The Titanic: The Differences Between the Research and the Movie

It never had set sail before, with everything new, new china, new tables and chairs, and new bedding. The RMS Titanic was named after the Greek word meaning gigantic, which she really was at that time, the ship had four smoke stacks instead of the original three. The luxurious cruise liner was also the second out of all three Olympic-class ships. The first, RMS Olympic (1910), was serviced as a troopship during the first Cold War. In later years the ship was then returned to a civilian ship through the 1920s and partly through the 1930s, shortly after the Great Depression the ships operation grew increasingly unprofitable. The second ship was the Titanic. Thirdly was the HMHS Britannic, who was the final vessel in the White Star Line’s Olympic-class steamers. Built during the First World War, she was designed to be the safest and most luxurious of the three ships, learning from the sinking of the Titanic. She was laid up in Belfast for many months before being put to use as a hospital ship from 1915 to 1916 she served between the United Kingdom and the Dardanelles.

On the morning of 21 November, 1916 she was sunken by an explosion caused by a naval mine near the Greek island of Kea. She sank 55 minutes later, killing 30 people. The Titanic was said to be one of the most traumatic shipwrecks in US history. The ship struck an iceberg on its starboard side and ended up sinking on April 15th at 2:20 am. At least 1,500 people lost their lives and only 710 survived.

The 1997 film The Titanic, directed and written by James Cameron, shows us the the point of view of the character Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet). The movie starts off as Rose “Dawson” ,being as she changed her name after the ship sank, as a 100 year old woman who hears on the television that the wreckage of the titanic was found and they were looking for “the heart of ocean” (Le Cœur de la Mer) which is a very expensive necklace made out of blue diamond cut out to look like a heart. Rose then called Mr. Lovette to tell him that she’s the girl who had it and the girl in all the pictures. After she arrives the story goes into a flashback of Rose’s memories of the luxurious Titanic and even though she was engaged to Cal Hockley she ends up falling in love with Jack Dawson who she ends risking her life for multiple times. After the ship was struck Rose tries to find Jack who was earlier arrested for “Stealing” a jacket and the blue diamond necklace. After they get the the top deck there are no boats left so they try to stay alive while the ship is slowly sinking and jack ends up dying in the below zero ocean after the ship ends up breaking in two and sinking to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

Despite the film's false accusations on the captain, the storyline of the movie follows pretty close to the actual story of the sinking of the Titanic.

Captain Edward John Smith was born January 27th, 1850 at Hadley, Stroke-on-Trent. When he grew up he served in the Boer War by commanding troopships. As he grew older Edward gained a reputation for quiet flamboyance. Most people would only sail the Atlantic in a ship commanded by him. After Smith became the naval officer of the White Star fleet in 1904, it soon became routine for him to command the line's newest ships on their maiden voyages. Soon enough it became no surprise that he took the Titanic on her maiden voyage in April 1912. He was paid with a salary of £1,250 per year and a no-collision bonus of $200. On the evening of April 14th, instead of his usual dinner at the dining saloon or in his cabin, he attended a dinner party throw by George Widener and his family. Despite the festivities Smith was worried about the ship entering into an ice field which he was earlier warned about during the weekend. He then excused himself early and went to the bridge to check up on the situation. Lightoller was told to alert Edward immediately if he was at all concerned. He then soak a after went to bed. About 11:40 p.m.Captain Smith was awakened by the collision and rushed to the bridge. He received the report of the accident from Murdoch and then made a quick inspection of the ship with Thomas Andrews. He immediately ordered the boats prepared but wavered when it came to giving the order to load and lower them Lightoller had to approach him for the order which he eventually gave. Smith was last seen on deck giving orders to abandon ship, he was not seen after that and his body was never found or identified. He died when he was 67.

In the movie Titanic not much background information is given on Captain Edward John Smith except that he was obviously the captain. The movie portrayed him as a smart kind man who knew much about the ship and seemed to have much excitement in his new maiden voyage on the ship. He seemed too eager though and didn’t seem to think twice about the ice field they were soon heading into.

The differences between the research and the movie is that the movie not only slightly betrayed him in a bad way but also made him look kinda dim by being so confident and not caring about the major issues ahead, while the facts state that he was just the opposite and knew the risk but was also very cautious and kinda scared to go into the frigid waters.