Abstract:
The
focus of this dissertation is the class discrimination that occurred onboard
the Titanic in 1912. This dissertation will examine the cross-class tension
between the first and third classes and will make particular reference to James
Cameron's 1997 film 'Titanic' and how it brought the tragedy back into popular
culture. The main conclusions drawn from this study are that the crew's first-class
prioritising was in effect a death sentence for those in third-class and it was
in fact the chivalrous behaviour of the first-class men that saved the few
lives of the third-class. This dissertation will also be making the case that Cameron's use of romance helped to
reinforce the class differences, however the vilification of first-class
characters in the film provide a negative representation of the real life,
upper-class victims; which could prove detrimental to the real memory of the
Titanic tragedy that is upheld in popular culture.
'In 1912 it was not the iceberg which decided who went to a watery grave, but the class prejudice... Whilst only 3% of first-class women were lost when the Titanic sank, 54% of those in third-class died. Whilst only 16.6% of first-class children perished, 66% of the kids in third-class had their lives stolen.' (Hall, 2012)
Introduction:
At 2.20AM on the 15th April 1912 over 1,500 men,
women and children died after the 'unsinkable' Titanic, that was carrying over
2,200 passengers, collided with an iceberg in the freezing cold North Atlantic
Ocean. It has been one-hundred years since this fateful event but it is still a
highly interesting and poignant area of study due to the clear class
discrimination that had occurred on board. The crew were aware that the Titanic
did not have enough lifeboats for more than half of her passengers and so
individuals in first-class had 'privileged access to the lifeboats while those
in steerage (third-class) were held back' (Heyer 2012, p. 183) the casualty
figures and eye-witness testimonies confirm this. As a result of this prejudice
the Titanic 'seared itself into Western memory not because it was timeless but
because it was timely' (Sandler and Studler, 1999, p. 4), with the lower
classes of America and Ireland using it to highlight their concerns over
contemporary politics, society and culture. Socialists alongside radical labour
activists argued that the disaster was 'yet another example of the oppression
suffered by the working classes at the hands of the wealthy and powerful'
(Barczewski 2004, p. 64), whereas others even went as far to say that Titanic
was in fact a 'symbol of mass murder' (Barczewski 2004, p. 240). Third-class
survivors gave personal accounts of being locked away from the rest of the
ship, with one woman, Anna Turja, claiming that a crew member tried to send her
and her friends back when he saw they were going up on to the deck but they
refused to obey and although he didn't argue with them, Turja stated that she
'clearly remembers that the doors were closed and chained shut behind them to
prevent others from coming up' ('I Survived The Titanic', n.d). Other survivors
of all classes say that they saw some third-class passengers being prevented
from getting to the life boats, with one crew member admitting that the third-class
'were falsely reassured and kept below deck until 1.15am, when most of the lifeboats
were already gone' (Barczewski 2004, p. 284). Although some have since argued
that the first hand testimonials of class discrimination may be distorted or
exaggerated memories there is in fact enough further evidence that proves at
least some of the gates that separated the Titanic's third-class areas from the
remainder of the ship were locked, if not all (Barczewski, 2004).
In the years following the disaster, the Titanic did become an important part of historical and class-related culture, however it was the release of James Cameron's 1997 fact-based feature film Titanic that so deeply embedded this tragedy into Western popular culture. James Cameron exploited the fateful class issues that the real Titanic disaster is so renowned for through the inclusion of a fictitious relationship between a third-class man, Jack Dawson (Leonardo Dicaprio), and first-class woman, Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet). This controversial relationship helps to steer the narrative and maintain audience interest whilst drawing attention to the real life class issues that occurred and educating wider society on a tragedy that was fading out of public memory. Aside from the fictitious central characters, much of what happens to the Titanic in the film is a truthful representation with many minor characters being based on real life passengers, the sensationalised romance is simply used as a catalyst for representing the class tension of 1912 society.
Initially, the concept for the film was mocked with one critic even ridiculing the idea by exclaiming 'Cameron is a guy who thinks he can improve the story of the Titanic!' (Sandler and Studler, 1999, p. 16) However, following the film's release it gained huge critical acclaim with the use of a love story as the main source of dramatic tension being praised as a 'natural shift' in order to emotionally affect the audience, 'making the plight of the fictional young lovers of even greater moment than their two-thousand-plus fellow passengers' (Sandler and Studler, 1999, p. 15) It has been argued that the tale of love and loss against a real-life tragedy regains the public discourse that originally surrounded the Titanic disaster and enables the viewing audience to 'translate the disaster into human terms' (Sandler and Studler, 1999, p. 9). Despite the fact that Titanic is steered by fiction, the film also gives an accurate historical account of the real tragedy with the set being almost identical to that of the real ship and prominent 'real-life' characters such as Benjamin Guggenheim, Margaret 'Molly' Brown, Bruce Ismay and other significant crew members being represented (IMDB, n.d.). The way in which the ship sank is also shown at the beginning of the film via computer graphics in order to make the actual event 'more comprehensible to viewers and allowing them to focus on the characters' plight rather than the mechanics of the disaster' (Sandler and Studler, 1999, p. 16) and some lines in the script, including this dissertation's title quote 'We are dressed in our best and prepared to go down as gentlemen', are direct quotations that were either overheard or said by the real-life survivors of the Titanic.
In the years following the disaster, the Titanic did become an important part of historical and class-related culture, however it was the release of James Cameron's 1997 fact-based feature film Titanic that so deeply embedded this tragedy into Western popular culture. James Cameron exploited the fateful class issues that the real Titanic disaster is so renowned for through the inclusion of a fictitious relationship between a third-class man, Jack Dawson (Leonardo Dicaprio), and first-class woman, Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet). This controversial relationship helps to steer the narrative and maintain audience interest whilst drawing attention to the real life class issues that occurred and educating wider society on a tragedy that was fading out of public memory. Aside from the fictitious central characters, much of what happens to the Titanic in the film is a truthful representation with many minor characters being based on real life passengers, the sensationalised romance is simply used as a catalyst for representing the class tension of 1912 society.
Initially, the concept for the film was mocked with one critic even ridiculing the idea by exclaiming 'Cameron is a guy who thinks he can improve the story of the Titanic!' (Sandler and Studler, 1999, p. 16) However, following the film's release it gained huge critical acclaim with the use of a love story as the main source of dramatic tension being praised as a 'natural shift' in order to emotionally affect the audience, 'making the plight of the fictional young lovers of even greater moment than their two-thousand-plus fellow passengers' (Sandler and Studler, 1999, p. 15) It has been argued that the tale of love and loss against a real-life tragedy regains the public discourse that originally surrounded the Titanic disaster and enables the viewing audience to 'translate the disaster into human terms' (Sandler and Studler, 1999, p. 9). Despite the fact that Titanic is steered by fiction, the film also gives an accurate historical account of the real tragedy with the set being almost identical to that of the real ship and prominent 'real-life' characters such as Benjamin Guggenheim, Margaret 'Molly' Brown, Bruce Ismay and other significant crew members being represented (IMDB, n.d.). The way in which the ship sank is also shown at the beginning of the film via computer graphics in order to make the actual event 'more comprehensible to viewers and allowing them to focus on the characters' plight rather than the mechanics of the disaster' (Sandler and Studler, 1999, p. 16) and some lines in the script, including this dissertation's title quote 'We are dressed in our best and prepared to go down as gentlemen', are direct quotations that were either overheard or said by the real-life survivors of the Titanic.
The
film Titanic is therefore a relevant
and important area of study with regard to class onboard the Titanic as, despite
being shaped by fiction, much of the representations are historically accurate
and based on eye-witness testimonies of Titanic survivors. The film's
fictitious romance is significant in shaping and reinforcing the real-life
class conflicts that occurred on board, most significantly with regards to the
ship's sinking and the discrimination against the lower class that lead to more
than 500 third-class passengers dying, including women and children, compared
to just 130 first-class victims (Titanic Universe, 2012). In its subsequent
chapters, this dissertation will be looking more closely at the use of romance
to reinforce the real-life class distinctions in the film Titanic before examining class in relation to tragedy on board the
Titanic as it has been argued that the reason this tragedy is so prominent in
Western memory is a direct result of the class-related tensions (Sandler and
Studler, 1999). However, it was the way the 1997 film translated these tensions
in favour of 'romantic hurdles and victories' that so firmly asserted the event
into modern popular culture, amazing public experts at the 'public's desire to
buy into a disaster' (Sandler and Studler, 1999, p. 1).
Literature
Review:
As the Titanic tragedy is such a prominent part of Western history, there is a wealth of publications to aid in this study. Stephanie Barczewski's book ''Titanic': A Night Remembered', was a highly valuable source in writing this dissertation. Barczewski's work most significantly depicts the class discrimination that occurred not only during the tragic sinking but more generically on board the Titanic as well, which illustrates the high priority of upper-class and in fact portrays the third-class to have been 'expendable' to the crew and other passengers . Sandler and Studler's ''Titanic': Anatomy of a Blockbuster' aided in the provision of evidence to support numerous arguments about the affect the film Titanic had on mass audiences. Sandler and Studler also praise Cameron's decision to use romance in order to appeal to the wider audience and add greater emotion to the tragedy, a significant point of interest within this dissertation. Numerous websites were also a great help in supplying detailed statistical evidence for this piece as well as giving a greater insight into the lives of otherwise overlooked passengers such as Margaret Brown and Benjamin Guggenheim. Overall, the extensive research and multitude of books and websites dedicated to the memory of the Titanic tragedy provided a wealth of help in supporting this dissertation's main arguments and providing evidence to illustrate the most significant points. Much evidence has previously been centred around testimonies from the Titanic survivors, however thanks to technological developments it has since been possible to explore the Titanic wreckage from our computer screen (Titanic Wreck, 2012). This ability to explore the real Titanic provides a much more detailed and haunting exploration of the differing class treatment by revealing the lavish first-class interior designs in comparison to the basic dormitories of third-class. Despite the developments in modern technology that allow us to see the Titanic for ourselves, the eye-witness testimonies are still of upmost importance in providing us with personal accounts on surviving the disaster that we have no way of imagining merely by reading the generic facts. Statements from survivors provide us with detail that would otherwise go unknown and some of these details from third-class survivors such as Annie Kelly and Anna Turja are incredibly important in highlighting the true plight of the lower-class, thus proving to be highly regarded in the study of class discrimination on board the Titanic.
As the Titanic tragedy is such a prominent part of Western history, there is a wealth of publications to aid in this study. Stephanie Barczewski's book ''Titanic': A Night Remembered', was a highly valuable source in writing this dissertation. Barczewski's work most significantly depicts the class discrimination that occurred not only during the tragic sinking but more generically on board the Titanic as well, which illustrates the high priority of upper-class and in fact portrays the third-class to have been 'expendable' to the crew and other passengers . Sandler and Studler's ''Titanic': Anatomy of a Blockbuster' aided in the provision of evidence to support numerous arguments about the affect the film Titanic had on mass audiences. Sandler and Studler also praise Cameron's decision to use romance in order to appeal to the wider audience and add greater emotion to the tragedy, a significant point of interest within this dissertation. Numerous websites were also a great help in supplying detailed statistical evidence for this piece as well as giving a greater insight into the lives of otherwise overlooked passengers such as Margaret Brown and Benjamin Guggenheim. Overall, the extensive research and multitude of books and websites dedicated to the memory of the Titanic tragedy provided a wealth of help in supporting this dissertation's main arguments and providing evidence to illustrate the most significant points. Much evidence has previously been centred around testimonies from the Titanic survivors, however thanks to technological developments it has since been possible to explore the Titanic wreckage from our computer screen (Titanic Wreck, 2012). This ability to explore the real Titanic provides a much more detailed and haunting exploration of the differing class treatment by revealing the lavish first-class interior designs in comparison to the basic dormitories of third-class. Despite the developments in modern technology that allow us to see the Titanic for ourselves, the eye-witness testimonies are still of upmost importance in providing us with personal accounts on surviving the disaster that we have no way of imagining merely by reading the generic facts. Statements from survivors provide us with detail that would otherwise go unknown and some of these details from third-class survivors such as Annie Kelly and Anna Turja are incredibly important in highlighting the true plight of the lower-class, thus proving to be highly regarded in the study of class discrimination on board the Titanic.
Chapter
One: Class and Romance in Titanic
One
of the most significant factors of the cross-class romance in Titanic is the substantially differing
representations of the third and first class. The Titanic was sailing from
Britain to America, 'the new World', when the tragedy struck and film director
James Cameron uses this to aid not only class distinctions but the binary 'good
and evil' character distinctions too. In Titanic,
the third-class are depicted as much more fun and generally much better people
- the innocent and understated heroes of the Titanic who were forced into horrifying
deaths whereas most of the first-class are shown to be rude, villainous snobs.
It is therefore significant to note that all of the third-class are either
American, such as Jack Dawson, Irish, such as Tommy Ryan (Jason Barry) or from
another part of Europe, such as Jack's best friend Fabrizio (Danny Nucci).
Alongside protagonist Jack, Tommy and Fabrizio are the unsung heroes of the
film who help to barge down the third-class barriers in order to save the women
and children, they are also seen to be naturally good-natured and welcoming
towards Rose when she joins them in a third-class dance even though she is
first-class. On the other hand, first-class characters such as Rose's mother
Ruth (Frances Fisher), fiancé Cal (Billy Zane), his accomplice Spicer Lovejoy
(David Warner) and the Managing Director of the White Star Line who was blamed
for the sinking of the Titanic in real-life,
Bruce Ismay (Jonathan Hyde), are represented as the obnoxious, evil villains of
the film and it is no coincidence that these characters are decidedly British.
This arguably anti-British tone faced hostility from many critics as Cameron
used not only class to represent the film's villains but nationality as well
(Barczewski 2004, p. XIV). The British first-class men are depicted as part of
the 'Old World', boring, misogynistic and close-minded whereas third-class
American Jack is a creative, free-spirited artist who ultimately sacrifices his
own life to save the woman he loves. Titanic
implies that 'to be part of the New World was to spit, swear, drink beer and
dance Irish jigs in steerage' whilst the first-class men sip brandy and
'congratulate each other on being masters of the universe' (Barczewski 2004, p.
XIV) The mundanity of first-class is
further highlighted after Jack joins Rose's family and friends for dinner after
Rose tells them that he saved her life. Following this scene Rose secretly
meets Jack again where he asks her 'So, do you want to go to a real party?'
Before the film cuts to a third-class party, here everybody is having fun,
dancing and getting drunk and the fact that this scene is placed immediately
after the first- class dinner scene provides a huge contrast for the film's
audience and makes the class differences even more apparent, favouring the
lower classes magnificently. This excitement of third-class and Jack's 'New
World' morals appear to be the basis of their romantic relationship and this
implies that in order for Rose to have fun and get away from her stifling
upper-class lifestyle she needed to escape from not only the first-class but
from the British nationality as well. In fact, the only non-British member of
first-class represented in the film is American Molly Brown (Kathy Bates), who
is based on real-life passenger Margaret 'Molly' Brown. Similarly to the third-class
passengers Molly is represented as fun and good-hearted, almost like she does
not belong amongst the upper-class. This is reinforced by the way other members
of first-class, such as Rose's mother Ruth, do not accept Molly amongst their
own, Rose says that this is because Molly is 'new money', somebody who has recently
married into the upper-class lifestyle, not born into it. It could also more
implicitly be due to the fact that Molly is American, thus she holds the 'New
World' values that appear to be so alien to the traditionally British first-class.
Alongside Tommy and Fabrizio in third-class, Molly is one of the film's heroes
and it is interesting to see that even though Molly is a first-class passenger
she is still fulfilling Cameron's representation of non-British nationalities
being the 'better' nationalities. However, despite Molly's character maintaining
Cameron's theme of class, nationality and good nature it is important to note
that Molly is perhaps one of the most accurate depictions of a real-life
Titanic passenger in the film and as his representation is so historically
accurate perhaps Cameron did not include Molly's nationality and social status
purely for dramatic integrity; a point which will be further discussed in the
next chapter.
The
representation of what life is like for first-class women serves as a catalyst
for the romance between Jack and Rose. Rose says that before meeting Jack her
life was monotonous and repetitive; 'An endless parade of parties and
cotillions, yachts and polo matches. Always the same narrow people, the same
mindless chatter', a lifestyle that suggests high social standing comes at an
equally high cost. In fact, Rose's first-class life is shown to be so
unbearable that the first time her and Jack meet is when he stops her from
committing suicide. Here the third-class is represented to be a literal saviour
to the misfortunate women who are trapped in an unfulfilling life. It is
significant that Cameron focuses so much attention on the unhappiness of a
first-class woman and contrasts it so well to the carefree attitudes of the
people in steerage who, despite having little money and few prospects, are
happy and appear to have genuine friendships and deep-rooted love. The first-class
are artificial; women forced to marry rich men for the respectable name and men
marry the women in order to possess them and use them as a further
representation of their wealth. It is clear that there is no tender love or
emotion between Rose and her fiancé, wealthy businessman Cal, but the
representation of a relationship between
not only Jack and Rose but other third-class couples, such as Fabrizio and his
lover that he meets on ship, is seen to be exciting, romantic and above all
genuine.
Whilst Titanic
is eager to reinforce how much better the third-class passengers are in
comparison to the upper-class, throughout the film there are constant
references and reinforcements of Jack's low social standing. James Cameron does
not allow the audience to forget Jack's humble third-class background or Rose's
privileged upbringing and this highlights just how integral the class division
is to the plot. Jack remains in the same clothes for the entire film, aside
from borrowing a suit from Molly for the first-class dinner, he spits, he
fights and even makes references to his impoverished lifestyle with lines such
as 'Just the other night I was sleeping under a bridge' and 'I have ten bucks
in my pocket, I have nothing to offer you (Rose).' On the other hand Rose wears
exquisite evening dresses and has a personal maid for her trip on the Titanic. Most
significantly, Rose is given the highly sought after 'Heart of the Ocean'
diamond necklace, worth millions of dollars, by her fiancé and although Rose
shows personal disgust towards the gift, it is still representative of her high
place in society and once again reinforces the wealth of Cal. The necklace is
viewed as the height of misogynistic possession by Rose and she disregards this
great demonstration of wealth in favour of an underprivileged artist who is
able to show her love and passion. The diamond is seen to travel a path; when Cal
gives it to Rose it demonstrates his ownership over her, however eighty years
later the diamond becomes a feminist emblem of independence as Rose throws the
highly sought after, and incredibly valuable, necklace into the ocean where
nobody will find it. Therefore 'what once was a symbol of monarchy, possession
and subjugation turns into an object of personal empowerment, liberty and
rebellion' (Sandler and Studler, 1999, p. 10).
The first-class is depicted to be suffocating Rose's potential; she is scolded if she speaks her mind and when asked if she will be attending University Rose's mother replies 'The purpose of University is to find a suitable husband, Rose has already done that.' It seems ironic that although Rose has the money and opportunity that the third-class lack, she faces equal limitations in personal fulfilment. Whilst the third-class lack the financial aspect to attend University and gain independence with a good job, Rose lacks society's permission and her potential is sacrificed in favour of marriage to a respectable, wealthy man who Rose and her mother will be dependent on following the death of Rose's father that left their family penniless. Once again this is heavily contrasted to Jack, a free-spirit who is self-reliant, even though this means materialistically he possesses much less than Rose, he is happier and more fulfilled in his life and appears to have nourished his potential as an artist rather than having to hide his talent away to maintain class ideologies. Jack therefore appears to bring out the arguably 'banished' side of Rose. He frees her from the first-class ideologies that have chained her to a dull and fruitless life and releases her fun and daring side; as the film progresses the audience is able to see this release of Rose's hidden character. Although Rose is always represented to be unlike other first-class women, the film's opening scene still shows her as an uptight, well-spoken woman on her best behaviour but by the end of the film Rose has sworn at a member of the ship's crew, spat in her fiancé's face and enjoyed passionate sex with Jack, highlighting how much being with a third class-boy has changed the ladylike demeanour she used to uphold. It appears that Rose's mother is concerned about Jack's potential to influence and 'free' her daughter from the rigid lifestyle that she has worked so hard to achieve as Rose says that whereas everybody else in first-class is curious and gracious about Jack after Rose says that he saved her life, her mother 'looked at him like an insect. A dangerous insect, which must be squashed immediately.' This instantly implies that Rose's mother is aware of the fun and more exciting lifestyle that the third-class can offer Rose and by likening Jack to an insect shows that although she views Jack as lowly and threatening, he is also somebody who can get into Rose's mind and show her a better way to live. Her mother's hostility towards Jack not only further represents him as forbidden fruit, it also reinforces the strict lifestyle that Rose is expected to lead where class and keeping up appearances is more highly valued than love or emotion.
Similarly to the continuous references to Jack's low social standing, Cameron also reinforces Rose's unhappiness and dissatisfaction with her life. Thus not only are the audience constantly reminded of the class differences, they are also unable to forget the misery of first-class for a woman and the life-saving fun that the third-class is able to offer. The horror of first-class is mostly referenced by Rose, who says things such as 'Outwardly, I was everything a well brought up girl should be. Inside, I was screaming.' Which offers the audience an insight to the suffocation and peril of first-class, however the misery is so apparent that when Rose tells Jack that she is happy with her fiancé Jack replies 'Really? I don't think so. They've got you trapped, Rose and you're going to die if you don't break free.' The fact that after knowing Rose for such a short space of time the suffocation of first-class is noticeable to Jack reinforces two factors. Firstly, it highlights how first-class is so painstakingly unbearable for Rose that even outsiders can detect the misery of it, whilst her mother and fiancé either fail to notice or acknowledge Rose's unhappiness. Secondly, it re-asserts Jack as Rose's hero; not only is he able to see through her facade of a happy, well-brought up girl, he is also desperate to save her. Jack is able to see Rose's misery and unlike her mother or fiancé he does not brush it aside for the sake of her first-class reputation, rather he takes it upon himself to release her from that lifestyle and bring to her a new, more exciting and fulfilling lease of life with him and his third-class friends. Barczewski argues that on the Titanic it was considered 'the privilege and duty of man to protect the weak' (2004, p. 65), with regard to the lifeboat policy that prioritised women and children. However, even though Rose is a woman she would still have been considered to be in a stronger position than Jack due to her high social standing, it is therefore interesting to note that it is in fact her very social standing that actually puts her in this fragile situation which makes Jack want to save and protect her. Despite the fact Jack is of lower-class and is weaker than the first-class, it is he who rescues Rose from her unfavourable lifestyle before making the ultimate sacrifice of his life in order to save her once and for all. Later on in the film Rose even says that Jack saved her in 'every way a person can be saved' and it is represented to the audience that he is the one who liberated her and gave her the power to be adventurous and live in a way that is deemed unsuitable for the upper class.
When the ship is sinking in Titanic we see the saviour roles reversed as Rose rejects her space on a lifeboat and risks her life in order to go to the flooded lower decks and save Jack, who had been chained in one of the offices after Cal set him up for a robbery. It is significant that throughout the film it appears that Rose is more dependent on Jack to rescue her from the metaphorical first-class chains that are forcing her into a lifestyle that she does not want to lead with a fiancé whom she does not love. Here we see Jack literally chained to the ship and facing death also due to Rose's fiancé, and just as Jack saved Rose from her life-threatening chains as a victim of the first-class, Rose is now strong enough to do the same for him. Rose then proceeds to reject another lifeboat offer as she does not want to leave Jack behind, this reinforces their love and also implies a transformation from a first-class woman to third-class as it was first-class women who were prioritised in getting a space on a lifeboat whereas a vast majority of third-class women remained on board. In the film, there is only one other first-class woman seen onboard the ship as it sinks and that is an elderly woman who is being held by her husband in bed, awaiting their fate. This is a representation of real-life passengers Isidor and Ida Straus, who will be discussed further in the next chapter. Similarly to Rose in Titanic Ida rejected the offer of a lifeboat in order to stay and die with the man that she loves, however although Rose chooses to stay on board the ship her and Jack are desperately fighting for survival which shows that Rose does want to live but she can't bear the thought of living without Jack. Rose is therefore the only first-class woman who is trying to survive and this could almost suggest that her values and refusal to leave somebody that she loves have taken her away from the represented superficial, unloving British first-class roots. Titanic's two constant themes of Jack's low social standing and Rose's desperation to escape first-class perhaps become most prominent at this point in the film as it is here that Rose appears to finally shed her first-class image. This is reinforced when Cal sees Rose escape from the lifeboat so not to be separated from Jack and Cal angrily says to her 'Where are you going? To him? To be a whore to a gutter rat?' and Rose curtly replies 'I'd rather be his whore than your wife' before spitting in his face so that he will let her go. This small section of the film epitomises the class issues that Cameron was trying to represent as it shows Rose stand up for herself for the first time as well as highlighting once again how much better it is to be with an American third-class man, a 'gutter rat' with nothing to offer, over a British first-class man who is incredibly wealthy but does not provide Rose with the emotional support or freedom that she so desperately desires. The way that Rose spits in Cal's face once again suggests the transformation from first to third class is complete; not only is she the last first-class woman trying to survive the sinking, she has started to act like a third-class woman from the 'New World' too.
The first-class is depicted to be suffocating Rose's potential; she is scolded if she speaks her mind and when asked if she will be attending University Rose's mother replies 'The purpose of University is to find a suitable husband, Rose has already done that.' It seems ironic that although Rose has the money and opportunity that the third-class lack, she faces equal limitations in personal fulfilment. Whilst the third-class lack the financial aspect to attend University and gain independence with a good job, Rose lacks society's permission and her potential is sacrificed in favour of marriage to a respectable, wealthy man who Rose and her mother will be dependent on following the death of Rose's father that left their family penniless. Once again this is heavily contrasted to Jack, a free-spirit who is self-reliant, even though this means materialistically he possesses much less than Rose, he is happier and more fulfilled in his life and appears to have nourished his potential as an artist rather than having to hide his talent away to maintain class ideologies. Jack therefore appears to bring out the arguably 'banished' side of Rose. He frees her from the first-class ideologies that have chained her to a dull and fruitless life and releases her fun and daring side; as the film progresses the audience is able to see this release of Rose's hidden character. Although Rose is always represented to be unlike other first-class women, the film's opening scene still shows her as an uptight, well-spoken woman on her best behaviour but by the end of the film Rose has sworn at a member of the ship's crew, spat in her fiancé's face and enjoyed passionate sex with Jack, highlighting how much being with a third class-boy has changed the ladylike demeanour she used to uphold. It appears that Rose's mother is concerned about Jack's potential to influence and 'free' her daughter from the rigid lifestyle that she has worked so hard to achieve as Rose says that whereas everybody else in first-class is curious and gracious about Jack after Rose says that he saved her life, her mother 'looked at him like an insect. A dangerous insect, which must be squashed immediately.' This instantly implies that Rose's mother is aware of the fun and more exciting lifestyle that the third-class can offer Rose and by likening Jack to an insect shows that although she views Jack as lowly and threatening, he is also somebody who can get into Rose's mind and show her a better way to live. Her mother's hostility towards Jack not only further represents him as forbidden fruit, it also reinforces the strict lifestyle that Rose is expected to lead where class and keeping up appearances is more highly valued than love or emotion.
Similarly to the continuous references to Jack's low social standing, Cameron also reinforces Rose's unhappiness and dissatisfaction with her life. Thus not only are the audience constantly reminded of the class differences, they are also unable to forget the misery of first-class for a woman and the life-saving fun that the third-class is able to offer. The horror of first-class is mostly referenced by Rose, who says things such as 'Outwardly, I was everything a well brought up girl should be. Inside, I was screaming.' Which offers the audience an insight to the suffocation and peril of first-class, however the misery is so apparent that when Rose tells Jack that she is happy with her fiancé Jack replies 'Really? I don't think so. They've got you trapped, Rose and you're going to die if you don't break free.' The fact that after knowing Rose for such a short space of time the suffocation of first-class is noticeable to Jack reinforces two factors. Firstly, it highlights how first-class is so painstakingly unbearable for Rose that even outsiders can detect the misery of it, whilst her mother and fiancé either fail to notice or acknowledge Rose's unhappiness. Secondly, it re-asserts Jack as Rose's hero; not only is he able to see through her facade of a happy, well-brought up girl, he is also desperate to save her. Jack is able to see Rose's misery and unlike her mother or fiancé he does not brush it aside for the sake of her first-class reputation, rather he takes it upon himself to release her from that lifestyle and bring to her a new, more exciting and fulfilling lease of life with him and his third-class friends. Barczewski argues that on the Titanic it was considered 'the privilege and duty of man to protect the weak' (2004, p. 65), with regard to the lifeboat policy that prioritised women and children. However, even though Rose is a woman she would still have been considered to be in a stronger position than Jack due to her high social standing, it is therefore interesting to note that it is in fact her very social standing that actually puts her in this fragile situation which makes Jack want to save and protect her. Despite the fact Jack is of lower-class and is weaker than the first-class, it is he who rescues Rose from her unfavourable lifestyle before making the ultimate sacrifice of his life in order to save her once and for all. Later on in the film Rose even says that Jack saved her in 'every way a person can be saved' and it is represented to the audience that he is the one who liberated her and gave her the power to be adventurous and live in a way that is deemed unsuitable for the upper class.
When the ship is sinking in Titanic we see the saviour roles reversed as Rose rejects her space on a lifeboat and risks her life in order to go to the flooded lower decks and save Jack, who had been chained in one of the offices after Cal set him up for a robbery. It is significant that throughout the film it appears that Rose is more dependent on Jack to rescue her from the metaphorical first-class chains that are forcing her into a lifestyle that she does not want to lead with a fiancé whom she does not love. Here we see Jack literally chained to the ship and facing death also due to Rose's fiancé, and just as Jack saved Rose from her life-threatening chains as a victim of the first-class, Rose is now strong enough to do the same for him. Rose then proceeds to reject another lifeboat offer as she does not want to leave Jack behind, this reinforces their love and also implies a transformation from a first-class woman to third-class as it was first-class women who were prioritised in getting a space on a lifeboat whereas a vast majority of third-class women remained on board. In the film, there is only one other first-class woman seen onboard the ship as it sinks and that is an elderly woman who is being held by her husband in bed, awaiting their fate. This is a representation of real-life passengers Isidor and Ida Straus, who will be discussed further in the next chapter. Similarly to Rose in Titanic Ida rejected the offer of a lifeboat in order to stay and die with the man that she loves, however although Rose chooses to stay on board the ship her and Jack are desperately fighting for survival which shows that Rose does want to live but she can't bear the thought of living without Jack. Rose is therefore the only first-class woman who is trying to survive and this could almost suggest that her values and refusal to leave somebody that she loves have taken her away from the represented superficial, unloving British first-class roots. Titanic's two constant themes of Jack's low social standing and Rose's desperation to escape first-class perhaps become most prominent at this point in the film as it is here that Rose appears to finally shed her first-class image. This is reinforced when Cal sees Rose escape from the lifeboat so not to be separated from Jack and Cal angrily says to her 'Where are you going? To him? To be a whore to a gutter rat?' and Rose curtly replies 'I'd rather be his whore than your wife' before spitting in his face so that he will let her go. This small section of the film epitomises the class issues that Cameron was trying to represent as it shows Rose stand up for herself for the first time as well as highlighting once again how much better it is to be with an American third-class man, a 'gutter rat' with nothing to offer, over a British first-class man who is incredibly wealthy but does not provide Rose with the emotional support or freedom that she so desperately desires. The way that Rose spits in Cal's face once again suggests the transformation from first to third class is complete; not only is she the last first-class woman trying to survive the sinking, she has started to act like a third-class woman from the 'New World' too.
The
fact that the audience actually sees Rose eighty years after the disaster
further proves her transformation that took place on the ship. Before meeting
Jack, Rose was incredibly well-spoken with just a hint of an American accent.
However, at eighty Rose speaks with a very generic American accent that
suggests once arriving in the 'New World' she found the freedom that Britain
did not appear to offer and by staying in America Rose was able to live a good
and fulfilling life. The extent of her freedom is highlighted by the
photographs that show the adventures she has been on which surround her bed and
Cameron is sure to focus on these photographs in order to enforce her total
liberation following the Titanic tragedy. The way that Rose has lost her very
upper-class accent also shows that she has shed all traces of her first-class
background and although Rose is by no means living like the third-class on the
Titanic would have, it is clear that she is not indulging in such a luxurious
lifestyle as she would have been with Cal and her mother. This representation
of 'old Rose' supports the idea of high-class and the British nationality as
something that one needs to escape in order to thrive.
As
previously mentioned, the film Titanic
played a huge role in embedding the tragedy into the Western World's popular
culture. The film won more than eighty awards, including eleven prestigious
Oscars (IMDB, n.d) and was the first film to make over two billion dollars
(Adams, 2012). Although the central characters were fictitious the cross-class
romance helped to show the audience the class discrimination that took place on
board the real Titanic. By centring the film on people from different classes
the audience felt a greater connection and understanding to the fate of the
third-class when placed in such stark contrast to the upper-classes (Sandler
and Studler, 1999). However, to suggest that Titanic is only popular for the romance between two of Hollywood's
biggest actors would be an unfair assumption to make, after all:
'If audiences were intrigued only by the
cross-class romance that fuels Titanic's narrative,
why are folks calling travel agents so that they can visit the graves of the titanic's victims in Halifax, Nova Scotia, or willing to
spend $30,000 or more to board a submersible
and be dropped into the depths of the Atlantic to view the liner's rustile- draped wreckage?' (Sandler and Studler, 1999, p.6)
Indeed, it appears that James Cameron helped to revive the fast-fading memory of the Titanic tragedy and bring back the interest and public sympathy that the real victims deserve. Using romance to make the event more relatable to the public, Titanic took the heart-wrenching disaster and educated a new generation of audience on the tragic human error and apparent class discrimination that took over 1,500 people's lives.
Indeed, it appears that James Cameron helped to revive the fast-fading memory of the Titanic tragedy and bring back the interest and public sympathy that the real victims deserve. Using romance to make the event more relatable to the public, Titanic took the heart-wrenching disaster and educated a new generation of audience on the tragic human error and apparent class discrimination that took over 1,500 people's lives.
Chapter
Two: Class and Tragedy on board the Titanic
The differing treatment of the first and third class as tragedy struck and the ship started to sink was apparent almost immediately. It was reported by the survivors that 'in first-class, passengers were politely told to bring their lifejackets and come up on deck; in third-class, doors were banged open and light switches flipped on' (Barczewski 2004, p. 20). It was then a requirement by the ship's crew that the first and second class were to be loaded into lifeboats first however, due to the insufficient number of lifeboats this policy was in effect a death sentence for most of the third-class. It has been alleged by surviving crew member John Hart that most of the Titanic officers, alongside the higher class passengers, viewed their third-class counterparts as 'expendable' and that he was the only member of the crew to make an organised effort to lead the third-class women and children to safety (Barczewski 2004, p. 284). However, the class discrimination becomes even more horrifying as multiple survivor testimonies claim that the third-class passengers were not only prevented from getting into life boats, they were in fact locked away in the rapidly flooding lower decks and crew actively prevented them from escaping onto the top deck where the lifeboats were. Third-class survivor Annie Kelly reported that the staircase leading out of third-class was barricaded, for 'fear of the excitement (the steerage passengers) would cause to the people up there who were getting away in lifeboats' (Barczewski 2004, p. 284) Kelly gives one of the most harrowing and telling testimonies on the treatment of the third-class during this tragedy which reinforces the crew's viewpoint of the third-class being 'expendable' and the discriminative treatment and obstacles that the third-class faced in order to survive:
The differing treatment of the first and third class as tragedy struck and the ship started to sink was apparent almost immediately. It was reported by the survivors that 'in first-class, passengers were politely told to bring their lifejackets and come up on deck; in third-class, doors were banged open and light switches flipped on' (Barczewski 2004, p. 20). It was then a requirement by the ship's crew that the first and second class were to be loaded into lifeboats first however, due to the insufficient number of lifeboats this policy was in effect a death sentence for most of the third-class. It has been alleged by surviving crew member John Hart that most of the Titanic officers, alongside the higher class passengers, viewed their third-class counterparts as 'expendable' and that he was the only member of the crew to make an organised effort to lead the third-class women and children to safety (Barczewski 2004, p. 284). However, the class discrimination becomes even more horrifying as multiple survivor testimonies claim that the third-class passengers were not only prevented from getting into life boats, they were in fact locked away in the rapidly flooding lower decks and crew actively prevented them from escaping onto the top deck where the lifeboats were. Third-class survivor Annie Kelly reported that the staircase leading out of third-class was barricaded, for 'fear of the excitement (the steerage passengers) would cause to the people up there who were getting away in lifeboats' (Barczewski 2004, p. 284) Kelly gives one of the most harrowing and telling testimonies on the treatment of the third-class during this tragedy which reinforces the crew's viewpoint of the third-class being 'expendable' and the discriminative treatment and obstacles that the third-class faced in order to survive:
'Before
all the steerage passengers had even a chance of their lives, the Titanic's
sailors fastened the doors and
companionways leading up from the third-class section... A crowd of men were trying to get up to a higher deck and were fighting the sailors; all striking and scuffling and
swearing. Women and some children were there praying and crying. Then the sailors fastened down
the hatchways leading to the third-class section. They said they wanted to keep the air down there so the
vessel could stay up longer. It meant
all hope was gone for those still down there.' (Barczewski
2004, p. 284)
Not only does this horrifying account highlight the
cruel and heartless treatment of the third-class, it provides a stark contrast
to that of the first-class. Kelly specifically mentions the women and children
who were left to die by members of the crew even though the survival policy was
to prioritise women and children first. This account reinforces the fact that
by 'women and children', the crew more specifically meant 'first-class women
and children' and the third-class did not seem to be considered with the same high
priority. It was not just Annie Kelly who made such claims either; other third-class survivors claim to have
seen crew chain doors shut once a few of the third-class had escaped in order
to prevent any others from coming up and others, including members of first-class,
had said that even once the third-class were on the top deck they were actively
prevented from getting into lifeboats (Barczewski 2004, p. 248). Although some
have since argued that these reports were exaggerated and no such
discrimination occurred, surviving crew have admitted that they were ordered to
falsely reassure the third-class passengers and many were not allowed out of
the lower decks until 1.15am, over one and a half hours after the initial
collision with the iceberg and once most of the lifeboats had already gone
(Barczewski 2004, p. 284). These claims can also be clearly affirmed by the
casualty figures of the Titanic tragedy; it cannot be a coincidence that 62% of
first-class passengers of all genders survived compared to just 25% of the
third-class (Titanic Statistics, 2010).
The
Titanic had been constantly enforced as 'unsinkable' to its passengers prior to
this night, as a result there was little panic on board for the first hour or
so after the collision and the crew could not persuade enough women and
children to climb into the first several lifeboats launched. As a result of
this, many boats were launched far from full capacity, they were each able to
hold sixty-four people and most of the first lifeboats held less than thirty
(Titanic Facts, n.d.). Second Officer Charles Lightoller continued to
rigorously enforce the policy of 'women and children first' and ensured that no
male passengers boarded any of the lifeboats that he launched, even if there
were not enough women and children willing to board to fill a lifeboat.
However, on the other side of the ship
First Officer Murdoch allowed first-class men to take any empty seats after all
women and children who could be persuaded to climb aboard had done so (Titanic
Tragedy, n.d.). Despite this preferential treatment, few first-class men
accepted the offer with most saying that they are to be gentlemen, refusing to
leave the ship whilst other women and children were on board. This chivalrous
behaviour did end up saving many third-class lives and implies that even though
the first-class women and children were prioritised, chivalry saved the third-class
women and children over the lives of the first-class men.
It was reported that one of the wealthiest multi-millionaire bankers on the ship, Benjamin Guggenheim, worked tirelessly to help women onto the lifeboats; dressed in his finest evening clothes he refused to take a space for himself and declared this dissertation's title quotation: 'We are dressed in our best and prepared to go down as gentlemen' (Benjamin Guggenheim Biography, 2012). This quotation is so poignant as it appears to serve as a summary of many first-class male's mindset on that fateful night, which shows that although class discrimination was undeniably prominent, many first-class men appear to have been unable to put their class ahead of their gentlemanly ideologies. As mentioned in the previous chapter, Isidor and Ida Straus are first-class passengers who refused seats on a lifeboat. Due to their substantial wealth and old age the couple were high priority when it came to being saved but well aware of the few lifeboat spaces that were available Isidor refused to take the life of another man by accepting a seat. The crew then desperately tried to make Ida take a seat but she is quoted as saying to her husband 'We have been living together for many years, where you go , I go.' The couple were last seen sitting together on deck chairs on deck amongst the chaos, not in bed together as represented in James Cameron's Titanic (Pugh, 2012).
It was reported that one of the wealthiest multi-millionaire bankers on the ship, Benjamin Guggenheim, worked tirelessly to help women onto the lifeboats; dressed in his finest evening clothes he refused to take a space for himself and declared this dissertation's title quotation: 'We are dressed in our best and prepared to go down as gentlemen' (Benjamin Guggenheim Biography, 2012). This quotation is so poignant as it appears to serve as a summary of many first-class male's mindset on that fateful night, which shows that although class discrimination was undeniably prominent, many first-class men appear to have been unable to put their class ahead of their gentlemanly ideologies. As mentioned in the previous chapter, Isidor and Ida Straus are first-class passengers who refused seats on a lifeboat. Due to their substantial wealth and old age the couple were high priority when it came to being saved but well aware of the few lifeboat spaces that were available Isidor refused to take the life of another man by accepting a seat. The crew then desperately tried to make Ida take a seat but she is quoted as saying to her husband 'We have been living together for many years, where you go , I go.' The couple were last seen sitting together on deck chairs on deck amongst the chaos, not in bed together as represented in James Cameron's Titanic (Pugh, 2012).
The
chivalry of the first-class victims placed them as heroes of the tragedy, with
many in awe that 'even after the ominous tilting of the bow, even after the
sound of gun shots, even after the rockets exploding overhead, most first-class
men left on the decks had decided not to escape' (Angel 2012, p. 98). However,
the mere fact that the first-class men had a choice of surviving places them at
a higher advantage than the third-class men, which is supported by the statistics
that show 32% of first-class men survived compared to just 16% of the third-class
(Titanic Statistics, 2010). Although the decision of the first-class victims is
undeniably admirable, the third-class men were equally heroic in getting third-class
women and children out of the locked lower decks. Women survivors in third-class
claimed that an Irish third-class passenger called James Farrell was screaming
at the crew 'Great God, Man! Open the gate and let the girls through!'
Eventually, the member of crew gave in and unlocked the gate to let the women
through (Barczewski 2004, p. 283). Other survivors of third-class admired the
courage of the men who helped them escape the barricades and ensure that they
got a space on the lifeboats. However, as much fewer third-class men were
offered lifeboat seating than the first-class men, they were not given the
opportunity to survive nor offer such heroic and chivalrous behaviour.
Perhaps one of the greatest heroes of the Titanic tragedy was the
aforementioned Margaret ('Molly') Brown, the 'new money' as represented by
Kathy Bates in James Cameron's Titanic.
Brown was a feminist socialite who had worked her way up from a modest
childhood and was travelling on the Titanic in first-class. Of all the
survivors, Brown was arguably the true hero from the first-class who, as shown
in the film, did not care for class discrimination nor did she prioritise her
own life above the women and children of third-class. Brown is reported to have
shared her many extra layers with other passengers in her lifeboat to protect
them from the freezing weather conditions and once on board the Titanic's
rescue ship, the Carpathia, she paid for third-class survivors to send
telegrams to their relatives to let them know that they were okay. Brown also
helped to distribute supplies on the Carpathia and as she was multi lingual she
attempted to comfort distraught survivors from third-class who spoke little or
no English. Whilst on board she set up a committee to help the Titanic
survivors who had lost everything and had no money, by the time the Carpathia
reached New York three days after the Titanic tragedy, almost $10,000 had been
pledged due to Brown's perseverance. Margaret Brown continued to help the lower
classes in New York as she stayed on board for an extra day to make sure that
survivors were able to reach their desired destination, she then worked for a
week in order to make sure that the donations she had collected on the
Carpathia of money and clothing went to those who needed them (Barczewski 2004,
p. 90). It is clear to see that Brown was a first-class woman who remembered
her lower-class roots; she attempted to bridge the boundaries between the
classes during the tragedy and was one of the few survivors, alongside two
other first-class women Helen Candee and Julia Cavendish, who pleaded with the
crew member of their lifeboat to go back to save the dying bodies. The rest of
their lifeboat refused to go back and despite the fact that over 1,500 people,
including children, were slowly freezing to death in the ice cold water and
there was plenty of space in the lifeboats, only two of the eighteen lifeboats
went back to look for survivors; nine people were rescued overall although one
died soon after (Barczewski 2004, p. 88).
James Cameron's film Titanic focuses hugely on the class discrimination that occurred during the tragic sinking. The majority of first-class characters had already been built up as villains by this point in the film and Cameron plays on this factor in order to add a heightened sense of class prejudice. It is important to remember that these class distinctions were exaggerated for the purpose of the film but the film does appear to accurately represent the way the third-class were locked into the lower decks and it brings to light the heroes of the lower-classes which had previously been ignored by popular culture in favour of the chivalrous first-class men. However, some of the dialogue of the fictitious first-class characters arguably creates a negative association with the real first-class and this representation could prove destructive and distorting to the real memory of the Titanic tragedy. For example, before getting into a lifeboat Rose's mother asks 'Will the lifeboats be seated according to class? I hope they're not to crowded' and once Rose says that half the people on the ship will die her fiancé Cal's response is 'Not the better half.' These particular quotations are integral for the villainous representation of the British first-class in the film but even though class prejudice was a huge part of the sinking of the Titanic and resulted in a great loss of lives, there is no record of the first-class being so outwardly cruel and heartless towards the lower-classes in such a time of panic during the real disastrous sinking. This untrue and highly disturbing representation of the first-class for the purpose of a blockbuster could be considered slanderous as the film was being marketed as inspired by real-life and it is well known that some class discrimination occurred but the mass audience may not be aware that it was not to such a great extent. However, it is made clear that the central characters of Jack and Rose alongside Cal, Rose's mother and Jack's best friends Fabrizio and Tommy are not based on real people and so James Cameron exploited the binary 'good' and 'evil' characteristics in order to reinforce the class differences and also for important plot and character development. The first-class characters need to be exaggerated as insufferable and 'evil' characters in order to justify to the audience why Rose needs to escape and to further reinforce Jack's inherent 'goodness'. The plight of the first-class men is very underrepresented by James Cameron, aside from referencing Benjamin Guggenheim and Ida and Isidor Straus there is no mention of the heroic chivalry that the first-class displayed. Instead, much of the heroic representation is saved for the third-class men, with Jack, Tommy and Fabrizio breaking down the gates in order to free the third-class women and children and, most significantly, Jack saving Rose's life. The third-class are also offered more emotion and audience empathy; the plight of the first-class victims is not represented at all whereas the third-class victims are represented substantially. The film brings home the fact that the prioritising of first-class women and children was a death sentence for many of the third-class by showing a third-class Irish woman and her two children waiting for the crew to open the gates to let the third-class up to the main deck. When one of the children asks what they were doing the mother replies 'We're just waiting, dear. When they're finished putting first-class people in the boat, they'll be starting with us. And we ought to be ready, oughtn't we?' Later on in the film we see the same family back in their third-class dormitory with the helpless mother reading the children a bedtime story as they fall asleep, the audience and mother know full well that these children will die. The fact that the dialogue makes specific reference to the first-class people being a priority and then shows the woman giving up hope and accepting the horrifying fate of her and her children's lives reinforces the common argument that the third-class perished as a direct result of the first-class prioritising. This family is also an example of James Cameron's empathy building technique where he shows the third-class' struggle to survive before showing their death. Whereas no first-class victims have had any character development prior to falling victim of the tragedy, many third-class characters are introduced during the sinking and this makes their eventual death all the more distressing for the audience. As well as the family previously mentioned, a recurring character throughout the sinking is a foreign third-class woman with a newborn baby, the audience see her repeatedly throughout the sinking, desperate for help and asking the captain where to go to survive. The final time that the audience see her is frozen dead in the ocean, clutching her baby in her arms. It is significant that the most distressing death scenes are those of third-class women and children, not of the third-class men. This brings home the fact that with a lifeboat policy that outwardly appears to prioritise 'women and children', more realistically prioritised the first-class women and children and by showing the deaths of children and babies Cameron adds even more emotional distress to the audience's response. The audience also witnesses the deaths of Jack's two friends Fabrizio and Tommy, two of the most well-established minor characters, and the death of Fabrizio's third-class lover is also strongly implied. On the other hand, aside from Ida and Isidor Straus who are briefly shown in bed together awaiting their fate, no first-class passengers are shown dying, even though in reality there were over one-hundred first-class victims.
James Cameron continues to reinforce the less integral class differences during the scenes that show the ship sinking. For example, as the Titanic went down the on board band have been widely acknowledged for playing cheerful music on deck to try and ease the panic. The band normally performed during the first-class dinners and Cameron exploits this with third-class Tommy retorting 'Music to drown by, now I know I'm in first-class!' It is significant that even amongst the chaos of the ship sinking Cameron found a way to mention the class differences. In reality all eight of the band members died and despite the fact that they must have been aware of their fate, they did not stop playing until it was physically no longer possible to continue (Titanic's Band, 2012). It could therefore be argued that this sarcastic comment offered in the film Titanic turns what was previously considered an act of pure bravery and selflessness into yet another representation of cross-class differences and the oppression of the third-class even during tragedy.
James Cameron's film Titanic focuses hugely on the class discrimination that occurred during the tragic sinking. The majority of first-class characters had already been built up as villains by this point in the film and Cameron plays on this factor in order to add a heightened sense of class prejudice. It is important to remember that these class distinctions were exaggerated for the purpose of the film but the film does appear to accurately represent the way the third-class were locked into the lower decks and it brings to light the heroes of the lower-classes which had previously been ignored by popular culture in favour of the chivalrous first-class men. However, some of the dialogue of the fictitious first-class characters arguably creates a negative association with the real first-class and this representation could prove destructive and distorting to the real memory of the Titanic tragedy. For example, before getting into a lifeboat Rose's mother asks 'Will the lifeboats be seated according to class? I hope they're not to crowded' and once Rose says that half the people on the ship will die her fiancé Cal's response is 'Not the better half.' These particular quotations are integral for the villainous representation of the British first-class in the film but even though class prejudice was a huge part of the sinking of the Titanic and resulted in a great loss of lives, there is no record of the first-class being so outwardly cruel and heartless towards the lower-classes in such a time of panic during the real disastrous sinking. This untrue and highly disturbing representation of the first-class for the purpose of a blockbuster could be considered slanderous as the film was being marketed as inspired by real-life and it is well known that some class discrimination occurred but the mass audience may not be aware that it was not to such a great extent. However, it is made clear that the central characters of Jack and Rose alongside Cal, Rose's mother and Jack's best friends Fabrizio and Tommy are not based on real people and so James Cameron exploited the binary 'good' and 'evil' characteristics in order to reinforce the class differences and also for important plot and character development. The first-class characters need to be exaggerated as insufferable and 'evil' characters in order to justify to the audience why Rose needs to escape and to further reinforce Jack's inherent 'goodness'. The plight of the first-class men is very underrepresented by James Cameron, aside from referencing Benjamin Guggenheim and Ida and Isidor Straus there is no mention of the heroic chivalry that the first-class displayed. Instead, much of the heroic representation is saved for the third-class men, with Jack, Tommy and Fabrizio breaking down the gates in order to free the third-class women and children and, most significantly, Jack saving Rose's life. The third-class are also offered more emotion and audience empathy; the plight of the first-class victims is not represented at all whereas the third-class victims are represented substantially. The film brings home the fact that the prioritising of first-class women and children was a death sentence for many of the third-class by showing a third-class Irish woman and her two children waiting for the crew to open the gates to let the third-class up to the main deck. When one of the children asks what they were doing the mother replies 'We're just waiting, dear. When they're finished putting first-class people in the boat, they'll be starting with us. And we ought to be ready, oughtn't we?' Later on in the film we see the same family back in their third-class dormitory with the helpless mother reading the children a bedtime story as they fall asleep, the audience and mother know full well that these children will die. The fact that the dialogue makes specific reference to the first-class people being a priority and then shows the woman giving up hope and accepting the horrifying fate of her and her children's lives reinforces the common argument that the third-class perished as a direct result of the first-class prioritising. This family is also an example of James Cameron's empathy building technique where he shows the third-class' struggle to survive before showing their death. Whereas no first-class victims have had any character development prior to falling victim of the tragedy, many third-class characters are introduced during the sinking and this makes their eventual death all the more distressing for the audience. As well as the family previously mentioned, a recurring character throughout the sinking is a foreign third-class woman with a newborn baby, the audience see her repeatedly throughout the sinking, desperate for help and asking the captain where to go to survive. The final time that the audience see her is frozen dead in the ocean, clutching her baby in her arms. It is significant that the most distressing death scenes are those of third-class women and children, not of the third-class men. This brings home the fact that with a lifeboat policy that outwardly appears to prioritise 'women and children', more realistically prioritised the first-class women and children and by showing the deaths of children and babies Cameron adds even more emotional distress to the audience's response. The audience also witnesses the deaths of Jack's two friends Fabrizio and Tommy, two of the most well-established minor characters, and the death of Fabrizio's third-class lover is also strongly implied. On the other hand, aside from Ida and Isidor Straus who are briefly shown in bed together awaiting their fate, no first-class passengers are shown dying, even though in reality there were over one-hundred first-class victims.
James Cameron continues to reinforce the less integral class differences during the scenes that show the ship sinking. For example, as the Titanic went down the on board band have been widely acknowledged for playing cheerful music on deck to try and ease the panic. The band normally performed during the first-class dinners and Cameron exploits this with third-class Tommy retorting 'Music to drown by, now I know I'm in first-class!' It is significant that even amongst the chaos of the ship sinking Cameron found a way to mention the class differences. In reality all eight of the band members died and despite the fact that they must have been aware of their fate, they did not stop playing until it was physically no longer possible to continue (Titanic's Band, 2012). It could therefore be argued that this sarcastic comment offered in the film Titanic turns what was previously considered an act of pure bravery and selflessness into yet another representation of cross-class differences and the oppression of the third-class even during tragedy.
Conclusion:
To
conclude, class was perhaps one of the most important aspects of the whole
Titanic tragedy. Even though the survivor's testimonies that recorded the class
discrimination that occurred on board the Titanic may have been exaggerated or
distorted, it is clear to see that at least some of the third-class were
prevented from getting to the top decks or into lifeboats. The first-class were
considered highest priority and it is significant to note that the class discrimination
with regard to the Titanic tragedy continued even after the sinking occurred.
The media was criticised following the sinking as the 'preferential treatment
continued even after death, as many local memorials to the deceased listed the
names in order of social importance, not alphabetically' (Heyer 2012, p. 183).
This highlights how even in death, class distinctions were incredibly apparent.
James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster Titanic is largely to thank for bringing the disaster back into the public eye. Released fifty-five years after the real tragedy took place, the memory of the Titanic and its victims was fast-fading and Cameron's use of romance to regain audience interest and to make the cross-class tension all the more prominent should be applauded. However, by vilifying the first-class characters Cameron exaggerated the treatment of the third-class during the actual sinking; although it is clear that the first-class were heavily prioritised by crew the film lacks authenticity as there is no record of the first-class passengers being as cruel and heartless as represented in Titanic. The film does not allow for any sympathy to be given to the upper-class victims, which could prove detrimental to the public's reaction towards the real victims. It is significant that the most embedded memory of the Titanic tragedy in popular culture comes in the form of a fact-based film, which provided such a biased and negative representation of the entire first-class. The fact that the portrayal of the first-class is inaccurate and exaggerated distorts and perhaps even de-values the memory of the real class-discrimination that occurred. Thus, although the fact that Cameron brought the Titanic and it's class issues back into popular culture is to be applauded, it is important for the audience to remember that the central characters are fictitious and the cross-class tension was highly exaggerated for the purpose of the film. The distinctions between the 'Old World' (Britain) and 'New World' (America) is also an interesting choice by James Cameron; critics have argued that the film gives a hostile and negative representation of the British and translates 'Old World' and thus British values as something that central character Rose needs to escape in order to thrive and live a more fulfilling lifestyle. The fact that high-class is given such negative associations and depicted as something to escape from over the fun and exciting life available for the third-class makes the death of the third-class all the more tragic for the film's audience. We are given a larger insight into the fun-loving lives of the third-class and this makes their plight all the more difficult to watch; on the other hand, the first-class are villains who manage to survive and it is interesting that Cameron does not show the death of any first-class characters. This emotive technique further alienates the first-class from the audience and once again denies the audience the ability to feel any emotional response towards the real first-class victims of the Titanic as the film implies that the only victims were third-class.
The real Titanic did favour the first-class tremendously and it is significant that despite a lifeboat policy that prioritised women and children, many first-class men were offered seats whilst much of the third-class remained locked below deck. It is admirable that the chivalrous behaviour of the first-class men is ultimately what saved the third-class lives of the few survivors, however the third-class men were not offered the opportunity to display such commendable behaviour due to being below deck for much of the night, but they did display heroic behaviour in getting the third-class women and children onto the top deck. It is interesting that in popular culture prior to the release of Cameron's film, the continuous themes of the Titanic memory were 'the chivalry of the crew and the upper-class male passengers' (Barczewski 2004, p. 66) and the heroic nature of these men, with the third-class passengers chiefly ignored. However, in Titanic the heroism of the third-class is the ultimate representation and in doing this Cameron altered the perception in popular culture to greatly favour the third-class heroes over the first-class.
It therefore seems that the third and first class will always be remembered as enemies on board the Titanic, with popular culture always favouring over the other and placing the two as rivals. Prior to the release of James Cameron's film in 1997 the first-class were widely favoured over the third-class by the general public but Titanic was then able to alter public perception and create a completely oppositional viewpoint that is now the commonly-held belief in popular culture. Even though the prejudice during the disaster is not recorded as being as drastic as the representations shown in the film, class discrimination undoubtedly occurred on that fateful night. After all, ''fate' cannot describe why comparatively few third-class passengers survived' (Angel 2012, p. 11).
James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster Titanic is largely to thank for bringing the disaster back into the public eye. Released fifty-five years after the real tragedy took place, the memory of the Titanic and its victims was fast-fading and Cameron's use of romance to regain audience interest and to make the cross-class tension all the more prominent should be applauded. However, by vilifying the first-class characters Cameron exaggerated the treatment of the third-class during the actual sinking; although it is clear that the first-class were heavily prioritised by crew the film lacks authenticity as there is no record of the first-class passengers being as cruel and heartless as represented in Titanic. The film does not allow for any sympathy to be given to the upper-class victims, which could prove detrimental to the public's reaction towards the real victims. It is significant that the most embedded memory of the Titanic tragedy in popular culture comes in the form of a fact-based film, which provided such a biased and negative representation of the entire first-class. The fact that the portrayal of the first-class is inaccurate and exaggerated distorts and perhaps even de-values the memory of the real class-discrimination that occurred. Thus, although the fact that Cameron brought the Titanic and it's class issues back into popular culture is to be applauded, it is important for the audience to remember that the central characters are fictitious and the cross-class tension was highly exaggerated for the purpose of the film. The distinctions between the 'Old World' (Britain) and 'New World' (America) is also an interesting choice by James Cameron; critics have argued that the film gives a hostile and negative representation of the British and translates 'Old World' and thus British values as something that central character Rose needs to escape in order to thrive and live a more fulfilling lifestyle. The fact that high-class is given such negative associations and depicted as something to escape from over the fun and exciting life available for the third-class makes the death of the third-class all the more tragic for the film's audience. We are given a larger insight into the fun-loving lives of the third-class and this makes their plight all the more difficult to watch; on the other hand, the first-class are villains who manage to survive and it is interesting that Cameron does not show the death of any first-class characters. This emotive technique further alienates the first-class from the audience and once again denies the audience the ability to feel any emotional response towards the real first-class victims of the Titanic as the film implies that the only victims were third-class.
The real Titanic did favour the first-class tremendously and it is significant that despite a lifeboat policy that prioritised women and children, many first-class men were offered seats whilst much of the third-class remained locked below deck. It is admirable that the chivalrous behaviour of the first-class men is ultimately what saved the third-class lives of the few survivors, however the third-class men were not offered the opportunity to display such commendable behaviour due to being below deck for much of the night, but they did display heroic behaviour in getting the third-class women and children onto the top deck. It is interesting that in popular culture prior to the release of Cameron's film, the continuous themes of the Titanic memory were 'the chivalry of the crew and the upper-class male passengers' (Barczewski 2004, p. 66) and the heroic nature of these men, with the third-class passengers chiefly ignored. However, in Titanic the heroism of the third-class is the ultimate representation and in doing this Cameron altered the perception in popular culture to greatly favour the third-class heroes over the first-class.
It therefore seems that the third and first class will always be remembered as enemies on board the Titanic, with popular culture always favouring over the other and placing the two as rivals. Prior to the release of James Cameron's film in 1997 the first-class were widely favoured over the third-class by the general public but Titanic was then able to alter public perception and create a completely oppositional viewpoint that is now the commonly-held belief in popular culture. Even though the prejudice during the disaster is not recorded as being as drastic as the representations shown in the film, class discrimination undoubtedly occurred on that fateful night. After all, ''fate' cannot describe why comparatively few third-class passengers survived' (Angel 2012, p. 11).
Bibliography
Books
Books
Angel, Simon. (2012), 'The Titanic: -
Everything Was Against Us', Google eBook.
Barczewski, Stephanie. (2004), 'Titanic': A Night Remembered, Hambledon Continuum; London.
Barczewski, Stephanie. (2004), 'Titanic': A Night Remembered, Hambledon Continuum; London.
Heyer, Paul. (2012), Titanic Century:
Media, Myth and the Making of a Cultural Icon, Praeger Publishers Inc; USA.
Sandler S. Kevin., Studlar, Gaylan. (1999), 'Titanic': Anatomy of a Blockbuster, Rutgers University Press; USA.
Sandler S. Kevin., Studlar, Gaylan. (1999), 'Titanic': Anatomy of a Blockbuster, Rutgers University Press; USA.
Websites
Adams, Ryan. (2012), 'The Hunger Games Tops $500M; Titanic Tops $2b', Available From: http://www.awardsdaily.com/2012/04/the-hunger-games-tops-500m-worldwide/ (Date accessed: 28/04/12)
Hall, Mick. (2012), 'At a time when social mobility in the UK is at an all time low, ruling class jamborees like the Boat Race and Queen's Diamond Jubilee are arrogant obscenities' Available From: http://www.organizedrage.com/2012/04/at-time-when-social-mobility-in-uk-is.html (Date accessed: 27/04/12)
Pugh, Ryan. (2012), 'Isidor and Ida Straus', Available From: http://ryantpugh.co.uk/2012/04/29/isidor-and-ida-straus/ (Date accessed: 30/04/12)
'Benjamin Guggenheim: Biography' (2012), Available From: http://www.biography.com/people/benjamin-guggenheim-283816 (Date accessed: 29/04/12)
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(Date accessed: 28/04/12)
'The
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27/04/12)
Titanic (1997), Available From: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120338/ (Date
accessed: 30/04/12)
'Titanic's Band' (2012),
Available From: http://www.titanic-titanic.com/titanic_band.shtml (Date
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'Titanic Facts', Available
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(Date accessed: 30/04/12)
'Titanic Sinking', (2012), Available From: http://www.titanicuniverse.com/titanic-sinks
(Date accessed: 28/04/12)
'Titanic Tragedy', Available From: http://www.frontline.org.za/articles/titanic_tragedy.htm (Date accessed: 28/04/12)
'Titanic Wreck',
Available From: http://www.the-titanic.com/Journey/Wreck.aspx (Date accessed:
07/05/12)
Films
Titanic (1997)
Director: James Cameron.
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