The "message" in Titanic

[Methos]

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...

pretty sure the message was actually "get the hell of the soddin' boat before in sinks..."

good message i though lol

M

 

[Ian Keldon]

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.

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

Well, it could happen, but it would have been considered scandalous if discovered, and the offending member of the upper class would have been ostracized and possibly even cast out of their family.

The attitudes of the rich in Titanic aren't a "message" per se, but they do in fact reflect the prevailing attitude of the upper class towards the lower classes, good and bad. Contrast the condescension of Cal with the positive attitude of Col Astor.

There are SO many nuances to the dinner scene that it would take more time than I have to discuss them all.

 

[Trekker4747]

But, like I said, the only people really rude towards Jack in the dinner scene is Cal and Rose's mom. Everyone else at the table (Astor, Andrews among them) are rather gracious and welcoming towards him.

 

[sidious618]

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

I thought she looked gorgeous in both; she's one of the best looking actresses out there in my book. However, most importantly, she's a damn good actress.

Titanic is a terrible film and an excellent film all in one. I'd label it as a noble failure artistically (obviously it was a box office success) but I think it's underrated in some circles and overrated in others.

 

[Trekker4747]

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

I thought she looked gorgeous in both; she's one of the best looking actresses out there in my book. However, most importantly, she's a damn good actress.

I think age has been too great for Kate. Well, not as great as it is to other actresses but perhaps Kate hasn't been getting as much "work" done as others do so her looks are all a natural part of aging as opposed to other actresses around her age get a lot of work done to keep a youthful look.

She still looks good, for sure. But she is down-right fabulous looking in Titanic. But, granted, that was 13 or 14 years ago when she filmed it.

Titanic is a terrible film and an excellent film all in one. I'd label it as a noble failure artistically (obviously it was a box office success) but I think it's underrated in some circles and overrated in others.

I personally think it gets bashed a lot for just being such a "big" film and for all of the hype it got and records it broke.

Really the only flaws I can see in it is that the plot (the love plot, that is) is rather pedestrian and Cal's "bad guy" aspect is overplayed. A lot. It's impossible to sympathize with him but, I guess, we could chalk it up as to being an exaggerated aspect of Rose's impression of him. (Assuming the movie is a direct representation of Rose's story that's being told and we're not stepping outside of her narrative and seeing things "as they really were.")

But overall, the hate for the movie I don't quite get. I watched it the other day on DVD and still find it to be a fabulous film based on just the craft of film making, the atmosphere and the look if it alone.

And for all of the flaws the first part has with the love story and such it cannot be denied that once the ship hits the iceberg and the sinking scenes start (right where the Second DVD starts) the movie is damn-near perfect in its execution of showing what the horrors of that night were as well as small things like the nobility of the band.

The "Nearer, My God, to Thee" scene is damn near perfection.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPLcZ5Rk3Lg[/yt]

Followed by the scene where the sinking ramps up along with Horner's wonderful score.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXa0qJ7wO2U&feature=related[/yt]

Parts like that really shows Cameron's craft as a film-maker.

And I, for one, look forward to the movie's theatrical re-release (in 3D) for the sinking's 100th anniversary.

 

[Timby]

Parts like that really shows Cameron's craft as a film-maker.

Cameron is a bit odd, in that he can only really do horror. The comedy in the first half of Titanic essentially works because it's so stupid and insipid that it's disarming, then the real film begins and people start dying painfully.

Avatar has the opposite problem, in that it fails to horrify, while also failing to have that so-bad-it's-good humor. You don't laugh at the blue aliens in a way that that secretly endears you to them, nor do they gross you out. They're the film's aristocracy; we laugh at them in order to hurt them.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Whaaaa...?

Avatar is just the "whitey saves the noble savage" fantasy with pretty visuals. Of course I may be biased towards the indigo-tinged.

 

[T'Girl]

Avatar reminds me a lot of Star Trek Insurrection. The Producer/Director tells the audience here are the people you will root for, and here are the people you will be opposed too.

Problem is if the audience doesn't fall for the careful preprograming, the movie's concept falls apart.

Billion of people on Earth will die without what under a tree (on a planet full of trees). But the pretty native girl who sleep in this tree (on a planet full of trees) doesn't want to roll up her jammies and walk over to another tree (on a planet full of trees).

Solution: "Kill all the Humans." Including the ones back on Earth.

Lovely.

.

 

[J.T.B.]

And for all of the flaws the first part has with the love story and such it cannot be denied that once the ship hits the iceberg and the sinking scenes start (right where the Second DVD starts) the movie is damn-near perfect in its execution of showing what the horrors of that night were as well as small things like the nobility of the band.

I can deny it. For me many tragic, heroic and noble aspects of the true story were severely undercut by the need to graft on the needlessly sensationalistic, such as a homicide by an officer, crew members fighting to keep 3rd class passengers below, and a physically-impossible long chase scene. I do admit though that big-effects blockbusters are not my cup of tea.



Justin

 

[Admiral Shran]

The only message I got from Titanic was....

"I'd really like to have sex with Kate Winslet."

 

[MacLeod]

i thought the message was don't go steaming full ahead in a ice field.

As for the Titanic being badly designed it was very well designed for it's time. It just suffered damage that was beyond the design parameters. It is likely similar ships of that time would have sunk a lot faster than the Titanic did.

The design was good on paper. The result was a design of cut corners.

The fact remains that by ships of that era the Titanic was safer than others. Doesn't matter how safe you make something if something occurs that exceeds the design parameters it'll break. That's still true today.

Just remember what came about because of the Titanic disaster.

24hr manned radio
Enough lifeboat capacity for all.

I'm sure the Titanic disaster will be mentioned in the News in around 3 months time. When the centenary anniversary of the disaster comes around.

 

[plynch]

I remember reading a comparison of Titanic films in a conservative mag at the time. I thought they'd be against the topless Kate and the car scene, but they focused on individualism: Kate's character wants to do what she wants to do for herself, not for the honor of the family, or duty. Interesting.

And amen to Avatar being hokey and bludgeoney, with no suspense. It was spectacle, I get that, but too long. Plot and dialog were so comic booky. Moreso than some comic book flicks.

Ymmv as always.

My heart will go on . . .

 

[Trekker4747]

And for all of the flaws the first part has with the love story and such it cannot be denied that once the ship hits the iceberg and the sinking scenes start (right where the Second DVD starts) the movie is damn-near perfect in its execution of showing what the horrors of that night were as well as small things like the nobility of the band.

I can deny it. For me many tragic, heroic and noble aspects of the true story were severely undercut by the need to graft on the needlessly sensationalistic, such as a homicide by an officer, crew members fighting to keep 3rd class passengers below, and a physically-impossible long chase scene. I do admit though that big-effects blockbusters are not my cup of tea.

There are plenty of reports that 3rd Class passengers were kept below and robotic trips into the surviving wreck have shown that some of the gates still remain closed, and locked. There were also plenty of reports of officers brandishing weapons in an attempt to keep a semblance of order during the sinking. (Though whether or not anyone was actually killed by an officer is unknown and Officer Murdoch's family took umbrage with Cameron portraying him as committing suicide during the sinking. (There's reports going both ways on that issue.)

The only message I got from Titanic was....

"I'd really like to have sex with Kate Winslet."

Indeed.

 

[Nowhere Man]

I always thought that the message was make sure in a ship wreck to have a big enough piece of wood so you can survive.

 

[Sci]

And for all of the flaws the first part has with the love story and such it cannot be denied that once the ship hits the iceberg and the sinking scenes start (right where the Second DVD starts) the movie is damn-near perfect in its execution of showing what the horrors of that night were as well as small things like the nobility of the band.

I can deny it. For me many tragic, heroic and noble aspects of the true story were severely undercut by the need to graft on the needlessly sensationalistic, such as a homicide by an officer, crew members fighting to keep 3rd class passengers below, and a physically-impossible long chase scene. I do admit though that big-effects blockbusters are not my cup of tea.

There are plenty of reports that 3rd Class passengers were kept below and robotic trips into the surviving wreck have shown that some of the gates still remain closed, and locked. There were also plenty of reports of officers brandishing weapons in an attempt to keep a semblance of order during the sinking. (Though whether or not anyone was actually killed by an officer is unknown and Officer Murdoch's family took umbrage with Cameron portraying him as committing suicide during the sinking. (There's reports going both ways on that issue.)

Exactly. To call depictions of third class passengers being killed or deliberately prevented from escaping the ship is to deny the reality of class prejudice and class oppression aboard the real Titanic. As I said before, three-fourths of all third-class passengers died, versus only one-third of first-class passengers. Death was not visited randomly or evenly amongst the classes; third class passengers were made to die at much higher rates in order to save the first class.