I have seen Titanic twice and that was enough. 

I feel no need to ever watch this movie again in my entire life. I will give credit to Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio for having great chemistry and being talented actors, but this movie did not even begin to show the full range of their abilities. Saige may rave about this movie, but keep in mind that she has watched way too many times—19 times to be exact. Should you be concerned? Yes, yes you should. 

To start, this movie is SO long, almost in an obnoxious way. After the boat starts sinking, I just want the movie to be over. Leonardo DiCaprio’s gorgeous face was the only thing that made me sit through this entire film. It was only out of the sheer kindness of my heart that I sat through this thing for a second time when I watched it with Saige. 

I need to pose an important question: why the heck did this movie win so many Oscars? It won eleven at the 1997 Oscars, even though there were so many other amazing movies released that year including “Good Will Hunting” and “As Good As It Gets.” Titanic does deserve some recognition as the cultural phenomena that it is, but eleven Oscars? I don’t think so. That seems a bit extreme. Titanic is over the top in every way, shape, and form, but I don’t think that that renders an Oscars sweep. 

The first part of the movie is, I’ll admit, slightly enjoyable. With Jack and Rose falling in love and running around the boat trying to escape Rose’s crazy family, it is romantic and fun while acting as escapism for the characters and the audience. The boat itself is stunning, and one of my favorite parts is how beautiful the costumes are. However, the Titanic is portrayed as romantic and whimsical; while I’m sure it was when it was floating, it definitely was not when it was sinking.

This doesn’t sit well with me because I feel that everyone in this movie is profiting off of a horrible tragedy about a love story that didn’t even exist. Even though this movie was made many years after the event itself, it is still a very dark part of history involving the casualties of 1,500 people in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. 

The ending is frankly just hard to watch, with blunt trauma being thrown at you left and right. The scene when the boat starts sinking is really stressful and emotionally taxing. It almost seems like it doesn’t end, with the scene dragging on and on. I don’t know when I would be in the mood to see that much pain portrayed on screen again.

The point of the film is to make a statement about the world. While I recognize that this isn’t always comfortable, nor is it supposed to be, the ending of this movie is overly disturbing nonetheless. I understand that they were trying to convey a message, but I still don’t know why anyone would need to see it more than once. 

Finally, I need to talk about this screenplay. Can I even say anything nice about it? No, I can’t. The amount of times Jack and Rose unnecessarily say each other’s names throughout the script is enough to make me nauseous. Even though the popular stars of the time tried to save it, the script pulled everything down with it. It was so flat, and the dialogue seemed forced and awkward. Both of them were painted to be just pretty faces that found each other in the midst of a tragedy, but even that is a bit of a stretch. 

Saige is correct in saying that Leo was catapulted into stardom after this, but it is only because he was the gorgeous star. If you think about it, Titanic is almost more of an action movie than anything else. Even though it is portrayed as a romantic drama, it really is not. 

Titanic is supposed to be the end-all, be-all of movies, but I don’t think it is. It was definitely groundbreaking when it came out, but now, it’s just kind of basic and cheesy. My advice to avoid judgment from people (mainly Saige) is to yes, watch it once, but no more than that.