Titanic is one of the most successful movies in film history, and while it was critically acclaimed when it was released, revised critics and new reviews haven’t been as kind, and it has become quite a divisive movie. Thanks to movies like The Terminator and Avatar, James Cameron has become mostly associated with the fantasy and sci-fi genres, but one of his most ambitious projects is far from those worlds: Titanic, a disaster drama movie released in 1997 and based on the real-life tragedy of the title ship.
Titanic tells the story of Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) and Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio), two passengers from opposite social classes who fall in love aboard the ship during its ill-fated maiden voyage. Over the course of just four days, Jack and Rose meet, fall in love, and defend their relationship against all those who oppose it, mostly Rose’s fiancé, Cal Hockley (Billy Zane), and her mother, Ruth (Frances Fisher). Jack and Rose are fictional characters, but through them, Titanic introduced others based on real-life passengers of the infamous ship, such as Molly Brown (Kathy Bates) and J. Bruce Ismay (Jonathan Hyde), but the focus was on Jack and Rose's short-lived romance, the impact it had on Rose, and Brock Lovett’s (Bill Paxton) search for the Heart of the Ocean necklace.
Titanic was a major success and broke different records, won a number of awards, and was a critical and commercial hit – however, that doesn’t mean it has stood the test of time. While Cameron’s achievements with Titanic are undeniable, the story has drawn a lot of criticism since its release in the late 1990s, and some critics have even changed their original opinion and rating of the movie for a much lower one. So, why is Titanic so divisive now after its massive success when it was released?
How Titanic Became One Of The Biggest Movies Of All Time
James Cameron’s Titanic isn’t the only movie based on the sinking of the title ship, but it’s definitely the most famous one. Cameron’s inspiration for the movie came from his fascination with shipwrecks, which led him to shoot footage of the actual Titanic wreck for the movie. This real footage actually helped Cameron convince Fox to promote Titanic, and all those expeditions, along with a lot of research, helped the production crew reconstruct the Titanic and its smallest details to make it as real as possible, which is how Titanic became the most expensive movie ever made at the time (with a budget of $200 million).
Real footage of the Titanic, a meticulous recreation of the ship, and the biggest budget production at the time were already enough reasons to catch the attention of the audience, but there are two other factors that helped Titanic reach so much success: its main actors, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. At the time Titanic entered production, DiCaprio was already one of the most critically-acclaimed young actors thanks to his performance in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and had just established himself as a teen idol thanks to Romeo + Juliet, so starring in one of the biggest productions of the 1990s made perfect sense for his career. Kate Winslet was also an acclaimed actress by the time she was cast in Titanic, thanks to her performances in Heavenly Creatures and Sense and Sensibility. The on-screen chemistry of DiCaprio and Winslet was evident, and it was key in making the story work.
Titanic was praised for its cultural, historical, and political impacts, its visuals, “emotive power”, and performances, and was mostly called a “spectacle” and a movie that had to be “experienced”. Titanic went on to become the highest-grossing movie of all time until Cameron’s Avatar surpassed it in 2010, and broke other records such as the most Oscar nominations (14, tying All About Eve) and most Oscars won (11, tying Ben-Hur). It’s not surprising, then, that Titanic has been regarded as one of the greatest movies ever made, but as years have passed, the opinions on Titanic have drastically changed, and it has even been featured in “worst movies of all time” lists.
Titanic Is Surprisingly Divisive - Why?
Even during its release in the late 1990s, Titanic wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, with some critics finding the visuals spectacular but the story and dialogues “weak”, pointing out the “lack of interesting emotional elements” and even calling Cameron not skilled enough to write “this kind of movie”. Modern-day criticism hasn’t been good for Titanic either, and the complaints about it cover pretty much everything – from its lengthy runtime to the dialogues, the story, and the seemingly never-ending debate over whether Jack could have fitted on the floating door with Rose or not. Titanic has been called dreadful, preposterous, lacking emotion, a story that “diabolize rich Americans and educated English”, and even one of the “worst movies of all time”, with some critics going as far as saying that its success and awards are a result of its box office performance, but not of its quality.
The audience has also expressed their views on Titanic on social media and different forums, and the biggest complaints seem to be about the story. A first-class girl like Rose crossing paths with a third-class young man like Jack would have been unlikely due to the segregation of the third class from the rest, and even if they did, he wouldn’t have gone unpunished for the awkward situation in which he was found with Rose when they met, even if Rose defended him. Cal has been labeled as a “cartoon villain” and the love story between Jack and Rose has been considered disrespectful to the victims of the tragedy of the Titanic and distracting from the actual story of the ship, its passengers, and the crew. There’s also a lot of criticism over Titanic’s message about “true love” and how the ending failed Rose’s husband and family, as at the end she reunites with Jack and the rest of the victims in the Titanic.
James Cameron's Titanic Defense Explained
Of course, James Cameron has already defended Titanic from all backlash and negative criticism. Back in 1998, Cameron defended Titanic explaining that it’s “not a film that is sucking people in with flashy hype and spitting them out on the street feeling let down and ripped off”, but it’s an experience that takes them in for over three hours and “dragging others with them” so they can share the emotion. Cameron added that people from all ages and backgrounds were “celebrating their own essential humanity” through the experience of watching Titanic and defended his script as “earnest and straightforward”, intentionally incorporating “universals of human experience and emotion”, and that its success was possible thanks to how it deals with archetypes. Cameron defended Titanic again in 2017 after Mythbusters proved Jack could have gotten on the door with Rose and saved himself, saying that their theory wouldn’t work at all as it would have only killed both Jack and Rose, even saying that, while he loved doing that show, “they’re full of sh**”.
Does Titanic Really Deserve The Hate?
It’s not surprising that the opinion on Titanic has changed over the years, and it can actually be expected due to how the audience has matured, their views have changed, their experiences have expanded, and how the general perception of certain issues, social topics, and more keep evolving. Movies, like any other type of art, are subjective, and even the most praised stories will have their weaknesses and not everyone will agree on what makes them great – case in point, the often-regarded “best movie ever made”, Citizen Kane, has also received a lot of backlash and negative criticism over the years, yet it’s still considered one of the greatest movies in film history. Surely, Titanic has a lot of weak points and its overall message of “true love” won’t resonate with modern audiences, but its value goes beyond the story of Jack and Rose, as its production achievements are undeniable. Titanic might not be deserving of hate, but ultimately, opposing views only add to the legacy of the movie and James Cameron’s work, and make way for more conversation about it, its legacy, and all its good and bad points.