Tuesday, April 10, 2012

A week of Titanic (among other things).

Sorry that I've been a bit absent from the blog this past week. To be honest, I haven't felt like blogging. I have things that I want to write about (my draft folder is bigger now than it's ever been), but I just can't get motivated. Or maybe I've just been feeling guilty and/or condemned about the time I had been spending on blogging when there are other {more important} things to do. Anyway, there may be more posts than usual over the next week or two, because I'm going to try to polish up some of my drafts enough to publish them. :) I have some crafty things to post...embroidery and dresses and a new journal.

You've probably heard a lot of talk about the Titanic lately, seeing as next Sunday, April 15th, is the 100th anniversary of the sinking.


I've been interested in the history of the Titanic for as long as I can remember (I posted about it about a year and a half ago and realized that a lot of you were, too). I used to always check out books about it from the school library and watch any kind of documentary I could find. I even wrote one of my senior research papers in high school about the sinking.


I used to wonder if it was strange or wrong to be so fascinated with such a tragic event, and I've heard people criticizing all of the Titanic-themed events that are going on this month. But this is how I feel about it...Most people who are interested in the history of the sinking are really respectful about it all. They're interested in the historical aspect of it and how it changed the world (it really did, in a lot of ways). They genuinely want to remember and honor the people involved, not celebrate a tragedy.

I'll admit that there are some things happening because of the 100 year anniversary that seem to be taking advantage of it...that seem to be happening just because it's guaranteed they'll bring in a lot of money. Like the rerelease of the '97 film. Seriously, didn't they make enough money on that one the first time around? And the cruise ship that's retracing the Titanic's route this week? Good grief. Maybe I'm being a little superstitious but I thought we were supposed to learn from history and not repeat it. :)


About a month ago, I watched a really amazing Titanic documentary through Netflix (I saw it on DVD, not streaming, so I don't know if it's available that way) called Titanic: The Complete Story. It had three parts, each one lasting about an hour and a half. It was, by far, the most in depth and interesting Titanic documentary that I've ever seen. And since it was filmed in the 90s, it even included interviews with some of the survivors. Right after watching that film, I saw A Night to Remember and the 1943 German Titanic film for the first time.

{This is the documentary I saw, but I think it's now been rereleased as this.}


Over the next week or so, I'm going to post about the major Titanic films that I've seen. I know that there will definitely be posts about A Night to Remember and the '43 Titanic (because I wrote those last month :). If I get a chance to rewatch the '97 and '53 Titanic films this week, there will be reviews of those, too. I meant to start posting these at the very beginning of April, but I didn't get around to it until now.

P.S. I've always liked this newspaper blackout art called "Overheard on the Titanic."


Until next time,

3 comments:

  1. I look forward to reading your thoughts on some of those Titanic films! :)

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  2. I too have always been fascinated about Titanic, long before the Cameron film came out. I can remember quite clearly the day I learnt about it in my grade 5 class. I was immediately mesmerized by the ship, and the tragedy. I'll definitely check out that documentary, thank you for sharing it. :)

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  3. I remember that after I saw Cameron's movie, and I was like twelwe?, I started watching all the Titanic movies, and reading all the books, and googling passionately. It was like compelling. And I still love to watch a movie or a documentary or read an article, but I have never seen this newspaper blackout.
    And now I just love it, it's amazing.

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