I just got through watching the last of
Titanic; I didn't watch the entire thing because I was watching
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World which ended fifteen minutes before Titanic. It's a movie I've seen about the same number of times as I have Titanic although I could watch Master and Commander again sometime soon in the future, I've had just about all I want from Titanic, even though I could look at Kate Winslet a thousand hours and never grow tired of her face.
I've got a huge gripe with Titanic; two of them actually, but one is much larger than the other. My lessor gripe first:
How did
Gloria Stuart get nominated for an Oscar for her performance in the movie? Her part was tiny, even though she did the narration during the cutaways back to the salvage ship. I don't think she did all that good of a job - I felt she said her lines rather woodenly and without much believability. Surely there was some other movie that year that had a better supporting actress nominee.
Kathy Bates in her role as Molly Brown did a much better job than did Stuart in Titanic.
Which directly leads me to my main gripe: Why did Stuart's character Rose DeWitt Bukater throw the "The Heart of the Ocean" blue diamond necklace overboard? It seemed such a selfish thing to do. She could have given it to Brock Lovett, the man trying to find it (played by
Bill Paxton). After all, he had invested millions in his salvage effort, spent more to bring the old
bag woman out to the ship and if anyone deserved it, he did. Why didn't she give it to her daughter? The sale of the gem would be enough to pay college tuition for several generations after she passed away.
I know it's just a movie, but sometimes these things really piss me off. I had so much emotion and sympathy invested in the Rose character as an old lady only to have her do such a selfish and senseless act as throwing the priceless diamond into the sea. Even though the salvage ship was positioned directly over the Titanic, the currents probably would have carried the necklace miles away from the ship. It really is the single thing that nearly ruined the movie for me and one of the reasons I don't care to watch it again. If I had been Lovett and saw her doing it, I'd have tied a chain to her wrinkly old ass and chucked her overboard after the diamond.