What is this romantic fixation with the Titanic?

[ChrisFL]

*Telegraph news.
*Famous passengers onboard.
*Some famous people were suppose to make the maiden voyage, yet didn’t. Just like some famous people didn’t make it onboard their flights for 9/11.
*A major milestone in history of it being the deadliest peacetime maritime disaster.
*Safety regulations improved & changed afterwards.
*Historical event featured in movies and tv shows.

Milton Hershey...the chocolatier and founder of HersheyPark was supposed to be on Titanic

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

James Cameron's movie actually borrowed a LOT from "A Night to Remember" (the movie)

As far as video games, there's been a project going on for the past 10+ years called Titanic: Honor and Glory which looks amazing, they're trying to replicate everything as perfectly as possible. The original creator seemed to get distracted too easily and left the project several years in, so that's why it is taking so long to come out, but it is still a very cool project and they have some downloads that have a majority of the ship you can "walk" around.

Regarding the "romantic" aspect (not as love but the idea of the time period) I think part of it was a fascination of the time period and the ending of the Victorian era, different classes of passengers, the stories from survivors, the fact that the ship was somewhat afloat for well over an hour allowing a lot of events to take place, etc. made the story more interesting than one that would have sank immediately. Also the theories about the previous damage playing a role, maiden voyage, etc.

It was absolutely a tragedy but we feel far removed from it being over a century since it took place.

Before this thread, I had never known about "A Night to Remember". I watched that yesterday on Tubi. I must say I really enjoyed it. I am glad somebody brought this up, and I was able to find it to watch.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Before this thread, I had never known about "A Night to Remember". I watched that yesterday on Tubi. I must say I really enjoyed it. I am glad somebody brought this up, and I was able to find it to watch.

I remember reading that book, but I don't think I ever saw the movie.

 

[amcnj]

I believe I first read A Night to Remember in 7th grade. I know I reread it in 8th grade for one of the weekly book reports we had to do in English class.

I can’t remember how I discovered the book. Perhaps I had first seen the film on tv and that led to my reading the book. Anyway, that film/book got me hooked on the Titanic story.

The idea that it was the maiden voyage, the unsinkable label, the social class structure, the lack of sufficient lifeboats, the “women and children first” aspect, the idea that another ship was close by and possibly could have saved everyone, the number of well known passengers, the Captain making his final voyage…. It all added up to a compelling story for me.

There is another black and white film called Titanic which was made a few years before A Night to Remember. Like Cameron’s film, it focused on fictional characters who were passengers on the ship. For me the story in the Cameron film was secondary to seeing the ship recreated on screen.

I read some other books that went into the social class structure aspect more, and explained how deeply embedded that concept was in Britain at the time. Also how the sinking might have helped bring about the end of the Edwardian era, particularly the idea that advancements in technology could overcome anything. I guess it might be hard for us today to fully appreciate the impact the sinking had at the time.