A simple psychological script

Rating: 9/10 (11 April 2013)

Titanic is not what you think it is. You think it's a flimsy love story, about a skinny lad and a dumpy girl, set against the background of an historic event in 1912.
No, it's an experiment in mega-viewing. It's the Gone With The Wind of it's day. Both of them smashed box office records.
This movie is about getting bums on seats, just as GWTW was. So how did they do it? (I won't tell you because it's a global trade secret in human psychology.)
Nah, I'll tell you: it's the script! They did it by making every word, every line, of the script fail. At the beginning of the movie when you heard Di Caprio's friend say he was going to America ("L'AMERICA!!!"), you knew he would fail. When the owner of the liner said the ship was unsinkable, you knew those words would fail. When Billy Zane tried to bribe the crew member to get a seat on the lifeboat, you knew his words would fail.
Every line of the script (ok, not absolutely every line, but most of the main character lines) resulted in failure. That, ladies and gents, in a nutshell is how you make a blockbuster movie.
In GWTW, Scarlet says to Rett Butler, "Where shall I go? What shall I do?". He replies "Frankly my dear I don't give a damn." Scarlet's words fail. In Titanic, Jacks final words to Rose as he dies of cold are "Rose, listen to me. Listen. Winning that ticket was the best thing that ever happened to me." Err...that's nonsense. He's dying. He even jokes "I don't know about you, but I intend to write a strongly worded letter to the White Star Line about all this." Err..fail.
If you want to know more, and there is more, just send a blank check to....me.