FINAL COMPARISON ESSAY-Titanic (1997) and Avatar (2009) by James Francis Cameron.

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05/12/2012 by zeoncheong91

Name :Zeon Cheong Sze Keat

Class :FALL 2012 Section 2

Tittle :Titanic (1997) and Avatar (2009) by James Francis Cameron.

Titanic (1997) and Avatar (2009), both directed by famous Canadian true-bred Hollywood director – James Francis Cameron. He understands the craft of mainstream cinematic storytelling like no other and like George Lucas back in the 1970s, he seems to have been listening to Joseph Campbell:

“And the only myth that is going to be worth thinking about

In the immediate future is one that is talking about the planet,

Not the city, not these people, but the planet, and everybody on it.

– Joseph Campbell (1904-1987)

Titanic, as also known as the most expensive movies ever made estimated $200 million during 1997, it is an epic romantic disaster film narrates protagonists who fall in love aboard the ship during its ill-fated maiden voyage. While Avatar, is an epic science fiction film and has the latest 3D effects. Both of them are differ in a lot of ways and yet similar in some too. Beyond that, Avatar is a movie set into the future while Titanic is based on an actual historic event and has a classical, glamour and touching love story. However, the reason I chosen these two movies out of others is because both of the movies have almost the same narrative structure, for example the adventurous journey, the hero scenes, falling in love, rebirth begins and so on.

 

(1) Narrative Structure / Mise en scene

Both Titanic and Avatar, is an adventurous journey that shot in the different places.  Both narrations in the film concerned the end goals. James Cameron’s inspiration for Titanic was his fascination with shipwrecks; he wanted to convert the emotional message of the tragedy, and felt a love story interspersed with the human loss would be essential to achieving this. On the other hand, In Avatar, James Cameron made Pandora’s environment as life-like as possible, taking inspiration from the Earth’s biodiversity, also passion for the deep sea, from the jellyfish-like seeds of the of the Na’vi’s sacred tree to the night-time of its wildlife. Titanic ‘s storyline is similar to the most of the romantic drama, which is from boy meets girl to overcome their difficulties, to declare of love, and finally experience life “happily ever after”.  Avatar has it too. There are pretty much narrative elements that are similar and repeated, and if forget about the 3D, special effects and the sci-fi, the two movies tell exactly the same story.

• Same protagonist with handicap

Both Titanic and Avatar s’ protagonist are the same, they are handicap, in terms of social and physical. Besides that, their names are similar; Jack and Jake. The Avatar’s hero is Jake Sully, an ex-Marine confined to a wheelchair. Meanwhile Titanic’s protagonist; Jack, he was a poor third-class artist and was able to board the ship only after winning tickets of the lucky hand. The characters in this film can be classified into two main groups, the wealthy and the poverty. In the film, we can see the obvious difference in status in terms of dressing and accommodations. Passengers such as Rose were well made up for every occasion be it dinner or just for a stroll along the deck of the ship. Their clothing included embellished hats and jewellery. The poor however didn’t seem to have many outfits to change into and are often seen in the same set of clothes.

• A journey in an unfamiliar environment

In Titanic, the movie starts with Jack the homeless artist who won tickets to luxury liner ship on a lucky hand of poker and he meets Rose. It’s like the mission in a foreign environment. In the same vein, In Avatar, the film opens up with Jake, a paralyzed Marine, arriving on Pandora, a moon planet which contains the desired mineral unobtanium. The RDA Company established a station on Pandora; a control base from which they operate plans to excavate the planet’s resources.

• Looking for a treasure

In the Titanic, treasure hunter Brock Lovett searches for a necklace, which he believes to be within the wreck of the RMS Titanic. His hunch seems to be confirmed when his team salvaged a drawing, dated the day the Titanic sank, in which a nude woman is portrayed wearing only the necklace. Also, In Avatar, explores of the unobtainium in the lush jungle moon of Pandora.

• Meet an unknown world

In the Titanic, Jack boarded the ship and then he found Rose, the gorgeous first-class passenger. On the other hand, “I’m a warrior…of the Jared clan.” said by Jake when he first meets the Na’vi.

• Double rescue

In the Titanic and Avatar, there was s scene called double rescue, Rose was standing at the very far end of the bow of the ship contemplating suicide. Then Jack suddenly appeared and intervened and talked to Rose. By talking to Rose, Jack saved Rose from jumping off the ship, and soon enough Jack and Rose would fall in love. In Avatar, the protagonists, Jake Sully and Neytiri also meet in a similar manner. Jake is lost in the forest and is under attack by a vicious mob of wolf-like creatures. Then suddenly a Na’vi woman, named Neytiri, arrives to the rescue and fights and kills the wolves, saving Jakes life. Jake and Neytiri soon enough fall in love too. This act of saving a complete stranger is the initial step for a James Cameron romance. The only major difference is rather than a male saving a female as presented in Titanic, in Avatar, a female saves a male.

• Meet the rival

In the Titanic, Jack’s rival, Caledon, who is happened to be Rose’s Fiancée. However, in Avatar, Jake’s rival is , he is a member of the Omaticaya clan, and he is the finest warrior. He is a skilled direhorse and banshee rider known for his archery skills. More than the other Na’vi, Tsu’Tey is immediately suspicious of Jake’s arrival amongst his people.

• Admittance in the unfamiliar world (invitation for dinner/ok to remain with the Na’vi)

In the Titanic, Caledon then invited Jack to dinner with the first-class passenger because he saved Rose. In Avatar, Jake is remaining with the Na’vi instead of separating themselves.

• Falling in love

In both films the romance continues in the same pattern. The bond of two couples strengthens as the couples journey together and teach each other new things. For example, in Avatar, Neytiri and Jake explore the entire forest sliding down every branch of every tree. Neytiri teaches Jake about her life and how her tribe, called the Na’vi, values their connection with the creatures and spirits of the forest. As they adventure together they become closer and more intimate, falling further in love. It sounds like Jack and Rose running around, exploring every room and corridor of the Titanic, as he introduces to her what life is like outside her social class. As they adventure together they too have fun and fall further in love. Therefore this is step two in a James Cameron romance; the male and female must explore their worlds together, whether it is a large ship or a strange mystical forest.

• Bad news (big stuff breaks apart)

Here comes the turning point of the story, The huge Titanic ship hits the ice berg, begins to sinks, and breaks in half. In Avatar, the largest tree break and fall down and crush everything beneath it.

• Presumed betrayal

In the Titanic, upper class feels betrayed by Jack for not respecting social rules; while in Avatar, Na’vi feel betrayed by Jake after he confesses the goal of his mission.

• Tied up and bound

In the Titanic, Rose thinks Jack stole the jewellery; while in Avatar, Jake and Dr. Grace Augustine are tied up on wooden sticks after the Na’vi learn that the army is going to attack Hometree.

• Rebirth

In the Titanic, Jack saves Rose from shipwrecking; In Avatar, Jake dominates the red eagle.

• Treasure remains into the deep

In the Titanic and Avatar, the treasure remains into the deep; No one will get rich with it .(Heart of the Ocean & the Unobtainium).

• ‘I trust you’ and ‘I see you’

‘DO you trust me ?’ Jack asks Rose when they are at the bow of the ship. And when she is about to swing at his cuffs with an axe Jack says back ‘ I trust you’. In Avatar, Neytiri tells Jake ‘ I see you’. In another way, both ‘I trust you’ and ‘I see you’ convey I love you.

(2) Favorite Scene in Titanic and Avatar

One of my favorite scene in Titanic is the flying scene, they both united at the tip of the ship and stand like its figure, the head and they are like almost flying, pressed together, facing outwards, conquer the world. So the romantic moment is intensified by a pre shadowing of the imminent disaster where he will sink instead of flying as he is now. Besides that, the lighting in this scene makes the viewers see just ‘Rose and Jack; against this enormous ship plowing through the ocean, it represents Rose and Jack against the world, no one can separate them, no matter how big the force is. In Avatar, there are several scenes that I really love it but this is my favorite ones, the scene when Neytiri rescues Jake when he is human and both say ‘ I see you ‘. Here’s the link to that particular scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKlWXyqO4zg

(3) Marxist theory in relationship to Titanic and Avatar

Karl Marx and the movie Titanic and Avatar, What do they have to do with each other?

Apparently is saying this James Cameron thought of Marx as someone who describes reality through the prism of the class struggle. On the Titanic the upper-class passengers in luxury on the upper decks while the poor are confined below and the sailor-workers toil to drown, while the too-few lifeboats are filled only with the rich. However, this certainly paints an ugly picture of the rich, but is limited to only a clear statement of fact. Marx would do more than that. On the other hand in Avatar, the class struggle between capitalists and proletarians is evident throughout the movie’s whole narrative structure.

 

(4) Conclusion

To conclude, both Titanic and Avatar, the protagonists get the girl at the end, In Avatar; James Cameron built on the Titanic movie by adding sci-fi, fantasy, and giant battles to the mix, and also the 3D technology. Of course each of them leaves the familiar world to chase after, they been through the adventurous journey and they are capable to get what they want.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanic_(1997_film)

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117995056.html?categoryid=2508&cs=

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_expensive_films

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanic_(1997_film

http://filmonic.com/10-ways-avatar-similar-titanic

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120338/

http://marxistupdate.blogspot.com/2012/04/titanic-another-marxist-view.html

http://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/263