Titanic is like a stage where God says to you, “You have two hours to play out the rest of your life. What will you be? Will you be a hero? Will you be a coward?”
Those words, uttered by Titanic actor Bill Paxton in James Cameron’s other film about the Titanic, the undersea documentary Ghosts of the Abyss, are about as appropriate a prelude to one of my grievances with Cameron’s mega-hit as anything.
It is a moral crime that Cameron’s film, which has sadly become the definitive retelling of the story for our generation, is so stunted in its depiction of the range of human moral behavior in times of crisis. Titanic highlights and indeed exaggerates the cowardice, the folly, the dereliction of duty, while ignoring the heroism, the nobility, the self-sacrifice which is also an integral part of the story. Yes, Cameron allows for the possibility of heroism in the name of romantic love, self-sacrifice for one’s best beloved — but not heroism for strangers, or in the name of duty.
Saving the Titanic, a docudrama airing this month on PBS, sheds light on an untold page from the heroic side of the ledger. Combining traditional documentary with speculative historical dramatization, it highlights the story of the engineering crew, firemen, electricians and stokers who labored below decks to keep power flowing to pumps and lifeboat winches, first hoping to save the ship and then striving to delay the inevitable as long as possible to save as many lives as possible.
Saving the Titanic is certainly not a complete documentary look at the disaster as a whole. Its interests are with the crew below decks, not with the passengers or senior officers. Still, as a contribution to the screen record of Titanic material, it’s a valuable contribution and well worth catching. Worth noting are a couple of moments of matter-of-fact Christian spirituality, including a familiar grace before meals and a crew member praying a rosary during the disaster.
Saving the Titanic premieres on Sunday, April 1 at 10pm ET, with encore presentations scheduled for Friday, April 6, at 10:30pm, Tuesday, April 10, at 9:00pm ET and Saturday, April 14, at 9:00pm ET. Check local listings.
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Thank you for writing on the Titanic, Mr. Greydanus. Our family too was very disappointed with Cameron’s portrayal of April 14 & 15, 1912. He had the opportunity to show heroism and valiant acts in the face of death, but he chose instead to portray illicit romance.
Our family is trying to put a more honorable spin on the disaster with our organization, www.TitanicHeroes.com. We are committed to bringing out the heroic actions of those onboard, especially Father Thomas Byles, a Roman Catholic priest who went down with the ship.
We would love to talk to you about our project at some point!
Cady Crosby: if you’re not familiar with the website “Encyclopedia Titanica” check it out. It has bios of hundreds of passengers—the loving work of years by volunteer researchers, and is an invaluable resource. http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/ The Catholic priests on board Titanic were certainly an exemplary lot, and the instances of true charity and courage displayed are innumerable. God bless your efforts.
Steve, you said: “For example, I hadn’t known about the spontaneous coal fire, fueled by cheap coal purchased during a coal strike, which damaged the hull days prior to the iceberg collision, contributing to the disaster.”
Okay, sheesh, yes, I’m being a rivet-counter, but the coal fire has been pretty well researched. They were uncommon, but not unheard of in large ships moving tons of coal. The fire is not thought by engineers to have damaged the hull—that’s the part of the ship between the water and the inside of the vessel—but a bulkhead: a metal wall between one section of the ship and another. Whether this damage was significant enough to have affected the hull is not known (and makes for fascinating arguments between scientists!).
see: http://titanic-model.com/db/db-03/CoalBunkerFire.htm
Thanks for this article. Sad to see Cameron hawking a 3d extravaganza of his seriously flawed movie: nice to see some time and effort spent on portraying history.
o m g wow ggreat
loved this show
I caught the beginning of this when it was on PBS—right after “Titanic with Len Goodman.” I must confess, however, that I did not watch much of it. I guess I was “Titanic’d out” after the Len Goodman documentary.
One thing that strikes me about the sinking of the Titanic is this: It ranks alongside the atomic bomb as one of the 20th Century’s two defining moments of assault on modern man’s technological hubris. It was one of those “Tower of Babel” situations that serve to remind us that no matter how advanced we become, no matter how impressive our pursuits, humility and a sense of our own vulnerability will always be required of us.
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