The story of Titanic has captured hearts and minds worldwide, arguably none more so than the love story between Jack and Rose in James Cameron's TITANIC movie. Despite being based on fictional characters, the 1997 classic is still listed as one of the greatest love stories of all time!
Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt Bukater, portrayed in the movie by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, are almost entirely fictional characters (James Cameron modeled the character of Rose after American artist Beatrice Wood, who had no connection to Titanic history). The movie's love story is also fiction.
Although Titanic's main story is fictional, it used the tragedy of the Rms Titanic as its basis, and as such, it also included characters based on real-life passengers of the ship, including the Titanic's richest passenger – and here's who it was.
James Cameron revealed that Kate Winslet's Rose was inspired by someone who was actually not even connected to the Titanic: American artist Beatrice Wood. Cameron was reading her biography while developing the movie, which is where his inspiration came from. Wood was an artist who came from a wealthy socialite family.
Titanic, launched on May 31, 1911, and set sail on its maiden voyage from Southampton on April 10, 1912, with 2,240 passengers and crew on board. On April 15, 1912, after striking an iceberg, Titanic broke apart and sank to the bottom of the ocean, taking with it the lives of more than 1,500 passengers and crew.
TITANIC: 10 Differences Between The MOVIE And The REAL STORY
Are Jack and Rose real?
There were certainly passengers onboard the Titanic who experienced their own dramas and tragedies, but the love story of Rose and Jack is purely fictional. Cameron used this romance to humanize the catastrophe, adding a deeply personal dimension to the historical event.
The very longest-living person to have survived the Titanic died on the 31st of May 2009. Her name was Elizabeth Gladys 'Millvina' Dean, and she was just two months old when she boarded the Titanic with her family.
Although Titanic is ultimately based on a true story and even added some real life characters, not everything in the movie actually happened. James Cameron had to either change, add, or embellish some details to fit the story he wanted to tell.
Although Rose changed her name to “Dawson” to honor Jack, used this name during her acting career, and ultimately revealed she never got over Jack, she moved on and got married at some point in her life.
John Borland “Jack” Thayer III (December 24, 1894 – September 20, 1945) was a first-class passenger on RMS Titanic who survived after the ship struck an iceberg and sank on April 15, 1912. Aged 17 at the time, he was one of only a handful of passengers to survive jumping into the frigid sea.
Eliza Gladys Dean (2 February 1912 – 31 May 2009), known as Millvina Dean, was a British civil servant, cartographer, and the last living survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic on 15 April 1912. At two months old, she was also the youngest passenger aboard.
The ship was near Newfoundland, Canada, when it sank. It was just about 400 miles off the coast. Most of the Titanic wreckage remains about 350 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, according to NOAA.
Titanic ends with Rose dropping the diamond into the ocean and then going to sleep, which is largely interpreted as her death. After the camera pans over her sleeping peacefully, Rose is transported back into the Titanic with Jack and everyone who died on the ship.
One of the main reasons is that the Titanic is resting at some 12,500 feet below the surface of the North Atlantic, an incredibly difficult environment in which to operate both above and below.
Oceanographers have pointed out that the hostile sea environment has wreaked havoc on the ship's remains after more than a century beneath the surface. Saltwater acidity has been dissolving the vessel, compromising its integrity to the point where much of it would crumble if tampered with.
The Titanic came to rest almost 4 kilometers below the ocean surface: for decades, they simply didn't have the equipment they needed to go that deep. A French-American team found it in 1985.
The Titanic is in two main pieces 370 nautical miles (690 km) southeast of Mistaken Point, Newfoundland and Labrador. The boilers found by Argo, which mark the point at which the ship went down, are about 600 feet (180 m) east of the stern. The two main parts of the wreck of the Titanic present a striking contrast.
So, you might be wondering: how cold was the water when the Titanic sank? The water was exceptionally cold, averaging around 28°F (-2°C) when the Titanic sank. These freezing temperatures greatly affected the passengers and crew in the shipwreck, as hypothermia quickly set in for those exposed to the water.
How many survivors of Titanic were pulled from the water?
In all, from 44 to 48 were actually saved from the water while about 79 passengers and crew have have been found who said they had been in contact with the water. There are probably others whose accounts are yet to be discovered, as well.
What happened to the bodies that went down with the Titanic?
Of the 337 bodies recovered, 119 were buried at sea. 209 were brought back to Halifax. 59 were claimed by relatives and shipped to their home communities. The remaining 150 victims are buried in three cemeteries: Fairview Lawn, Mount Olivet and Baron de Hirsch.
Bottles of wine, shoes, suitcases are among the items that can be seen strewn across the ocean floor, reminders of lives that were cut short by the icy Atlantic waves. But, crucially, plenty is still missing: human remains. Some 1,160 people went down with the Titanic. but no bodies have ever been found.
Rose, in denial, claimed she loved Cal, and asked Jack to leave her alone. Later, Rose observed a first-class mother and her child correcting her posture, and went to find Jack to tell him that she changed her mind. Jack and Rose share their first kiss. Rose and Jack make love for the first time.
