The death of Jack Dawson in the movie Titanic has always been a very debatable topic. Some believe he had to die, while others like me believe that he and Rose both could have floated/fit on top of the GIANT door.
In the movie, we see when Jack and Rose both jumped from the boat and into the water. In the water, Jack has found a door for Rose to get on top of, but instead of getting on himself, he offered it to Rose alone and stayed in the freezing water. Rose was rescued and was able to get help by blowing the whistle, but Jack died before this due to the freezing water.
This has never sat right with me because there was more than enough room on that door for the both of them, and I think the producers of the movie did that just to rage-bait the audience.
Many fans argue with James Cameron — including the makers of MythBusters, who concluded after an experiment that both Jack and Rose could have fit on the door. They claimed, “Based on our experiment they both could have survived on that board.” They also said, “However nobel Jack’s intentions might have been… Jack’s death was needless.” This evidence shows how it was possible for both to survive the freezing temperatures.
Another source that proves that the death of Dawson was rage-bait and very unnecessary is The Project. According to The Project, if they had tied Rose’s life jacket underneath the door, it could have provided enough buoyancy to keep both of them out of the water, potentially allowing both to survive. This concludes if they had used their resources better, they could have found a way to survive.
People could debate about this for hours and use science or the plot, but the only person who really knows what Jack’s outcome would be is the director Cameron, and he actually created this heartbreaking ending. When interviewed, Cameron said, “Jack Dawson had to die in Titanic for artistic, thematic, and narrative reasons rather than physics.” Cameron described the ending as “a necessary ‘Romeo and Juliet’ scenario centered on love, sacrifice, and mortality.”
So even though there was a reason for his death, Rose and Jack could have had a happy ending and BOTH could have survived and fit on the door. To this day, this still irritates me that he died. The evidence shows that Jack and Rose had the chance to survive the Titanic.
What do you think, do you think it was a necessary death? I highly recommend watching this movie; even though the director and I don’t see eye to eye, Titanic is a masterpiece.
