It has been 21 years since the characters of Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt sailed into moviegoers hearts in the iconic film Titanic and fans still can’t let go of their love for the classic film and its stars.
The film, directed by James Cameron, depicted a Romeo and Juliet tale set against an epic backdrop, as modern in its themes as it was historic in its setting.
The movie may have been set in 1912, but it was utterly contemporary in its feel.
Sherry Lansing, head of Paramount Pictures at the time, said of the film “It was a great love story, with an underlying message about female empowerment.
“Rose [Kate Winslet] was strong and feisty from the beginning — she’s an independent woman who breaks with her class to be with the man she loves [Leonardo DiCaprio]. People underestimated the strength of those characters and how unconventional they were.”
Although Cameron intended Jack and Rose to be completely fictitious, he learned that was indeed a real J. Dawson after the script had already been completed. J. Dawson (Joseph Dawson) worked on the ship as a trimmer. He died aboard the Titanic and his body was later recovered and buried at Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Nova Scotia.
Jack and Rose’s love story became as iconic as the other stories of the real-life people who were on board the ill-fated ship, including John Jacob Astor IV, a real estate millionaire, Isidor and Ida Straus, the founders of the Macy’s Department Store chain, Margaret Tobin (“the unsinkable Molly Brown”), silent movie star Dorothy Gibson and Benjamin Guggenheim, who allegedly, alongside his valet smoked cigars and sipped brandy while awaiting their deaths.
Fans still can’t get enough of the film and its stars, noting their love for the film after Today posted a photo of the film for its anniversary.
“I was a teenager when I saw it for the first time and fell in love. My heart will go on with beautiful memories of the film. I watched it God know how many times, thought I was Rose!” said one Instagram user.
“Twenty-one years! Wow. Such a defining moment in pop culture. We were obsessed,” noted another fan of the film.
Titanic starred Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslett, Billy Zane, Bill Paxton, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, Gloria Stuart, and Victor Garber.
The film had an unheard-of budget of $200M at the time of filming. The film was partially funded by both Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox.
It would eventually go on to gross a worldwide total of $2.18 billion, making it the second film to gross more than $2 billion worldwide (after Cameron’s other film Avatar ).
