It’s been almost 20 years since I first saw Titanic (1997). 

I was three. My parents thought it was a great idea to drag a three-year-old to see a three hour movie. I fell asleep on it, but I’ll never forget the scene I woke up to: Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet) reuniting on the steps, Rose’s white dress, and my mother sobbing. So goes my relationship with Titanic.

A few weeks ago someone told me that he never saw Titanic, to which I was confused. If you were born before 2000, I feel like it’s an obligatory compulsion for you to have seen Titanic. The last time someone told me that they never saw that movie was in middle school; it was my best friend at the time. I made her watch the movie. She loved it. (That’s me: changing people’s lives one movie at a time.) Maybe I’m just being judgmental, but again Titanic holds a very special place in my heart. I’m very defensive of it.

I just have a lot of feelings about Titanic; I think my prom should have been Titanic themed, since it was the 100 year anniversary, but whatever I didn’t plan the prom. Or have a date. But, I digress.

Titanic is literally the perfect movie since it hits almost every single genre: historical, mystery, romance, action/adventure, drama, tragedy, disaster. You name it, it’s in Titanic. Plus, the story is so great, as is the cinematography, and the costumes, and everything. Yeah, Jack dies at the end (a 20 year spoiler in the making, sorry not sorry if you haven’t seen it), but the story only makes sense if he dies at the end. This brings me to a larger problem with the movie, or rather, people’s interpretations of the movie.

Let me explain: I’m sure you’ve seen lots of articles or memes or whatever ragging on Rose because she “lets go” of Jack. Rose, “selfishly,” takes over the piece of floating door, while Jack freezes to death in the unforgiving Atlantic. I mean he told her “to never let go,” and here she is letting go of his lifeless body at the end of the movie.

That’s my problem with how people view the movie, although everyone at the end of the day is entitled to his/her/their own opinion.

To really grasp the meaning of the movie we will examine a few key scenes: Rose before she meets Jack and almost hurls herself off the side of the boat; Rose and Jack’s confrontation before she finally goes to him and they have that infamous boat deck scene; and finally, my main squeeze older Rose and the life that she lived.

I guess come sail away with me (yes, I cringed at the pun, too) and let’s explore what I think of Titanic together.

As always, stay tuned, and in the mean time, if you’re following this, go watch Titanic if you haven’t.