Anyway, last week we saw Titanic. I don’t want to spoil it for you, but I
wondered…

What are the necessary ingredients for a ‘blockbuster’ movie besides
zillions
of dollars and whiz-bang ‘special effects’? Well, the formula has to include
‘love’ (romantic, not the real kind :-), preferably involving a
triangle/jealous lover, plus of course furtive sex. A bit of nudity won’t
hurt, so make the reason somewhat legit – like stripping for an artist.

The plot has to involve dread/disaster through battling against impossible
odds – odds created by ‘Acts of God’ or acts of humans. Add some
salvation-through-luck so that the hero and/or heroine can escape a
succession
of perils at the last moment.

Then toss in some class war (steerage passengers, particularly if they’re
non-English-speaking are treated like cattle), greed (like: insufficient
lifeboats if the aesthetics don’t look right), a few
stupid/overbearing/scheming authority figures… And much more…

Most concomitants of human fallenness have to be in there somewhere. I’ll
let
you all elaborate…

From: “Randolph Parrish” <>

> Anyway, last week we saw Titanic. I don’t want to spoil it for you, but I
> wondered…

Don’t worry. I know that the ship sinks at the end. . .

BTW, IMVHO, the 1953 version, “Titanic”, with Clifton Webb, Barbara
Stanwyck, and Brian Ahern is much better. (They actually sing, “Nearer
My God to Thee’ at the end.)
The Titanic is interesting because it is such a microcosm of the
world–
rich and poor, male and female, old and young–placed in circumstances
where they know that 2 thirds of them will die in the next 3 hours; only
one third can be saved. So–how do they react?
(If they were MODERNS, of course, we know that all that ‘women
and children first’ bit would be long gone, and most of the crew would
have deserted with the lifeboats, leaving the passengers in the lurch.
And those who would be going to die would probably have lined up
at the rear of the ship, waiting for a ‘comet’ to take them off to enternal
bliss somewhere, while singing the lyrics to ‘gangsta rap’. Ah, how
times have changed. . . )

Subject:
Titanic (from soc.r.c.newsgroup)
Date:
Sat, 17 Jan 1998 12:15:17 -1000
From:
“Rowland C. Croucher” <>
Organization:
John Mark Ministries
Newsgroups:
aus.religion.christian, aus.religion

Daniel B. Holzman () wrote:
: In article <>,
: Rowland C. Croucher <>wrote:
: >
: >Then toss in some class war (steerage passengers, particularly if
they’re
: >non-English-speaking are treated like cattle), greed (like:
insufficient
: >lifeboats if the aesthetics don’t look right), a few
: >stupid/overbearing/scheming authority figures… And much more…
:
: Sorry to break in like this, but the shabby treatment of steerage
: passengers in general and insuffucient lifeboats on the Titanic are
: actual history, not mere ingredients for a successful movie….
:

Also to chime in, many of these are found in scripture. These are
facets of the human condition, and they never fail to intrigue us
and instruct if they are well told. We have overbearing authority
figures,
greed, lust, bloodshed, revenge, and so on in the pages of scripture
because scripture shows us much of mankind.

What made Titanic such a good picture was, I think, the way in which
the writer/director brought the world of 1912 and that voyage to life.
Everything he touched he brought vividly to life, especially the
grandeur and opulence of the ship, its sheer size and power. He also
brought the fictitious persons of Rose and Jack to life.

Some suspect the drawing was merely a plot excuse to expose a woman’s
bare breast on the screen, but this rendition of Rose is integral to the
whole tale. That’s pretty tough to attack as mere excuse since the
unity of the story depends heavily upon it.

In another newsgroup, many critics of the film were panning the use of
the
Heart of the Ocean and could not see its use as a major plot point. To a
person, they all ignored the fact that the only time Rose ever
voluntarily
wore it was for Jack to draw her with just it on. The pendant has
enormous
significance to Rose and symbolizes the most erotic moment of her entire
101-year life with a man like no other she had ever met on a voyage no
one
could ever forget.

Although scripture is rather discreet when it relates the temptation of
King David gazing upon Bathsheba from his rooftop, it’s a fair guess
that
he saw her partially or entirely exposed at some point in the story.
Scripture itself contains many elements of humanity in it which, were
they
portrayed on screen as they happened, would be very stark and shocking.
Imagine, for example, watching Abraham about to cut Isaac’s throat or
hearing what some of the curse words were that Peter used in his denial
of
Jesus; scripture tells us he cursed, but not particulars of what he
said.

Just my forty-nine cents worth (inflation).

—

Shalom! Rowland Croucher ()

Director, John Mark Ministries – resources for pastors/leaders
(Bookroom, library, and worldwide F.W.Boreham Trading Post)
Website (1000 articles)- http://jmm.aaa.net.au
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Motto for 1998: ‘carpe diem’ – a fish a day…