re: Is Rose the antagonist of Titanic?

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Is Rose the antagonist of Titanic?

Yes.

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No.

Without the malevolent operation of the iceberg the protagonist would have reached New York safely. The iceberg was the antagonist. The protagonist of the film was Jack. The protagonist is the character upon whom the antagonist acts the most profoundly. Jack wound up dead. Rose did not. Rose's intransigence kept Jack from reaching safety. But he wouldn't have been in danger except for the iceberg.

Geez, I know I am a horrible nerd; but an outstanding book on the tragedy of the Titanic is: "Titanic: End of a Dream."



In this book among other great bits is the exposition of the Titanic's sea trials. Titanic was twice as big as almost any earlier ship. Yet, there were no full power stops, maximum speed or radius turns, nothing. The ship's officers had no idea how she would handle in an emergency.

The Dream referred to in the title was the end of limitless technological advance. The death of Titanic showed that if it didn't show anything else.

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She has to be the most unintentionally despicable protagonist in film history.

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Rose was not the protagonist.

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Rose was not the protagonist.

Then who was? At worst she's the deuteragonist, with Jack as the protagonist. That's about all I can see.

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Jack was the protagonist. Besides being great at poker, a great artist and dancer, he could master about any situation, which as - if we cut to the proverbial chase - surely involved getting into Rose's panties.

Right?

Jack couldn't survive the film because he was locked in the purser's cabin until it was -almost- too late, and he was doomed by Rose's refusal to get in the fricking life boat when she could have.

But he was ultimately doomed by the iceberg. Take away the iceberg and Jack winds up mayor of New York or something.

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You're forgetting the other half of the film where Rose lights tens of millions of dollars on fire in spite of her family and the people she was telling the story to. She's to be totally despised for what she did. In the very least sell it and donate the proceeds to charity to save lives. Instead she's a count who throws it in the ocean for no reason.

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I was going to let this go, but how could you possibly think the bookends of the story are the main point?

Unless the safe is brought up by the Pedantic Explorer or whatever that ship was, the necklace didn't matter.

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Yep. The old throw millions of dollars into the ocean and screw over your actual family's future all because you once fricked a hobo in the back of a car on a boat 80 years ago move.

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