Changing Viewpoint: A More Mature Look at Titanic

While it is not unexpected to know that our perspective of the world changes from childhood to adulthood, the memory of how our younger selves used to perceive something is often lost to time. Often when adults see something they loved as a child, such as a childhood movie, they not only think of it as horrid, but forget exactly why they liked it in the first place. There’s a bit of logic to this, for just as children find it hard to think as adults do, so do adults find it hard to think as they did when they were children. While most adults can act childish, few can truly think as they did when they were a child.

A personal example of this happening is with Ninja Turtles. When I was a child I loved everything Ninja Turtles, particularly the late 80’s cartoon show. Not to long ago I found a website that had old episodes on it and I started watching one. Shockingly I found myself becoming bored and actually thinking “I know it was better then this.” After a few minutes I stopped watching it for fear of tarnishing the childhood memory I had for my once beloved show.

An easier scenario to experience is seeing something, such as a movie or television show, that you disliked as a child and finding out that you like it as an adult. You can rationalize that the reason you disliked it the first time around was that you were not mature enough to appreciate what you were seeing. That either the subject matter you were experiencing went over your head or the way it was presented was unable to hold your attention. But once you’ve grown and experienced life you may discover that what once was not your cup of tea has become an unexpected treat.

Recently I decided to see how seeing a movie I once disliked might feel now that I am older. While there are a number of movies I could have chosen to see, I decided the movie Titanic would be the perfect one to see. I specifically chose it because I clearly remember that I did not like or appreciate it when I first saw it in theaters twelve years ago.

The first time I saw Titanic was at the age of fourteen during an 8th grade field trip. I didn’t really know much about the movie besides the basic plot, nor did I care. In truth there were only two things I had heard about the movie that interested me; the fact that the lead actress was naked at some point, and that Leonardo DiCaprio’s character died before the movie ended.

After a rowdy bus ride and waiting almost two hours for refreshments, I sat down in the theater just as the movie began. By the time it was over I can safely say that it didn’t make a huge impression on me. While it managed to keep my interest for the full three hours I wouldn’t say that I enjoyed or appreciated it. At fourteen I was more interested in seeing movies like Ace Ventura or Anaconda. A sweeping love story set against a terrible disaster was not something I would have made a huge point in seeing. In fact, I probably wouldn’t have seen it at all if not for the class trip.

Flash forward twelve years later. While I had seen it a couple of times after that first viewing, it had still been a number of years since I had last watched the movie. One night as I was watching TV I caught it during the middle. As I watched it I found myself enjoying it more then I had ever previously remembered. The next time I was at my video store I ended up renting it and watching it from beginning to end.

There is a big difference in seeing this movie when one is twenty six as apposed to fourteen. Not only can you enjoy it more but you are able to recognize many aspects that you would have missed the first time around. A perfect example is symbolism in appearance. As one learns more about visual storytelling you begin to notice that select costume choices are meant to reveal insights into characters. When young Rose is first shown on screen she is dressed in a tight black and white dress that seems to invoke the image of a straight jacket. In addition her hair is tightly pulled back and her face is partly obscured by a large hat. Everything about her physical appearance is meant to represent restriction and confinement. As the movie continues, and she spends more time with the free spirited Jack, she begins to physically become more uninhibited and free. Her hair it allowed to fall naturally and her clothing become looser and freer. After she has her portrait drawn she changes into a flowing dress that allows her no restrictions in movement, which she wears for the reminder of her time on screen. I have no problem admitting that this physical transformation was lost on me as a young teenager.

If there is one moment in the movie that I now view with different eyes, it’s the scene when Rose is drawn in the nude by Jack. When I first saw that scene it was my favorite part of the movie, because at that age seeing any female nudity on film was cause to get excited. Now that I’m a bit more mature I’m able to notice certain subtleties that were lost the first time, such as tiny things that made it seem more real. Instead of Kate’s character sliding perfectly into place she lays down and the two of them arrange her until she is in the right position. This is much more real then if she simply arranged herself at once. I also loved that once Jack starts drawing she can’t resist making faces and pointing out the blush that spreads across his face. I actually let out a giggle when he asks her to stop moving and she grins a little just before setting her face. Seeing that scene with new eyes brings a whole different interpretation to it. You realize that while Rose is physically exposed it is actually Jack, the world traveler who has seen it all, who is the more vulnerable one here.

While I enjoyed the portrait scene it is not my favorite moment in the movie. My favorite moment during this viewing is still a Kate Winslet moment, although this time it’s one in which we see very little of her physically. It’s in the scene when Rose is first given a chance to get on a life boat. Rose, after hearing her mother obliviously hope that the life boats will not be too crowded, angrily tells her that half the people on the ship will die because of the lack of enough life boats. Her fiancé Cal then muses that Jack’s drawing will be worth a lot by morning, since between his status as a third class passenger and being arrested for supposedly stealing the diamond necklace he’s guaranteed to go down with the ship. It is in this moment that Rose realizes the true depths of the evil Cal is capable of. This moment of comprehension is exceptionally compelling because the actress uses so little of her physical self to get the message across. Rather then contorting her face in disgust she keeps it a blank slate, and instead lets only her eyes show everything that she is feeling. It shows that sometimes the smallest gestures can reveal the most about a person.

As for the acting I was able to truly appreciate it more now then I did back in 98, particularly in watching Leonardo DiCaprio. I was unable to see much value in his performance back then, mainly because I couldn’t stand him. When all the guys on the trip cheered when his character died I was right up there applauding. It had nothing to do with him as a person or as an actor. My dislike of him stemmed from every teenage girl at the time being madly in love with him. I had a hard enough time competing against guys in my school for the attention of girls. Having to additionally compete with someone who was only seen in movies and magazines was a little to much to handle. This is a fairly common occurrence among teenage boys. In high school I had a teacher point out that while teenage boys now like Elvis and The Beatles, when they first appeared guys were less inclined to like them because of how crazy girls went for the musicians. I’m sure even now there are scores of teenage boys who can’t stand Zac Efron or Robert Pattinson simply because they are beloved by adoring female fans.

I recommend trying to reexperience something you once hated when you were younger. While it is entirely possible you might still hate it, there’s a greater chance you’ll see new value in what you once thought was rubbish. With new eyes, and a different perspective, anything is possible.