later, Jack brings Rose to Third Class where there's a party going on and the Third Class rather openly welcomes Rose to the party.

    ...

    This doesn't add up to me.

    During the First Class dinner scene everyone seems rather accepting of Jack and his conversation. The only people who are not is Cal (who dislikes Jack for drawing Rose's affections) and Rose's mom (who dislikes Jack for drawing for being poor, and pulling Rose away from Cal whom can save their family from debt.)

    So, yeah, I don't think the message works.

    Kate Winslet was hot in this movie.
     
  2. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    You're barking up the wrong tree, sorry.
     
  3. RoJoHen

    RoJoHen Awesome Admiral

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    I really don't think this was meant to be the message so much as it simply being a sign of the times. I think the real message was "Billy Zane is a douche."
     
  4. Tosk

    Tosk Admiral Admiral

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    Cal was a douche, and Rose's mom was a bitch. That's about the extent of "the message" there.

    ...Why does there have to be a message?
     
  5. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

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    Man, I thought the message was about mackin' on hot rich chicks and getting them to do the nasty with you in the backseat of a car.

    I totally missed the point. :(
     
  6. RoJoHen

    RoJoHen Awesome Admiral

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    I mean, that's part of the message...
     
  7. Brikar99

    Brikar99 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I thought the message was to feel really bad for whichever second-stringer Rose eventually married and popped out a couple kids with...
     
  8. Amaris

    Amaris Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I always figured the message was "climb on the fucking door, Jack. There's plenty of room and it's not going to sink."
     
  9. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

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    Well, there's that too...
     
  10. Timby

    Timby o yea just like that Administrator

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    Your reading of the film is simplistic to the point of inanity.

    At the most basic level, Titanic is about the idea that massive enterprises are ultimately empty and, more importantly, dangerous. The only true happiness, real emotion is at the very end, when, free of any technology whatsoever, alone from anyone else, and at the mercy of a chunk of frozen water, Jack and Rose are finally and truly honest, not just with the world but with their own existences. And even then, as a result of that massive effort of enterprise, one of them dies -- horribly.

    At a much deeper level, you can read Titanic as being influenced by Spielberg and being a story about the ultimate futility of recreating the past through an embellished simulation -- that in the end, it will all fall apart, anyway, and the important part is to look forward.

    Obviously, art is in the eye of the beholder. But, for my money, to say Titanic's message is "poor rule, rich drool" ... that's doing the film, and Cameron himself, a pretty massive disservice. I'll fully admit that I am a big fan of Barthes' The Death of the Author, and as an example, I read True Lies as a relentlessly misanthropic film. So, your mileage may very.
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2012
  11. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

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    Not saying that this was the only message, just that it's one of the implied ones of many that are in the movie.
     
  12. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    It's really not worth mentioning.
     
  13. RoJoHen

    RoJoHen Awesome Admiral

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    I just don't think it counts as a "message." These people were wealthy, and as a result they were stuck-up snobs, but that's just characterization...there's no message there.
     
  14. JarodRussell

    JarodRussell Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I always wondered what happened to Kate Winslet's boobs between Titanic and The Reader. Where's the message in that?
     
  15. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    The most important message is: "Watch out for icebergs!"
     
  16. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

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    Titanic had a better CGI budget?
     
  17. Roshi

    Roshi Admiral Admiral

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    The only message I can think of is Jim Cameron made a shitload of money.
     
  18. captcalhoun

    captcalhoun Admiral Admiral

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    the message is: shut the watertight doors and have plenty of lifeboats.
     
  19. Temis the Vorta

    Temis the Vorta Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    The message of the movie was "being true to yourself is the only route to happiness." Rose could have had Billy Zane's fortune and just have been a stuck-up bitch who didn't appreciate Jack until it was too late, and the message still would have been the same, without Zane's character even being present in the story.

    :rommie:

    The message is, don't believe corporate slogans. Unsinkable, my Vorta ass. :p
     
  20. scotpens

    scotpens Professional Geek Premium Member

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    The message of Titanic is that a drama based on historical fact isn't improved by a zillion-dollar budget and two hours of bad soap opera.

    NO WAY would that have happened in 1912. Especially between people of such different social stations.

    But then, the whole picture was full of anachronisms. Leo DiCaprio seemed like a modern guy stuck in a time warp.