If there’s one thing that we hate when it comes to films, it’s a blockbuster snob. We can’t bear it when someone suggests that we lack taste just because we enjoy a film that dared to make money at the box office. Some of our favourite films – Jurassic Park, ET, Bridesmaids, every Disney film ever – might not be considered as equal to the Citizen Kanes and Vertigos of the world in terms of artistic merit, but they make us laugh, cry or jump, and that’s what good cinema is supposed to do. Recently, someone dared to tell us that Titanic was crap and we absolutely lost our temper. Hello! It’s a gorgeous love story, boasting excellent performances, incredible special effects and action sequences. It pulls at the heartstrings, and you learn about history. What more could you want? We have watched it again and again, and we think it’s a pretty perfect movie. Not completely perfect, mind you. Because there’s one thing that a recent rewatch made us realise. Jack is a crap artist.
We didn’t really notice it in 1997, when we had to be sneaked into the cinema. Nor did we pick up on it on its various TV broadcasts or as we wore out our DVD. But suddenly it hit us. When Rose gets huffy with Jack – a mere day after he saved her after she fell while ‘trying to see the propellers’ – she grabs his weather-worn sketchbook in the hope of taking him down a peg or two. Alas, she is flabbergasted by his talent. ‘This is exquisite work!’ she exclaims as she pores over the contents. The scene is crucial. It establishes that the pair, while from different sides of the tracks, have something major in common: an appreciation for art. This has been established as a major point of difference between Rose and her betrothed, Cal, who mocked her paintings by ‘something Picasso’ and Monet. It also sets up the film’s most famous scene: Rose’s request to be drawn ‘like one of his French girls.’
Pay attention, though, and you wonder what on earth Rose is seeing in Jack’s work. We may not know art, but we know a well-drawn face when we see one and we do not see one here. Look at Madame Bijou, for example. Frankly, we’ve seen better drawings on those boards the caricaturists of Leicester Square hang up to convince you that they can capture your essence in a comical sketch of you on roller skates or flying a biplane.
Next, look at the ‘one-legged prostitute’ who amuses Rose and Jack so, as if it’s hilarious that our young hero could ever find a three-limbed sex worker attractive. Asked if he had enjoyed a love affair with her, he almost blushes. ‘Only with her hands’, he says, which either means that he simply adored drawing her fingers or could only afford the occasional handy. Either way, it's not a good sketch.
Later, obviously, comes the couch scene. The resulting sketch – a drawing so moving that its discovery kicks off the film’s action – just isn’t very good, is it? It's a bit simplistic, the shading is pretty haphazard and he doesn't really capture her face. If we were Rose we’d ask for our money back, but we suppose that this might ruin the 'most erotic moment' of her life (up to this point).
The thing is, the sketches were done by James Cameron, the film’s director. When you see the hands in close-up drawing Rose, you see James’s hands. When it comes to making films, he is a visionary. But he’s not exactly a major drawing talent.
In conclusion: we don’t really have a conclusion. Titanic is a great film and we will continue to watch it with tears rolling down our face. But if we were going to remake it, we’d probably get a real artist in to draw those sketches.
READ MORE: Have You Seen This Bizarre Deleted Scene From Titanic?