The Titanic Scene Fans Agree Makes No Sense
Over the history of film, there have been a plethora of movie moments that have made fans angry or scratch their heads asking "why?" There's that moment when Lee decides to sacrifice himself for his family in "A Quiet Place," that moment when Lara Jean decides not to tell Peter about John Ambrose in "To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You," and the classic "it was all a dream" cliché seen in many movies such as "The Wizard of Oz," "Donnie Darko," and "Krampus."
Now, this is not to say these movies or moments are bad -– they've just found themselves as a topic of debate. The 1997 classic "Titanic" has one of these very moments that people are still discussing as the film approaches its 25th anniversary.
To this day, fans are still debating the scene in which Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) dies. He helps Rose (Kate Winslet) escape the cold Atlantic Ocean by placing her on a floating door from the ship but, for some unknown reason, decides to remain in the water rather than join her on the considerably large piece of wood. This is followed by the iconic "I'll never let go" line as Rose lets Jack's corpse sink into the depths below.
This scene has sparked debate for years, and that debate is still ongoing — even generating meme-worthy moments like when Keke Palmer said Jack and Rose could have taken turns on "The Steve Harvey Show." Here's why fans still feel this scene makes no sense.
Fans don't think Jack had to die
To put it quite simply, fans don't feel that Jack had to die, not because they are sad he died and wished it could have gone on but because it makes no sense. Many have pointed out — like Palmer — that both Rose and Jack could have fit on the door or they could have taken turns. This debate has been so ongoing that full-on experiments have been conducted and some pretty big names have chimed in on the topic.
First, three schoolgirls conducted an experiment using math and research to discover whether or not both Jack and Rose could have fit on that door (via The Advertiser). Their research concluded that they could have. Then, scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson pointed out another scientific fact in that survival instinct would not have allowed Jack to basically just sacrifice himself without trying other alternatives (via Digital Spy). He pointed this out after commenting on how fans are so focused on whether or not he could fit on the door instead of why he didn't even try to fit on the door in the first place.
In an attempt to end the controversy and give fans an answer, director James Cameron explained why Jack had to die in a 2017 Vanity Fair interview. His answer? "The answer is very simple because it says on page 147 [of the script] that Jack dies. Very simple." So in Cameron's eyes, Jack dies as an "artistic choice." While an artistic choice is respectable, that doesn't make the nature of Jack's death any less confusing and controversial.