109 Years of sinking Titanic: Comparison of a Hollywood Movie and Real Crash

Titanic began receiving reports of ice on April 14, but at the time the seas were calm and clear. By 11:30 p.m., a lookout spotted the iceberg that would soon prove to be deadly.

While the crew was able to slow down and avoid a head-on collision, the ship ultimately sideswiped the iceberg, causing the fatal 300-foot tear in the hull. 

James Cameron's 1997 film, Titanic, played a key role in removing this tragic accident from the pages of history and making it a living part of our lives.

The film's director James Cameron said in an interview: "It's not just a story, it's a real-life accident involving real people, in which death swallowed up life. I kept thinking that hardly anyone would make a film on this subject later, so it was my responsibility to stay close to the original and bring the emotional impression on the screen with full intensity.”

As far as the emotional impression is concerned, hardly anyone's heartbeat while watching the movie is drowned out with 'Titanic', but there are some things that are part of the movie that has nothing to do with the original.

Let see such a few things:

Jack and Rose's love

If you read about the sinking of the Titanic in the history books, you would surely miss a crazy love story. What happened between Jack and Rose in the movie didn't happen in real.

James Cameron used “Love” to bring an emotional attachment to the story. Even if it is not an incidental truth, it must be an emotional truth.

A ship that never sinks

At one point in the opening scenes of the film, Rose's mother says: "So this is the ship I have heard of that can never sink."

Such a claim was never made, but because of the film, this divinity turned into truth. And people consider this claim to be based on fact.

Murdoch’s Suicide

The ship is sinking and there is little hope of survival in the form of a few safety boats. In this case, everyone wants to get on board first. No one can escape if the capacity is not taken care of, so an officer with a pistol stops people to control the situation.

It was William McMaster Murdoch, who is still considered a hero in his hometown. What could be a greater proof of his compassion and sense of duty than the fact that he drowned without caring for himself, saving the lives of others, otherwise he could have survived by boarding a safety boat.

In the film, when two passengers do not stop a fire from the sailor results in killing them. Murdoch immediately regrets and shoots himself too. This is not the opposite of reality. James Cameron later admitted the mistake and formally apologized.

The Titanic was a whole world, so how could it not have been without a troupe of musicians? But it is still controversial whether the song Nearer, My God, To Thee, played at the end of the film, was sung while the Titanic was sinking.

Most survivors believe it was not a song, in fact, it was included in the film—close to the Titanic crash, A Night to Remember, which was also made a part of his film by James Cameron.

The starry sky

In the last scenes of the film, after the sinking of 'Titanic', Rose looks at the starry sky but when the 3D version of the film was released in 2019, the sky was changed in this scene.

It so happened that astronomer and scientist Neil de Grass Tyson sent an email to James Cameron stating that the night was different when the ship sank in the Atlantic Ocean in 1912. James asked for more details and brought it closer to reality in the 3D version. The astronomers also look at the sky as closely as we do with your Jack and Romance scenes of the day.

The Last Moments of Thomas Andrews

The Titanic is sinking and everyone is fighting to save their lives, but a man standing alone is staring at the painting. The ‘picture of helplessness” was the ship’s Chief Designer Thomas Andrews.

Was he there at the time of the sinking of the ship? According to one opinion, instead of standing in isolation, he remained active until the last moment to save the lives of others.

Was Jay Bruce a villain?

Be it real life or film, we need a villain anyway so that all the mistakes can be put on his head. Perhaps this is what the media did to J. Bruce Ismay after the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, a senior official of the White Star Line, the company that runs the Titanic. Cameron repeated the same attitude in his film. Was he a greedy man who thought of saving his life by leaving children and women behind? Did they tell Captain Smith to speed up? It is very difficult to prove based on evidence.

Although the inquiry report did not hold Asma responsible, the media exaggerated her as a villain, and Cameron's adviser, Loudon Brown, offered an excuse: "What would we do?”

Was it possible for Jack to come to first class?

The class struggle portrayed in the film is still debated today. Jack is a playful boy from the lower class while Rose belongs to the elite. At Rose's insistence, after saving Rose's life, her fiance invites Jack to eat with her. Jack comes to the elite section and eats at their table with Rose and her companions.

Was that possible? Not at all! Especially in the early decades of the twentieth century, such distinctions were taken seriously.

Jack's presence with the elite is also significant because most of the refugees were in the third-tier, and they were strictly confined to their level for fear of spreading any deadly disease.

Surviving the day

Was it possible to stay in the icy seawater for more than half an hour and then survive on a wooden plank?

According to experts, no passenger in the real 'Titanic' could have survived like this. At this temperature, even if it was on the board, it would freeze.

Was the descending of the real Titanic so dramatic?

If you've seen A Night to Remember, you don't see the Titanic's plate falling apart after it hit an avalanche because it wasn't clear until then. In that sense, Cameron's film is closer to reality.

The real problem is the imagery of the sinking ship. "Because the details are less in-depth, I was relatively free to make my own," says Cameron. Through special effects, Cameron Mian wreaked havoc on the Titanic and its passengers.