International
James Cameron wants to end debate over Jack's Titanic death─── 17:20 Wed, 21 Dec 2022
For 25 years, James Cameron had to listen to complaints about Jack Dawson’s heartbreaking death scene at the end of Titanic, which has become almost as iconic as the film itself.
He is now hoping to put a definitive end to the speculation that Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) could have survived after the sinking of the infamous oceanliner, if only his beloved Rose (Kate Winslet) had scooched over just a bit on the floating door that kept her out of the freezing waters that eventually claimed so many lives.
Cameron said he conducted a "forensic" study to show that the door could not possibly have supported them both.
"We have done a scientific study to put this whole thing to rest and drive a stake through its heart once and for all," according to an article in The Toronto Sun.
"We have since done a thorough forensic analysis with a hypothermia expert who reproduced the raft from the movie," he continued, adding that they used "two stunt people who were the same body mass as Kate and Leo, and we put sensors all over them and inside them, and we put them in ice water, and we tested to see whether they could have survived through a variety of methods, and the answer was, there was no way they both could have survived."
"Only one could survive," Cameron said.
The study will be the subject of a special for National Geographic, timed to the 25th anniversary re-release of Titanic in February on Valentine's Day.
Cameron, who previously commented on an episode of "Mythbusters" that explored whether Jack had to die, ultimately attributed it all to an artistic decision.
'Jack needed to die'
"He needed to die," Cameron said in the new interview.
"It's like Romeo and Juliet. It's a movie about love and sacrifice and mortality. The love is measured by the sacrifice."
When Titanic is re-released in theatres next February on Valentine’s Day, Cameron’s science project is going to run on National Geographic. "Maybe … maybe … after 25 years, I won’t have to deal with this anymore," he laughed.
