I don’t even have a picture of him. He exists now only in my memory. ”
— Rose
The Titanic is one of the, if not the most, iconic works in film to date. Wikipedia’s summary of the film writes, “Seventeen-year-old Rose hails from an aristocratic family and is set to be married. When she boards the Titanic, she meets Jack Dawson, an artist, and falls in love with him.”
There are a few film tropes observed in Titanic. Other than the most obvious ‘damsel in distress’ archetype, we also see the Manic Pixie Dream Boy trope. And Jack was our Manic Pixie Dream Boy who existed before the term was coined.
The story was structured around the “never let go” premise — first seen when Jack struggles to pull Rose over from the ship’s stern, assuring her, “I won’t let go.” The motif appears recurrently until the final scene, in which the ship breaks in half and the passengers fall into the frigid water. Jack promises “You’re going to die an old lady, warm in her bed” and Rose responds with “I’ll never let go.” This completes Rose’s character transformation from a lost, aristocratic young woman who finds the pressures of upper-class life stifling to the extent that she tries to kill herself to escape them to a strong, brave, fiercely determined and very independent lady, slowing leaving her aristocratic family behind, becoming more sexually forward, throwing off convention for the sake of love and ultimately finding her will to fight to live, even while stranded in the dark, harsh, bitterly cold Atlantic seas. Even when Jack froze — to death.
Everyone is flustered. Couldn’t Rose have scooched over on the wooden board to make space for Jack? Couldn’t Jack find another piece of floating furniture? Wasn’t Jack’s death easily preventable?
Cameron, Titanic’s director, states that, “The film is about death and separation; he had to die.”
Other film critics argue that Titanic had to end with Jack dying because in a final twist, Rose symbolically offers her heart to Jack by throwing the “heart of the ocean” into the Atlantic, where Jack died. Once again, narrative harmony is created between Jack and Rose.
However, I think there is beauty to be found in the tragedy of Jack’s death. Jack didn’t simply transform Rose; he now exists in her memory, in her identity, in her very soul.
Transience is what makes life beautiful and worth living. Facets of our lives that feel relatively stable can completely disintegrate in a day’s time. This can feel very unsettling, but radical acceptance of this as a fact of life can liberate us into deep feelings of appreciation for all that we still have. All that comes and eventually goes is the heart of beauty.
Jack and Rose and their time together were simply instances of evanescence, but to Rose, his existence would forever be a vivid and meaningful one.
The relationship between the two lead characters, Jack and Rose, is special because it is both romantic and tragic. Jack and Rose are young lovers from different social classes who are caught up in the tragedy of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. Despite the obstacles they face, their love for each other remains strong and they are willing to go to great lengths to be together.
The tragedy of their situation adds a poignant and powerful dimension to their relationship. They are forced to confront their own mortality and the fragility of their love in the face of the great disaster that is unfolding around them. In the end, their love for each other is tested to the limit, and their tragic fate serves as a reminder of the fleeting nature of life and love.
Overall, the relationship between Jack and Rose is special because it is a moving and emotionally powerful exploration of love and loss in the face of great adversity.
nah there was enough space on the plank 😤