Although Titanic tells a full story and leaves almost no loose ends, there are many theories about the main characters, among those one that suggests Jack was a ghost in his final scene. James Cameron has explored a variety of genres in his career as a filmmaker, and while he’s now mostly associated with sci-fi and fantasy thanks to movies like The Terminator and Avatar, one of his biggest and most ambitious projects is Titanic, a disaster drama movie based on the real-life tragedy of the RMS Titanic, in 1912.
Released in 1997, Titanic chronicles the sinking of the title ship through the story of Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet), two passengers from opposite social classes who fall in love aboard the ship during its ill-fated maiden voyage. Over the course of four days, Rose and Jack met, got to know each other quite well, and fell in love, and even while fighting for their survival they kept fighting for their relationship, as it was looked down upon by those from the first-class circle, especially those close to Rose. Unfortunately, Jack was one of the many passengers who died in the sinking of the Titanic, while Rose was one of the few who were rescued from the sea and lived to tell her story.
Rose and Jack’s story in Titanic is told by old Rose (Gloria Stuart), and this has made way for a couple of theories on the veracity of her story as it’s possible that she was an unreliable narrator. There are many moments throughout Titanic that can fuel that perception, including the most debated scene in the whole movie: the door scene. Once the ship fully sinks, Jack and Rose try to find a way to keep themselves somewhat safe until they can be rescued, and Jack finds a door and encourages Rose to get on it. The endless debate is whether Jack could have also fit on the door with Rose or not, but a theory has a different explanation on why Jack didn’t get on the door: he was already a ghost in that scene.
Unlike a famous Titanic theory that says Jack was a figment of Rose’s imagination, this one explains that Jack was real and he did fall in love with Rose, but in his final scene, Rose was actually interacting with his ghost. The theory, posted on Reddit, suggests that Jack died when he was separated from Rose by the current created when the ship sank. In that scene, Jack lets go of Rose’s hands due to the current and disappears into the sea. Rose then frantically looks for Jack through a crowd of desperate and frightened passengers in the sea, and he (very conveniently) finds her as one passenger unintentionally begins to drown her. They then find the infamous door, and only Rose gets on it. The author explains that this was Jack’s ghost saving Rose from drowning and later from freezing to death, as getting her to safety was his “unfinished business". This could explain how Rose found him so quickly among the crowd and how Jack found the door also quite quickly (the author also writes that Jack didn’t try to join her on the floating door, but he actually did and failed).
Last but not least, the author of the theory suggests that Jack’s final words to Rose about “getting out of this” and living to have babies, watch them grow, and die an old lady warm in her bed were not just a “motivational talk” but Jack telling Rose her future – and he wasn’t wrong, as Rose got to do everything she and Jack planned to do together. While it’s unlikely that Jack was a ghost in his final scene in Titanic, this theory gives a different perspective to the highly-debated door scene and makes Jack’s death slightly less tragic, but it also has different plot holes that don’t make it fully work, such as Jack trying to get on the door too and Rose pushing his body into the sea.