Jack could have lived

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Every time I see a movie and someone I get really attached to dies, my mind just starts working. I see exactly how Jack could have lived. You know how Rose was in the lifeboat, but then she jumped out to be with Jack? If she would have stayed in the lifeboat, everything would have been fine. When Jack sunk with the ship he could have had himself on that piece of whatever he found for Rose instead of Rose being on that. Then they could have both survived and found each other and lived happily ever after, but that's not how the movie went. If I could have had it my way, that's the way it would have gone. :)

-- Heather conn (ClickyLove@aol.com), January 03, 1998

Answers

After I've seen the film, I also have the same thought like you. But latter, I realise that this tragedic scene was only produced by the director so as to make people feel more sad. If Jack was really save in the film, people won't be touch by the film as now.

-- Carrie (Bday926@hotmail.com), January 03, 1998.

thats EXACTLY what I was trying to everyone but no one listened to me!!!! I kept saying "if only Rose stayed on that lifeboat Jack would of lived cause HE could of gotten on that wooden board!!!" I'm glad someone else thought that! (although granted...the movie might not of been as "moving" but STILL!!!!! =)

-- Lori (jeopardy87@hotmail.com), January 04, 1998.

How funny -- I thought the same thing too! What's more, if Rose had stayed on that life boat, she could have pushed for the boat to go back, to rescue Jack and others. Oh well.

-- Jennifer Alexander (jmalexande@mofo.com), January 05, 1998.

I think that Jack had o die in the end. Most movies end with the good guy living and the bad guy dieing. This was much more belivable because in reality it the other way around. Plus we all went to see a tragedy if you all wanted him to live in the end then it could have beed a love story anywere else but the Titanic.

-- Cliff Podaras (podaras@brk.photronics.com), January 05, 1998.

The whole point about the sinking of the Titanic was that it was a tragedy. Few of the people on that ship would have had a happy ending and as much as I loved the idea of them being together, the tragic death of Jack was appropriate for the movie to understand the tragedy of the loss. A happy ending with them sailing off into the sunset wouldn't make sense and would undermine the point. She ended up living a rich and full life for both of them.

-- Lianne (liannegraham@one.net.au), January 06, 1998.


If Jack and Rose had taken turns on the piece of wood that she was floating on I think they both would have lived, because the hypothermia wouldn't have been as great on Jack. ;)

-- Jesse (jessecarr@hotmail.com), January 09, 1998.

The Reason Jack didn't live was because he fell asleep in the water and his eyes were frozen shut. And the reason he didn't get on the floating peice of wood was because it started to sink when he tried to get on it earlier so he let Rose lay on it. He loved Rose so he let her live.

-- Vanessa Atler (nessaatler@yahoo.com), January 09, 1998.

When Rose was going down in the life boat and looking back up at Jack I think she saw something that told her Jack wasn't even going to try very hard to live. He was just standing there watching, as if taking his last look at her - a kind of sad smile on his face. So I don't think you can say Jack would have lived if Rose had stayed on the boat, he might not have tried if she hadn't insisted on pushing him to it. She got him to fight for them.

-- Norman Doering (davedoer@prairienet.org), January 10, 1998.

In response to Vanessa'a answer:

Jack didn't go to sleep of his own free will. The body will make you go to sleep if you get cold enough. I don't think his eyes were frozen shut. You try to open a dead person's eyes and see how hard it is.

-- Nikki (n_carr@hotmail.com), January 11, 1998.


Duh!!!! Rose couldn't stay on that boat, because she loved Jack too much and she had to be with him!!!! I agree with who ever it was that said" If they took turns they could've lived" Cause I think thats reasonable. But I also agree with whoever said "he wanted to let her live" cause they were both too weak to be gettin on and off aboat for 3 hours right? They were too cold also. So I think that the way the movie wen twas the perfect way cause it probably wouldn't be any better any other way!!!!I love Titanic!!!

-- Ginger Castillo (lincolnabes@hotmail.com), January 12, 1998.


If Rose stayed on the lifeboat, she would have married Cal. Cal knew she would be alive if on a lifeboat and diamonds are forever. Jack knew she 'wouldn't jump' off the stern, and she wouldn't jump out of the marriage with all the pressure from her mother. I was thinking that Rose and Jack could have both survived if they kept their legs in the water but kept their chests above the water instead of having Rose all spread out on the wood alone. That way all the important chest cavity organs wouldn't be submerged in virtual ice and they could of snuggled up close and share body heat and both survive. Upon further thinking (why is this movie so haunting???) Jack had to die. More than 1500 people perished the same way our Jack did, and to have both our stars survive would totally dishonour the victims. Didn't Jack's dying pull your heart strings? That's what a Titanic story should do, this is a way too tragic circumstance to walk away from being happy and cheery. Damn the arrogance of people sometimes. Totally unnecessary deaths. Sheesh, we all have something to learn from this story.

-- Jen (jendrew@hotmail.com), January 13, 1998.

a lot of these answers say that this is a tragedy, so he had to die. i sorta disagree with that. titanic is a LOVE story. the hole creation of jack and rose was to make a love story for romantics, like myself, to put the audience right on the ship. i'v said it before: the Bible says: "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." -John 15:13. jack died for rose by giving her the space on the floating wood. that was the ultimate love offering that he gave to rose. if he didn't die, it wouldn't be the great love story that it is. gosh, just thinking about it makes me want to cry....

-- superbin (karatebin@hotmail.com), January 14, 1998.

I also thought that if Rose stayed on the lifeboat Jack could have found that piece of wood and saved himself and they would both be warm and happy. The main thing I thought though, was if she had stayed on the boat with no lifeboats that Jack and she could have taken turns on that piece of door they were on. I have never cried in a movie, and didn't cry in this one, but I was holding it in. Later on that night I heard My Heart Will Go on and started thinking about the movie and started crying. It was sooooo sad. I am going to get on a waiting list so I can get the movie the first day it is out.

-- Ashley (n/a), January 15, 1998.

The point of our dearly beloved Jack dieing was to make the movie more dramatic. This I know, but if he could have found another board (I saw several floating nearby) he could have lived. If he had lived, the movie wouldn't be as touching as it is and not so many people (like me) would want to go see it countless times. ;)

-- Chelsie Reeves (areeves@clnk.com), January 15, 1998.

Jack Dawson had to have died in order for Titanic to have more emotion. The whole point of Rose getting off the lifeboat was for her to be free. If she were to stay on that lifeboat, she would be dragged back into the society she was trying to rid herself of. She wanted to be "free" and in order to do that, she must get off the boat and go to Jack. The story with them in the water needs no changing--it is how it should be. He died FOR HER!!! He gave her freedom. The promise that she made was very important for he is still "living" because she fufilled that promise. That is the whole point. A tragedy like that can be the truest love of all---and it is!

-- MJ (love1028@aol.com), January 16, 1998.


Another way that Jack could have lived - he may have been unconscious and partially frozen, but he was probably still alive. If Rose had dragged him along with her into the lifeboat, he might have been able to survive! Also, about why Jack's death is so tragic - Hello! Even the IDEA of Leonardo DiCaprio dying is horrible!

-- Melissa (meljoe98@hotmail.com), January 16, 1998.

In reading some of the responses to your question, the first thing that I thought of is that had Rose gotten on the life boat, she would have been with her mother. Eventually, seeing that Cal too survived, she would have probably been forced to be with him, either because of the guilt from her mother or simply because they were high class respectable people.

-- Mandie (aall9367@uriacc.uri.edu), January 19, 1998.

I know I'm in the minority here, but from a thematic standpoint I think having Leo's character die made a much more powerful story.

Realistically, having Jack and Rose "take turns" riding on that piece of paneling would have killed them both. Folks, the water temperature was 28 degrees! Most of the swimmers in the water that night were dead from hypothermia in 30 minutes or less. A large number of swimmers made it to collapsible lifeboats A (the boat Cal escaped on, which was swamped) and B (which floated off upside down), but most of them died anyway. Only ONE swimmer survived in the water from the sinking until the arrival of the Carpathia, baker Walter Joughin (he as the guy in the white coat and pants on the stern rail with Jack and Rose as the stern sank) and he was drunk! (evidently the whiskey made a good antifreeze).

Cheeers!

-- Kip Henry (kip-henry@ouhsc.edu), January 19, 1998.


Okay if Jack had lived there would be no point in the movie. Rose would not have cared to go back and tell the treasure hunter her story. She would have stayed home with Jack and then where would we be??? Without one of the best movies of all time, that's where! Jack had to die so Rose would have a reason to tell us her story. She wanted us all to know "..that there was a man named Jack Dawson and he saved her in ever way a person can be saved."

-- Miranda Swearingen (Kylen1@hotmail.com), January 21, 1998.

I have a question for all Titanic fans. If Jack didn't die, would you still feel the power and magic of the movie? I think it is essential that Jack dies. That's the message J. Cameron tried to give us; that no matter what happens, we can still live on. And that includes losing the ones we love.

-- Colleen (Colleendi@earhtlink.net), January 22, 1998.

IF JACK WOULD HAVE LIVED, THEN THE MOVIE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN NEAR AS POWERFUL AND MOVING.

-- STACIE (SBARBER@DFW.COM), January 23, 1998.

Amen Stacie!!!!!! As hard as it may be to accept the death of a person/character you care about, this movie would never have touched as many hearts as this one did. After all, we are talking about the Titanic, many people died that night. I think it would have almost felt "cheap" if Jack had lived, and they had gone on their merry way. Many people were loved like Jack and they perished as well, besides I think that in a way it's a tribute to all the people that lost their lives that night. I think James Cameron's film is as close to the truth as we'll ever get to knowing what happened that night.

-- Caron (bianchi@iserv.net), January 24, 1998.

Yes, I very much agree with all of you - Jack couldn't have lived, there would be no story- BUT I believe that the main reason he didn't live is because he did give up his life for Rose, so she could go on and survive. He didn't find another piece of driftwood (because this is what I was thinking, why didn't he just swim to find another piece) because he needed to stay with her to make sure she "was alright". Remember, from the weightroom, when he pulled her in there and told her he "was involved" and "needed to know she was going to be alright", if he had left to find another piece, he wouldn't have been watching her, and she probably wouldn't have been 'alright' without him there. =~(

-- Andrea!~ (ExMusic@AOL.com), January 27, 1998.

I agree, I wish he didn't die. There were other ways he could of been saved, but then the whole tragicness of the story would not be fulfilled. Too bad though, it just makes you so sad to watch him freeze and you know he is dying.

-- Kristin (gbutler.windswept@gbd.com), January 28, 1998.

I thought about many of these things too, but then I realized that hindsight is 20/20. After seeing how the movie ends, it is easy for us to say, "Maybe if Rose had gotten on the lifeboat, Jack could have been on the board and lived." However, at the time that Rose had to make her decision, she had no idea what would end up happening. From what she knew, it looked like if she got on the lifeboat, and left Jack behind, he was going to die alone. I don't think she could have lived with that later on - if Jack had died without her being able to spend those last moments with him. The same thing goes for when they were floating in the water, with Rose on the board. They didn't know when, or if any lifeboats would come back. For all they knew, if they took turns on the board or if they both just got on it halfway, they might both be dead by the time a lifeboat returned. I think that Jack just wanted to make sure that Rose had the best possible chance of surviving. I think that's all he cared about at that point. Also, I agree with the views previously posted that so many people died that night that it would be unrealistic to expect both Jack and Rose to live. Even if Rose had not been with Jack, he may have given up the spot on the board to save some other person.

-- (aclin@aol.com), January 29, 1998.

You know what we need? Different versions of Titanic. One where Jack lives and Rose dies, one where they both die, one where they both LIVE(YAY!!!), and for all you mean people, one where they decide they don't like each other and go their separate ways. (Sob. Sob.)

-- Elaine Castillo (dramaflip@earthlink.net), April 09, 1998.

Cameron chose the fates of Jack and Rose carefully. One reason Jack "had" to die was that he was representing steerage males, 90% of whom died. Rose "had" to live because almost 100% of first class women survived (I believe 3 or 4 died because they chose to stay on the boat).

-- Bob Gregorio (rgregorio@ibm.net), April 10, 1998.

Well I think that Jack could have lived very easily and I agree with you guys on the methods that could have saved him. However, I wonder why whether or not Jack lives makes the movie more or less tragic. A whole shit load of other people died on that ship and I personally feel for those people. I think you are all "hopeless romantics" and should take a serious look at yourselves.

-- C J U (slk6h@cc.usu.edu), September 15, 1998.

I see it this way: The movie didn't really get into the lives of the real passengers of Titanic. We had to feel close to a character in order to really feel the loss of life in this tragedy. Jack was perfect as he did represent the steerage male ( as the last post states). With Rose surviving, didn't we also feel her loss and having to go on without Jack? It would've been a nice ending had Jack lived, but I doubt very much that it would've been as emotional as it was. Over 1500 people died on Titanic and we didn't know one of them...but we knew Jack and Rose and that somehow brought us closer to understanding.

-- Lynn (geg@geocities.com), September 15, 1998.

CJU, my dear...YOU need to get over yourself, I think. Please don't sit there and say the particular character representing the entire steerage class could have EASILY lived when you haven't the first clue as to how one could survive a violent shipwreck and ocean waters with a temperature below freezing. None of us would know. Besides, that's how Cameron wrote it, nothing is going to change it, and that's the way the cookie crumbles.

And YES! My name is Gilded Age Junkie and I am a hopeless romantic! And I do not plan to get help for my addiction, either.

-- Gilded Age Junkie (GildedAgeJunkie@yahoo.com), September 15, 1998.


Think of this - imagine getting onto that lifeboat, without your true love. and you know the ship is sinking ( well, obviously ) and you know that he would freeze. wouldn't you want to be there with him? she only got to know him, and she found true love. so, I think she'd want to spend her last moments wit him, but it turns out she lives. they probably HAD to have him die to add the dramatic effect. it's what made girls go gaga over him ( myself included ) because he died for her. and I guess they needed to have the song My heart will go On in there. if he didn't die, well heck, they wouldn't have a reason to put the song in there! I think though that she could have ressesitated him. well, maybe not with the technology back then. Okay, I'm going ridiculously on and on about this, so bye now.

-- kelly (foo@bar.com), September 15, 1998.

also in reality they both would have died because they were skinny, and only the fat people lived ( mostly ). but i loved the movie, so that's that.

-- kelly (foo@bar.com), September 15, 1998.

Kelly, I could point out the error in your logic, but I don't want to start THAT argument again. And of course Jack had to die - do you want a happy Titanic story? But I agree that Cameron could have done better than having Rose kill him.

-- Dan Dalton (foo@bar.com), September 16, 1998.

Dalton, my dear dear man, wouldn't you sacrifice yourself for your one true love?

-- Emma (dilemma76@hotmail.com), September 16, 1998.

I'll have to get back to you later on that one, Emma. Probably much, much later.

-- Dalton (foo@bar.com), September 16, 1998.

Come on Dalton, what's that supposed to mean? You wouldn't sacrifice yourself for your beloved? You non-romantic you :-)

-- Emma (dilemma76@hotmail.com), September 16, 1998.

Now Emma, how can you say Dalton is a non-romantic? His belief that Rose killed Jack, that Kate is a porker and that we are all losers for still being here make him the poster child for the sensitive man! Most women would kill to be with him, but that is why he is alone. He fears that they may actually KILL to be with him and then he would end up like Jack!

-- Misty (HiRver@concentric.net), September 16, 1998.

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