Titanic: Best Movie Ever Made

I can almost guarantee that you rolled your eyes at the title of this post. Honestly, I wish I could say that I didn’t mean it….

But yes, I am one of those girls that can watch Titanic every single day and STILL cry at least 3 times. Who are you to judge me?!

ANYWAYS, I have been trying to think of a movie that demonstrates issues of CLASS.

So class, todays class is on…CLASS. 🙂

So, in the movie Titanic there are two main classes that are shown, upper and lower class. In fact, The Titanic itself (the ship) really was seperated by class. The lower class people were literally in the lower half of the ship and the upper, richer class were in the top of the ship. What I am saying is, we can’t judge the creators of the movie for things that really did happen and really were an issue in the past. I say, “in the past” loosely because class differences are still a very real thing.

Ok let me clarify: class itself is not a problem. People who make and have more money are allowed to spend more money. And people who are less fortunate obviously do not have the funds to spend a ton of money. Although we hate to admit it, the amount of money we have does determine the life that we live. Am I saying that if we do not have any money, will we be unhappy? NO! In fact you might even be happier becasue you have less things (literally) to worry about. BUT having little money DOES tend to cause stress. But what does this have to do with Titanic?

We will start with Rose. Rose is a young, upper class girl from England. Her father died, leaving Rose and her mother to fend for themselves. Rose is engaged to a man who is a self-made millionaire. Throughout the entire movie, we (the viewer) can see that Rose is not really in love with Cal. She merely tolerates him when she is forced to be in his presence. On the other hand, Cal is seemingly in love with Rose, to a jealous and possesive point. Even before Rose ever meets Jack, Cal treats Rose more like his little porcelin doll. She is pretty, proper and he will do the speaking for her.

Cal is a good example of an upper class member. First of all, being considered a part of the upper class means that you have “made it.” Ok, so you have money, congratulations! Now the challenge is moving up within the class itself. Cal was young, good looking and extremely wealthy. He “made it” by his colleagues standards. He used Rose in a way to move up the social ladder. He knew that Rose did not love him and he was not willing to get out of it himself because he needed a Mrs. Marrying a beautiful woman of the same class bumped both of you up to the next level. Cal knew that getting married was his next step, and Rose was the perfect fit. Except for the fact that Rose was quite independent and outspoken for a woman back in those days…

Jack on the other hand is a bottom of the barrel, lower class citizen. He even won his ticket on the Titanic in a poker game. Jack was very carefree and happy, he seemed to be at peace with who he is and where he comes from, which was nothing. His family was not wealthy growing up and he makes his living traveling around selling his artwork. He had a few good friends but was always willing to get up and go if he felt like it. Quite the free spirit.

Jack met Rose. Rose was actually in the process of killing herself because she was so unhappy in her “stuffy” upper class lifestyle with her controlling fiance and demanding mother. Jack just happened to be at the right place in the right time and saved her life. Long story short, they fall madly in love with each other very fast. The issue that lies between their love and actually being together is, CLASS.

Of course the issue of Rose being engaged to a man on the boat meant something, but the real reason Rose and Jack could not be together was because Jack was poor and rich girls do not marry or even fall in love with poor boys.

There is a theory about wealth in regards to “keeping it in the family.” This is not only done by inheritance alone. Daughters of rich families are taught at a very young age that they should marry someone of the same level. This idea of the rich marrying the rich is brainwashed into these girls so much that the thought of marrying someone in lower class never occurs. Titanic is an excellent example of just this. Rose’s mother is very demanding and even forceful about Rose marrying Cal. The mother knows that the money that her husband left her will soon be gone and they will be broke. Heaven forbid she have to work! So, the mother jumps on the first train back to wealth and it is through the marrying off her only daughter to Cal.

What is sad about the mother’s character is the fact that she truly doesn’t see (until Rose and Jack get caught together) why Rose is not in love with Cal. Although we were not shown this, I am sure that the mother went through the same type of treatment from her own husband when he was alive. Men have a sense of superiority, especially back in these times. Granted, the men were the ones who worked and made the money…but I still do not think it gives them the right to mistreat or disrespect women, especially their wives. So the mother treats Rose like she is an idiot because if Rose had half a brain, she would realize that money (Cal) is the key to happiness.

Back to Jack, who falls in love with this woman who is by default upper class, but is more real than that. Jack has no problem introducing Rose to the lower level of the ship and showing her his life and what it is like. The lower class have tons of fun, are happy-go-lucky, and every night is a dance party! (Just a movie of course…) Whereas when Rose brings Jack to dinner with her people, they judge him and make him feel inadequate as a person because he does not come from money.

As a viewer of this movie, which class sounds more appealing to you?

Obviously the lower class. Until the end….

The ship hits an iceberg and Titanic begins to sink. Since there are a limited number of life boats, only a few hundred people will get out alive. What does the ship crew do? They lock the lower class in the bottom of the ship so they cannot come up while they serve the upper class champagne and  hor dervs.

In the end…Jack dies and Rose lives on as Rose Dawson who leads a normal (middle-class) life.

And the moral of the story is: money is not the key to happiness, true love is.

A person’s life is worth much more than any tuxedo, fancy car, or cuban cigar. This movie proves the point of class discrimination. Which still happens to this day. Years later we are still experiencing celebrities, politicians and millionaires getting out of trouble with a slap on the hand. Meanwhile, middle to lower class citizens have to suffer all of the consequences because they cannot buy their way out.

….Just for fun…

She’s Gotta Have It: But Can’t Have it All

“She’s Gotta Have It” is a not-so-popular film directed by Spike Lee. This movie was one of the first movies that addressed women and their personal sexuality. So, unlike my Lion King post…I am only going to talk about sexuality and gender.

A quick synopsis: Nola is the main character who is sexually independent and is juggling 3 men who want her. She likes all of the men for completely different reasons and struggles to choose and settle down with just one of them. The men are, the well-meaning Jamie, the self-obsessed model Greer and and the immature, motor-mouthed Mars.

What sets this movie apart from other movies about a girl falling in love is her sexual desires. Nola is not your average female character. She does not fall in love with just anyone who gives her attention and she loves sex. Nola loves sex, in general. She makes it known not only to all of her male suitors, but also to her friends. She is a very sexual being and does not understand why she would ever be judged or looked down upon for that.

Can’t a woman just enjoy sex with being called a slut?

Nola represents the struggle that black women were going through at the time. Which was, black men having multiple sex partners and getting away with it while women were expected to only have one at time. I am not saying that I think it is okay to go out and have tons of sex with multiple, random parters…but I do think this movie was bold to, in a sense, call out the black male population. What is even more interesting is, Spike Lee is a black male.

Another interesting part of this movie are in fact, the actual sex scenes. When she is having sex with Jamie, he becomes very aggressive and the sex eventually becomes more of a rape. He is forcing her to do things that she clearly does not want to do.

Now, you would think that after that scene, Nola would walk away from a guy like that. She doesn’t.  In fact she stays with him and begins to choose him over the other 2 guys. So, right when you think the theme of this movie is black women taking back their rights to their body and power…it shifts. Why on earth would Spike Lee put such a controversial and even uncomfortable sex scene in the middle of a movie that represents the oppostie?

Greer, is the self-obsessed model who wants to take the Brooklyn out of Nola and bring her to the city. He is constantly trying to change her to become what he likes and what he thinks is best for her. Although Nola likes Greer, she ends up breaking up with him becasue she doesnt love him like he deserves to be loved. And is not willing to change the way she is for a man.

Mars, is the immature boyfriend. He is the guy that Nola seems to have the most fun with, but she is not completely satisfied with somene who just makes her laugh. She wants status and power from the man she chooses. Nola breaks it off with him as well.

Jamie, the one who raped Nola earlier IS THE GUY THAT SHE CHOOSES! She finds him after she has already ended things with the other two and she confesses that she loves him. After a dramatic pause, JAMIE DENIES HER!

What are we supposed to take from this? That no matter how independent, self-sufficent, or in-power a woman is…she will always submit and lose to the man? “She’s Gotta Have It” refers to her desire to want casual sex and not be judged for it. Throughout the whole movie, her character is bold, strong and in complete control of her feelings and body.

Then, that last scene. Jamie wins. The man, wins. I am still trying to figure out what Spike Lee’s motives were in writing and directing this film.