Titanic at 12 vs. 26

When Titanic was first released in 1997, I was 12. I saw the movie for the first time on opening weekend and went on to see it another five times in theaters. I, like many other 12-year-old girls of that era, was obsessed. I listened to "My Heart Will Go On" on repeat, cut out pictures of Leo from any magazine I could get my hands on and hung a movie poster in my bedroom.

A few years ago, my roommate and I decided to rent Titanic and watch it, unedited, from beginning to end for the first time in years. We were pleasantly surprised. That movie holds up. So when I found out sometime last year that James Cameron was planning to re-release the movie in 3D on the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster (that's the boat, not the movie), I knew I'd be one of the first in line for tickets. The thought of seeing that smokestack falling at me in 3D was really the only selling point I needed.

I finally got my chance last night, and I was not disappointed. But things have changed. When I was 12, I thought Titanic was a great movie because of the love story. Today, I think it's a great movie because of everything else. Below, a then-and-now comparison of the reaction I had to the movie at age 12 vs. the one I had last night, at age 26. When you're finished reading, I hope you'll go see the movie yourself.

What I Thought When I Watched Titanic at Age 12 vs. What I Thought When I Watched Titanic at Age 26

Age 12: Leo is such a heartthrob!

Age 26: Leo was so good in The Departed

12: Jack is so adventurous and romantic!

26: Jack should really get a job.

12: What does Rose mean when she says that woman is "in a delicate condition?"

26: Oh.

12: Cal is a jerk!

26: Cal is a typical member of the 1%.

12: Jack is so in love with Rose!

26: Jack has got some serious game.

12: OMG! They showed Kate Winslet's boobs!

26: Kate Winslet really does have an amazing set of boobs.

12: Rose and Jack are so in love!

26: Rose and Jack have only known each other for 24 HOURS!

12: Cal's footman is so mean!

26: Cal's footman is a certified psychopath. They should make an entire movie about him.

12: Jack would never have stolen the necklace, Rose. You have to believe him!

26: I wouldn't have trusted him either, Rose. BECAUSE YOU'VE ONLY KNOWN HIM 24 HOURS!

12: Wow! They steamed up that car! How romantic!

26: The physics of that just doesn't make any sense.

12: Watching this ship sink is so scary!

26: Watching this ship sink in 3D is f***ing terrifying.

12: It's so sad when Jack dies! I'm crying my eyes out!

26: It's so sad when the old couple, and the mother with her children, and the captain and Mr. Andrews die. I'm crying my eyes out!

12: "My Heart Will Go On" is my FAVORITE song!

26: "My Heart Will Go On" is a great song to sing at karaoke.

12: Why didn't Jack get on the board? There was so much room!

26: Why didn't get Jack get on the board? There was so much room!

12: If only Jack had lived! He and Rose could have gotten married!

26: If Jack had lived, he would have gotten fed up with Rose's helplessness in about six months.

12: Old Rose threw the necklace into the water so it could be with Jack!

26: Old Rose just threw her granddaughter's inheritance into the ocean for no reason.

12: This is SUCH a good movie!

26: This is SUCH a good movie!

 

Follow Brooke Carey on Twitter: www.twitter.com/brookecarey

Comments

[zanedvs]

09:02 PM on 04/11/2012

This is a nice article, aside from the snarky comment on the 1%. Class envy these days. Large amounts of money don't instantaneously make someone a bad person. That's a blatant generalization. Since when do we refer to someone as being a "typical" ____? That's as bad as saying someone's a "typical" black person or a "typical" gay. Your logic basically seems to be: "Cal is wealthy and not nice. Therefore, all wealthy people are not nice." Sweeping generalizations like that are unnecessary, illogical, and just plain rude.

[Brooke Carey]

09:50 PM on 04/11/2012

Thanks for your comment. In re-reading this, I wasn't thrilled with the way I phrased that one. The actual thought I had while re-watching the film was "this seems like a movie the Occupy movement should support" since it casts a rich guy as the villain and a poor guy as the hero. It is a generalization, and, actually, some of the most heartbreaking characters in the movie represent real-life members of the 1% like the Isidor and Ida Straus (the older couple who are shown in bed together) and Benjamin Guggenheim, who accepted his fate and died with dignity.

[Glory Mooncalled]

09:59 AM on 04/11/2012

Much better article than the one I read here yesterday! Thank you! For a while there, I didn't think it was possible for any sort of brain activity and the movie to go together.

Speaking of stupid and the Titanic, anyone read failblog today? http://failblog.org/2012/04/11/funny-facebook-fails-failbook-a-dozen-people-who-had-no-idea-titanic-was-a-real-ship/

[Julianasmom]

09:40 PM on 04/10/2012

Omg same age! 12-26 lol funny article

[Mantis Vyden]

03:57 PM on 04/09/2012

As a guy, I went to see it on a date when I was 17 years old. I faked 'being sick' half-way through and ran out of the theater. I never saw her or the rest of that movie again.

[mj2024]

11:18 AM on 04/09/2012

Haha my ages exactly and my sentiments exactly!

[Bill Davis1]

03:30 AM on 04/09/2012

Why doesnt the steaming of the windows make sense? You are in a closed, very cold place. Your body gives off heat normally, two bodies doing a stenuous activity, well you can imagine the heat. Well heat plus cold make what?, steam. Being in the belly of the cold steel ship, in the middle of the Artic, thats cold.

[MikeDu]

09:41 PM on 04/08/2012

I assume this 'article' is the studio promotion department's carefully crafted attempt to convince 20-something's they should pay big bucks to watch the same old soap opera over again. Don't fall for it. Its a movie you've already seen, probably several times. Except this time you'll walk out of the theater with a headache.

[cuteliberalchick]

08:34 PM on 04/08/2012

Saw it when I was 14.I will see it on Tuesday.

[lilbunnyfufu]

07:59 PM on 04/08/2012

I really have had no desire to see the rerelease of Titanic (esp since it's 3d and it never works for me) but this made me think or renting the movie. I was also 12, also obsessed with Leo and thought pretty much everything you said you did at 12. It would be interesting to see how my views have changed.

[Ortho Stice]

06:50 PM on 04/07/2012

I remember going to see a film (I think it was THE THIN RED LINE) with a friend at the old Three Penny Theatre (now closed and remodeled as a rock bar) in Chicago, but it was sold out. So, we went down the street to this great pub (The Red Lion—also now closed), where the owner had TITANIC on in the bar. The three of us spent the next two hours "MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000-ing" the movie. Smug? Yeah, but the movie has so many parts to lampoon. We had a much better time than we would have watching a war movie.

[janmB]

06:06 PM on 04/07/2012

The story was a simple one really. Two young people hit it off. Mother needs daughter to marry money. Ship hits iceberg. Boy has been tied up for punishment --girl saves boy. Ship Isn't prepared for disaster. Boy dies---girl lives to tell story.
Its the scenes that makes it all so real....and is so well done.

[Jeremy Fassler]

02:04 PM on 04/07/2012

Yes. Complete and total agreement on everything.

[Robyn Singleton]

12:49 PM on 04/07/2012

LOL..so on point!

[beachbum07]

12:40 PM on 04/07/2012

This is so funny. I saw it 13 times in the theaters when I was 12 (I was also 12 when it came out) and just saw it yesterday, again in the theaters at age 26. I was thinking all of this too during and after the movie!

[BD1979]

11:32 AM on 04/07/2012

Brooke, I was 18 and 32 now. I loved it then, and love it now. But Leo didn't do anything for me. I've seen it twice in 3D, 9 times total. It's the greatest movie and I was into Titanic before the movie,
Me at 18: The guy playing Thomas Andrews is hot
Me at 32: I've loved Victor Garber for 15 years

[Brooke Carey]

02:02 PM on 04/07/2012

I think now Mr. Andrews is my favorite in the movie. He's so tragic and genuine.