A Lifetime of Happiness: Movies, TV, and Video Games

Titanic (1997)

July 28, 2021 Steve Bennet-Martin, Stephen Martin-Bennet, Ronnie Diamond Season 1 Episode 78
A Lifetime of Happiness: Movies, TV, and Video Games
Titanic (1997)
Show Notes Transcript

The Steves welcome back Ronnie Diamond to discuss the (1997) blockbuster, Titanic.

Binge and Purge Recommendations:

  • Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD (Nintendo Switch)
  • Aterlier Ryza 1 and 2 (Nintendo Switch / PS4 / Steam)
  • The Fear Street Trilogy (Netflix)
  • Let Them All Talk (HBO Max)


We then dive into Titanic, with highlights including

  • Movie Release Details
  • Actors and Production Details
  • The History of the Titanic
  • Classism of the time
  • Steve's first breasts
  • The blending of romance and disaster
  • Fun behind the scenes trivia

Ending- Any music or audio clips were borrowed from the original source material.

Support the show
Steve:

Hello, turning happiesand new listeners. This is Steve Bennet-Martin,

Stephen:

and this is Stephen Martin-Bennet. And welcome to a lifetime of happiness.

Steve:

The podcast where we take you on our journey through some of the movies, television shows, and other bits of cop culture that are helping to keep us happy. We'll hopefully bring a smile to your face along the way. And

Stephen:

with today's episode, we'll be going under the sea. He under the sea,

Steve:

but baby, we already did the little mermaid.

Stephen:

No darling it's Titanic, but the song applies because the boat sank and everyone die.

Steve:

Yeah, well, that's a little dark fav, but on a lighter note, let's welcome back. Special guests. Ronnie diamond. Welcome. Hi Ron.

Ronnie:

Hello everyone. Thank you for having me

Stephen:

welcome back. And before we get into some of the other things tell us what's been going on with you since we last chat.

Ronnie:

Well, since we last chatted, I was finally able to get fully vaccinated, get a European health path or what they call the path sanitaire, which is allowing me to go through Europe and whatnot, and then secure flights all the way from France, back to my parents and Kentucky, which basically meant I flew from France to Spain, to England, to DC, to Charlotte, and from Charlotte to Huntington, that's

Stephen:

a, that's a lot of stops and a lot of layover.

Ronnie:

Fortunately in first class, I was kept comfortable. I did have, I did have such an ordeal. You'll never believe me. There was a short connection really between DC or from Charlotte to Huntington. Of course, you know, there hardly any flights at all. You basically have to get in a hot air balloon to return here. And I got off the plane landing in Charlotte and I saw an American airlines worker. She looks fabulous with a scarf and her hair all up. And I said, excuse me, ma'am would you mind pointing me in which direction to the correct gate E one or whatever it was. And she was like, oh, I see you're going to West Virginia or someplace like that. I said, I see, you know, correctly. She said, I think I saw a movie about that once I said you did. And it was called wrong turn. I started,

Steve:

oh yeah, it never gets old for me. And now that you're back in the states, what's been making you happy.

Ronnie:

Well It's nice to be homeless family again, you know this is the longest time, really, basically almost a year and a half that I hadn't seen family. And last Christmas was the first Christmas I had ever missed because there just really wasn't any way to return home with the pandemic.

Stephen:

And, and you're like me that we're extremely close with our family, of

Ronnie:

course. And to think that, I mean, it was really hard for my parents too. You know, my mom, it was like, it was really hard, but then, you know, my nephews who are now four and five, that's a, that's a huge growing period. Yeah. And you

Stephen:

have another child, you have another niece or nephew on the way don't

Ronnie:

you? That's correct. I do. I do. Which is the nice surprise. And this little one will be due in December. So practically a Christmas baby or my birthday baby.

Stephen:

Let's hope not.

Ronnie:

Yeah, why not? I have a fantastic birthday at the beginning of December. So usually I kick off the Christmas season.

Stephen:

Like you're willing to share with anyone, whether they're blood or not

Ronnie:

sharing means caring and I don't care.

Stephen:

Oh, well, darling, what's been making you happy.

Steve:

Well work for once. We are officially a bitch, but we opened up at work. And so we now have seniors living in our senior living community. I'm not just working for an empty building, selling a promise. People can move in now and it feels fabulous.

Stephen:

And didn't you say that like they were already enjoying life, like so much?

Steve:

Oh yeah. Like 24 or 48 hours in there. We're all like, this is so worth the wait. Girl. Yes, we agree. It was almost worth the wait.

Ronnie:

That's cool. May, may I move into, because you know, I liked enjoying life.

Stephen:

You look the age, so that would work.

Steve:

Yeah. I was going to say you have the emotional maturity of the seniors

Stephen:

and the wrinkles to prove it. So yeah. Now,

Ronnie:

you know, that's a lie. Thanks to share as pioneering ethics. I too look the beautiful age of 17 Christine.

Steve:

Oh. And what's been making you happy.

Stephen:

My love well is, is not a shock to you or some of our listeners. I do enjoy a video game from time to time. And this week, the legend Zelda Skyward sword HD came out for the switch and it's been making me very happy to, you know, relive the memories of Skyloft and. You know, it's good to have indoor relaxing activities during the brutal heat of Florida summers.

Steve:

Yes. And so would you recommend Skyward sword as a binge or a perk?

Stephen:

It's absolutely a binge

Steve:

similar really I'm binging a video game as well. I'm bingeing until your rise, the two lost legends in the secret fairy, what would you call it,

Stephen:

babe? A tiller Tillery big old ferry. Yes,

Steve:

because it's a part of the Taylor series of games that are very niche J RPGs with a crafting system. That's awesome. But Lama has never been really good at getting the name. So he always makes fun of them.

Stephen:

Cause he was playing one that was called like artillery movement. It was R T R Tellier maroon. Artillery movement, like I said, yes, darling.

Ronnie:

Golly, darlings. I am sorry to interrupt interrupted. I don't know what any of these words mean. They're video

Steve:

games. Don't worry. We're going to bring it back to you in a moment. Ronnie.

Stephen:

So we also watched the fear street trilogy on Netflix. Ronnie, you read the fear street books growing up.

Ronnie:

I loved him. We had everyone. I, I was absolutely addicted. In fact, that's probably one of the first series that, you know, really where I think I truly became an avid reader at a younger age and I, I couldn't put them down. I loved everyone. And I have, I have to say I have gone because of the flights and stuff. And when it arrived in France, just to think it was last week or whatever, I was able to get through half of the first part,

Stephen:

wait until you get to the end. It's so good. I was gonna say we won't spoil it for you, but

Steve:

it is. It is. And it was just done really well. I mean, similar, like on a much smaller scale than the MCU, but the idea of having three movies that all have their own plots and own stories and everything, but finding a way to tie it all together. I think that they, you know, they had a very tall task ahead of them and they did it very well. The movies were about, well produced, the acting was good. The deaths were fun and shocking. And

Stephen:

for a Netflix movie, I was shocked at the gore. Yeah. It

Steve:

was really good.

Ronnie:

Yup. So that's true. Yeah. And I mean, just from what I've seen

Stephen:

yeah. To get further into it, but is there anything else that you've been watching or reading or listening to that you're really enjoying?

Ronnie:

So I'll give a throwback on the plane over. I watched two movies. The first one was I rewatched the best Marico Mari gold hotel. And I forgot how funny that was. So I think, I think every moment I was just laughing and laughing, but you also learn a little bit about India in that area. And I think it was, it was just really good. Plus of course the cast is fantastic. Anything with Maggie Smith is going to have me glued like hot oil and wait,

Steve:

I

Ronnie:

don't understand that what's that hair glue, everyone uses in Florida bring it anyway or pick. So there's, what's fantastic to rewatch that again, you know, the movie is 10 years old now, so that's right. So then I know I noticed this this was available. It was. Let them talk and it started Meryl Streep and it's a recent movie. I don't remember seeing any publicity for it or any really marketing and maybe with the cos they filmed it during the pandemic, but it's, it's new. It's very new and she's an author and she can't fly and she takes some friends and they go on basically the queen Mary to, to go to England for her to accept an award. And of course, when Meryl street is going to be fantastic, in my opinion, I don't think there's anything she can't do to probably include playing Batman if she so wanted,

Stephen:

I would watch Meryl street Batman.

Ronnie:

Right. Is that I mean, so I mean that, that's something that's out there. I, again, I had not heard anything about it. It was just an available movie for me on the screen and I chose that was

Steve:

fantastic. Well, and if you're interested in checking it out a quick Google shirt search shows that it was released on HBO max in December of 2020. So it should still be there now.

Ronnie:

Yeah, I think people should watch it. It was good. And if you live Meryl Streep, of course we would love it. Yeah.

Stephen:

Ronnie, the big question for today is why would we choose to cover Titanic

Ronnie:

that we can sing Celine favorite song?

Stephen:

Now, why do you love Titanic?

Ronnie:

So I love the story of Titanic, but I think, you know, the film that we're telling you about today is mostly fictional. There are some real characters that are portrayed in that who, who existed in life a hundred years ago. But I think overall it's for several reasons. And I think the top two reasons are, but most of us can identify with or imagine putting all of our hopes and dreams for the future into something. And then what would happen if that some thing failed to unfurl or failed to materialize and in the case for most of the steerage or the third class, that's really where we find ourselves. And then I also think for another reason, I think with the passing of the Titanic and the sinking of the Titanic, it's also really a bit of, well, I think that's some symbolism here, but it represents for me the sunset on the end of the Edwardian, the gilded age, the Wilhelmina and age, the ballot park, because we're really only two years out from world war one. When everything in Europe will change, monarchies will fall. And we will see a brand new world in March known as

Stephen:

the twenties and less emphasis on the aristocracy.

Ronnie:

Unfortunately,

Stephen:

I mean, they lost, you know, Guggenheim and JJ asked her so like Titans of industry went down with the ship.

Ronnie:

Yeah, they really did. They really did. And I mean, that's what I think, you know, it really, in a way represents the sunsetting on this period of time. And I think people can relate to that in the sense of, you know, a new this decade ending this decade, beginning in time seems to go a little bit faster now, but back then it didn't. But when we look back, we see that thinking of the Titanic at this time in 1912, and then two years later, we're in world war one and everything changed with world war one. So in that vein, it represents almost as if a thing goodbye or an a due to a period of time.

Steve:

Yes. And I didn't get any of that when I watched this movie, cause I was 11 years old. The first time

Ronnie:

here with the golden

Stephen:

doll, Darlene winter,

Ronnie:

when I watched it liar. Well, I still have some of my original bones over here. Let me pull this here on my ear. What I have to tell my note. That's what I have to tell my beautiful little nephew through a four and five Preston and Grayson down. Grab uncle Ronnie's new note down, grab uncle Ronnie's near you say that it takes

Steve:

to got your nose to a very dark corner. Yes. Now this movie, if you're doing the math and know my age, that is a 1997 movie, it was written and directed by James Cameron, who you might also know from the movie avatar as well as Terminator two and aliens.

Stephen:

Yeah. Like he's known for blockbuster movies that are still loved and respected to this day. Yes. And

Steve:

it was released as a holiday movie. It was December 19th that came out and was released by paramount pictures with a$200 million budget, which sounds like a lot back then. How did it do

Stephen:

well, you know, a couple people went and saw. You know, it, it only ended up making 2.19,$5 billion billion with a B that's like,

Ronnie:

do I remember this correctly? I mean, I think we've had this conversation many moons ago in that people didn't because we were seniors in high school. And I remember we got to school that day night leak. Well, not it wasn't really approved, but we have like a descendant official seniors gift and went and saw it. I know I may get in trouble. My mother doesn't know about that. Right. Was

Steve:

like, I'm sure Steven never had a skip day.

Stephen:

Never at all. And no, like that was one of those things. It captured the country. Oh yeah. It was

Steve:

the first movie I've ever heard about people, like who were saying, like, I always saw it again and I saw it again. Why would you see a movie more than once? Which, I mean, I was 11 at the time, but I mean, you know, now people like do that all the time, but I think it's, you know, something that really captured the nation that even my mom took us to see it and was like, we have to see it cause everyone's seeing it

Stephen:

everybody. And so it was released near the end of the year. So it would qualify for the Oscars. And I remember it, the weekend it came out, we still had a couple more days of school before they let us out for Christmas break. And I had friends that saw it twice opening weekend and I didn't see it till after Christmas during holiday break, but like even whenever we were gathered together for holiday as a family, like with all the cousins and everything, even two of my cousins had already seen it twice. And that was, you know, in six days. So it was really something that. People we're going to see again and again and again. Yeah.

Steve:

And it, it helps that it also not only was a great plot, but it had an all-star cast. It had a Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson.

Stephen:

It was Kate Winslet as rose do it Decatur.

Steve:

Yes. You have Billy Zane as evil do speck Cal Hockley,

Stephen:

Kathy Bates, as the unsinkable, Molly brown. And there was

Steve:

support from a whole bunch of faces. You've probably seen before, like Victor Garber, bill Paxton and Francis Fisher.

Stephen:

Yup. And it ended up doing very well at the Oscars. It got 11 Oscars and it had set a, or a tied for a record of most nominations. I believe at that point it won best picture director song. And it also wants supporting actress for the old lady. Yes. I do remember poor Kate Winslet. The, you know, the cameras are on them when they're announcing the award. And everyone had led her to believe that she was a shoe in that year to win. And when they announced someone else's name besides hers, she did not how old or hide her emotions very well. I will always remember that moment of her look of shock and discussed when they said someone else's

Steve:

name I could imagine. And that's why I'll never be up for an award because I would not be able to keep a poker face when, if I lost.

Ronnie:

And that's exactly the same reason. Joan Crawford rarely attended award shows.

Steve:

Now I am DB summarizes the movie as a 17 year olds. Aristocrat falls in love with a kind of a poor artist aboard the luxurious ill-fated RMS Titanic. Ronnie, would you say that that's what the movie is about? Or how would you describe it to someone who's never seen it before? I think

Ronnie:

you summed it up. Absolutely. Marvis marvelously. I think he's lucky not to be playing the violin in town square in abject poverty.

Stephen:

Yeah. I mean, he is a vagabond just traveling the world and making enough money to get by on as he experiences everything. And that would be Jack Dawson. That we're talking about. He's the poor artist that on the Titanic he's in over his

Steve:

head. Yes. And he explains that he's traveled from place to place working. And that's how he lives day to day. Never knowing what's going to happen when he wakes up in the morning. And that sounds fabulous to pour rose

Stephen:

oh, the society.

Ronnie:

But before we even get to her as another sum-up of our description of Jack Dawson and Leonardo DiCaprio, we cannot forget Francis Fisher's description, which was a dangerous insect. That must be squashed quickly.

Stephen:

That, yeah, because rose is the society girl being forced into a marriage and Frances Fisher is playing Ruth. The mother. That's trying to save their family through the marriage of their daughter because Ruth's husband died and left them. Debt and their good name. Yes. And

Steve:

so rose just feel so overwhelmed that she's ready to jump off the Titanic to her death. When she meets Jack who ultimately saves her. And it's kind of love at first sight, you can instantly feel

Stephen:

that chemistry you can. But one of the things that I always, you know, the movie starts with that whole like present day searching for the diamond and then old rose comes to the ship and she begins telling her story. That's kind of like the forgotten part of the movie except for the whole it's been 80 full years

Ronnie:

and it's been a three, four year. Now. I can still smell the fresh hanged. The trynna had never been used,

Stephen:

never been incepted

Ronnie:

Titanic was called the ship of Drury and it was a drag.

Stephen:

So like one of the things that I lacked it really, I wouldn't have

Steve:

got, I think you've seen this once or

Ronnie:

twice.

Stephen:

Okay. So like when it first gets to back in 1912 and rose steps out of the car with that lavender dress and the purple hat, I always picture you in my head because I think you'd look really good with that hat, Ronnie.

Ronnie:

Well, I do. And that's the reason I had it designed for me and especially Kate, I need the Western thing and crossing on the queen Mary two and that, that coming year.

Stephen:

So now one of the other characters that comes on there is one of the most famous survivors, Molly brown, Molly brown, who becomes known as the unsinkable, Molly brown. And she is. As Ruth calls her new money.

Steve:

Yes. They definitely don't treat her the same way they do the other well-to-do ladies. She's a little more abrasive, which of course means that we love her. Yes.

Ronnie:

I don't find crude and lewd socially. The book

Stephen:

you got to say, because crude and nude, that would be you.

Ronnie:

Thank you.

Stephen:

So as we said, rose is being married off to Cal, who is Billy Zane. He's an aristocrat, but he also feels very entitled to everything in life between feeling entitled to rose and her attention and affections and just everything else. Do you. Ronnie, you know, more about people from back then, do you think his attitude is typical of men of those age? Or do you think that other men in the aristocracy had more class and manners than Cal?

Ronnie:

I would like to think that he represents a small portion of men at that time. Were there other men who were as boarish as he absolutely. Were there some who were more compassionate and more caring? Absolutely. So, I mean, we have to look at this, I think with a very wide lens. The reality was is that for the upper classes, marriage was not an event taken for love as a rule. These were binding events. These were acts joining families together for preserving property, for ensuring continuity and for ensuring again, that timely stay afloat. And we see this exactly what. Rose on her mother, Ruth, their money is gone. Their father, the father passed away and left him with debts. And in order to secure their status, which was the most important thing of all they have to marry. Mary Rose must marry well, and this is normal. This is really normal. It was happening all over Europe and the United States. At that time, again, in the reverse for Europe, with titles and this thing was going on in Philadelphia society.

Stephen:

Well, and we also see this back whenever we were watching Downton Abbey that Lord Grantham married Cora for her money. So it's slightly reversed, but their marriage was based on her fortune because as it is for that family, the men in that family somehow find a way to lose the money. Yeah. And you can

Steve:

tell that that definitely was an upper-class thing because I mean, Jack immediately asked for, I was like, do you love him? And she was just so caught off. By the question she's like, that's rude. You don't ask that. And I'm like, you know, for us poor people, like, that's just the first question you had asked if you were asking about a relationship, but the fact that for her, because it's so transactional, the idea of it being based off of love or does she love him? Just seems like a crazy question to ask and slightly personal. Yeah,

Ronnie:

well, that's, that's precisely correct Steve. I mean, and we see this, most of all, I think the best piece of evidence of this is when we look at you know, homes from the gilded age or country estates or hunting lodge as a aristocracy, whether it be in the United States or in Europe, we will always seen that for the married couple. They will have separate bedrooms, that's in separate bed and separate rooms for the ladies maids and valid and all that. Well, those would sleep with the staff, but when traveling that is, and so we. I don't see that usually with the bourgeoisie at a middle classes. And we certainly don't see it in the lower classes. They shared a bed. Families would sleep on bed. That's all they may or may have had, but in the upper classes they had separate bedrooms. And that's, I think the best example, or at least it gives us some insight into understanding better how these social arrangements and contracts were made in order to preserve and to continue with status

Stephen:

and tradition. Well, speaking of status the Titanic was not just for the wealthy, like the steerage was also able to board the ship and cross were the accommodations the same.

Ronnie:

Well, I think that's a fantastic question. The commendations and steerage were considerably fantastic for the time. Full meals. They had a place where they could dance. They had a place where they could gather and socialize. They also had their own decks. Interestingly enough. If you compare it to tight Titanic, to other ships for crossings at that time, or their steam engines and whatnot, you'll see that the second class commendations on Titanic are much like the first class accommodations on any of the other ships of that time. So but for steerage, it was considered, it was just considered, I mean, we would have to just call it almost like a paradise in a sense. They were, they were really traveling in style. Most of them had nothing. They had every belonging that they ever owned with them. So for them, it, it represented a nice piece of life for a little while.

Steve:

Yeah.

Stephen:

Hardly any rats, hardly any rats now, darling, you've been on a cruise and. It would the sh the room that you and your family shared, was it like roses sweet or what would you compare it to? Well, I went,

Ronnie:

oh, you're talking to him. I thought he was calling you to do this darling.

Steve:

Yes. I remember having watched this movie at 11. I was just like, what? My parents, when we go on a cruise, it's definitely going to be like Rose's cabin. And then it definitely was more like the steerage where it was the four bunk beds and a tiny little box that my parents and I, and my brother got to share for a week. I know I'm like, oh no, we're lower

Stephen:

class. Well, and, but that is, I can shop, I

Ronnie:

can sign a different shadow and a bit different, but they've lied on that. Yeah. Tell

Steve:

us about what first class is like on ships nowadays. Yeah, I

Ronnie:

mean, I th I think the biggest, I think. I mean, honestly, if you're going to go on a cruise, let's say the biggest thing you want, is it just to make sure you get a balcony or mini suites, something like that is going to be a little bit more around, but the balcony people say you're never in your room, you are, you're going to have breakfast out there. You're going to have coffee. You'll have to you'll have drains. So do whatever, have a balcony, as long as you have a balcony and you can get it moderately priced. You're good to go. Good note.

Stephen:

They're good. I mean, but as you see the size of rooms this today, or okay. You're, you've spent a lot of time in Europe, running European hotel rooms, except for like the suite are smaller than us hotel rooms even. Oh,

Ronnie:

definitely. Definitely. And there's just not enough space, but I think something that we can see with something and, you know, they've been. Ships. So large lightly Royal Caribbean carnival. It's building these massive ships. They do have two and three stories suites available or what they often call now villas. Wow. Y'all yeah, you'd have your own prominence. So, you know, in looking, looking back at, you know, Titanic for just a second, you know, that we saw what rose had and what Ruth had, and what Hockley had is part of their, you know, their suites. But you know, the second class, they had fabulous frames as well. I mean, they were mostly made up of tourists like clergy academics and the middle-class from, you know, America, English and Scott, England and Scotland, but they had their own library, their own prominent. It was very luxurious for them as well.

Stephen:

That's, it's so interesting with all of that, but as you like, rose has all of these things and a lot of people that are watching the movie with. Wow. She has everything until you look at her once needs and emotions and rose is seeing her. Yeah. She sees a life of no choices in front of her, a life of obedience and no love. And she sees it as a life of nothing, not a life of privilege. And so she has a panic attack and a meltdown and runs across the ship with the intention of jumping off the end, Jack sees her running by and he goes, and he realizes what's happening. And he starts calming her out kind of annoying her, you know, like calling out her privilege and things. But then he also says, you know, you've involved me now. You know? You jump high jump. I have. Get in and save you in that water is going to be cold. And she's like, oh no, the follower will kill us. Now it'll hurt, but we'll wait. But the water is going to be cold. And it just that first interaction with them, even though that's not their first full fledge interaction. Cause he had seen her up on the deck and the first glance, he was just like smoldering. Yeah, it was wow. And at first you would think that she wouldn't even acknowledge him, but she gave him multiple glances that first time and now they're together and he does convince her don't jump. And as he's helping her get back on, she does. And he really does physically save her life. Yes.

Steve:

And then of course, when he gets her off of deck, though, all they heard was a woman's screaming and they run to see him on top of her. And so it looks very rapey. But she defends him when they're confronted and his re his reward is being invited to yes.

Stephen:

And w like you see it even today with certain things of people that are a fish out of water with this, I do immediately, like Molly brown goes out of her way to help Jack. And like, we've all seen Gilligan's island where Mr. And Mrs. Hal took all of their clothing. With them on this three hour tour and Molly brown puts Jack in a tuxedo that belongs to her son. And you're like, he's not even on the ship. Why did you bring all this clothing? And I thought about that last night, that's what I kept thinking of. And I was like, why do you have all this stuff? And I was like, well, I never really questioned why. Ginger wore an evening gown on their three hour tour or the house had like trunks of clothes for everyone to wear. So.

Ronnie:

But yeah, you don't question, you don't question why I haven't been wearing my own rose D w vacatur outfit while trying to bore the Titanic.

Stephen:

I like those were fairies that take you around the area.

Ronnie:

I mean, I think I always, like when I, whenever there are questions and films, like I have to have an answer to it. So I'll make up my own little fantasy in my world and I'll probably even make two or three up just to, just to, you know, Suze my nerves as it were. And I often think, well, maybe she must have gone shopping for him, or perhaps they had already been traveling together and then he departed before she, or something like that. So that's the answer. I like

Stephen:

that answer. Thank

Ronnie:

you. I also have one to help out with poor Ruth and what happens to her after

Stephen:

we will definitely get to that. So they're there at this dinner and most people at the dinner are. Following their good breeding and their good manners. And they are trying to make Jack feel welcome because for Ruth, except for Ruth and Cal, who are, seemed to be going out of their way to make sure everyone knows he doesn't belong.

Steve:

Yes. And then, you know, through that, he encourages her to live. Yeah. And like, you know, do what was written on the note.

Stephen:

Oh, now I can't remember what it said about, about you know, it was kind of like seize the moment live every day.

Steve:

I'm testing you guys and you guys are failing. Ronnie. I thought you've seen this movie once or twice.

Ronnie:

Well, that's one of those pieces that are changed. I created a fantasy in my notes that made me round back.

Steve:

She ends up meeting him around

Stephen:

back. Yeah. And. I, as the gentlemen go off for cigars and Brandy and conversation in the women's day around for gossip, but rose goes to meet Jack and for a real party. And they go down to the steerage where the bands are like the people that are traveling have just performed with the instruments. They brought there's alcohol for everyone, Jack's dancing with his best girl, Cora, this little girl that looks to be about seven or eight, which fun fact. Originally at that time, the part was going to go to Lindsay Lowen, who was like 11 or 12 at the time, but they felt that it actually was slightly too old for the character to be as cute as they needed it to be. So they ended up going younger, but I thought that was funny that Lindsay Lohan was almost. In Titanic? Yes.

Ronnie:

I think they made the right choice. Although seeing her go down, I wouldn't be happy. Wait, no, I take that back. She's already gone down so many

Steve:

times. I was gonna say, she's gone down a lot. I love and Steven, just having, she gets back

Stephen:

up. Yeah. And it's one of the, probably first times in Rose's life where she can just let go. And after a bit she doesn't care what anybody's thinking and she's just having fun. Yeah. Do you think Ronnie, that that's typical for people that are in the aristocracy that they never get to have fun, have fun without thinking of what someone going to say or think.

Ronnie:

I think it's one of those situations where boys will be boys was being used to say, I think for the girls, there aren't that many roses or lady symbols out there who really go and get to have any fun. But I think for the, for the younger boys or the young gentlemen, I think it was, you know, it's a, it's a bit of hypocrisy. If you will, the shirt, they certainly had outlets and avenues to them that young ladies did not. So for the girls, I don't, I do think it's very rare for the boys because it would lead to their ruin, right? Their reputations were, were so much more than the boys and the boys would be patted on the back or they would just be shucked off or they're, they're selling their roots. And, you know, even young men at this time, it was always called they do a big tour of Europe after they've finished high school or university, something along to their, their private studies. And so it was always almost expected that they would you know, go off. So the wild, I was know what was not expected, that, that back tertiary syphilis, which they often did

Steve:

well. But what you're saying is that the patriarchy has always been horrible.

Ronnie:

Yeah. I mean, so, I mean, that's the one thing that we definitely know. I mean, we have, with the changing of society, we were seeing, you know, women have more opportunities, more of a voice and that's something that was, well, it's a shame. It didn't happen thousands of years ago, but it's finally happening now. And I think that's, that's good for everyone, both men and women, but they're, we don't get to see it as often. So again, I think rose is certainly a rarity as was lady Sybil on downtown Yeah.

Steve:

And I know that, I mean, for this amazing night, if we weren't sure if Cal was just to do spec or a flat out villain, it was very apparent the following morning when he threw his temper tantrum over the table.

Stephen:

Oh. And when he, and so that was. That was a good character moment for all of them. Like it shows cow's anger that without hitting her, you know, that it's in his character to hit her. Oh yeah. And, but rose immediately, she has all of the good upbringing. The first of all, she's terrified and she's crying, but then she's also trying to cover because scandal doesn't go well with their breeding. And she's like, oh, it was just an accident, blah, blah, blah. And the maid was like, it's okay. You're okay. Everything's okay. Because rose is just crying and trying to clean up. And like, that was really good with the maid because you can see that rose is a good person and the help realize that she's a good person for how they treat her. And that it also shows. RO like it's a good, really good character moment for rose that humanizes her even more

Ronnie:

precisely. And we see how cow wants to break off good dishes. That's a no, in my book,

Steve:

of course, that's when you were like, Zelin

Stephen:

so right after this the rose and Cal and Ruth are getting a tour of the ship and the captain gets that ice warning. And you know, the owner of the ship is on, is on the passage and, you know, he's, his only thought is, okay, well, the Headlands have already been how big and how grand the ship is. Now we need more headlines about how fast the ship is. So I want you to turn on all the boilers full speed ahead. Even though the captain is thinking. You know, we need to be careful. He's overruled by the owner of the ship. And it's one of those things that like you, you can see. All the pieces going into place of how this tragedy happened. You gonna

Steve:

say it like that? They did a such a good job because it wasn't even just like all at one thing. But like right from the beginning, they were doing like little bits, you know, about like, you know, we need to go faster or there's icebergs ahead. Or, you know, there's only enough lifeboats for like half of the people, you know, they, they do it littered. So that like, even if you didn't know what happened to that, a Titanic going into the movie, like there's little things going on from while you're watching this love story that, you know, seems like it doesn't make sense, but then you're like, oh right, the ship's going to go down

Stephen:

rose. The friends, Mr. Andrews, who built the ship and on the deck, she's like, you know, I've done some mathematical calculations and it doesn't appear that we have enough lifeboats. And Mr. Andrews, Victor Garber is like, you're right. It's by half. And he goes, I designed. These decks so that there could be two boats side by side, but, and he's blaming on the owner. Didn't think that that looked good. So they removed them all. And you're seeing that it's this still privilege. And the aristocracy where looks are more important than function and in their mind, as all of them are they're invincible, like their wealth and their station make them.

Ronnie:

And in that that's precisely correct. I mean, we can get more evidence when we just look at the corset or the leg of mutton sleeve, but I mean, in truth, this is part of the movie that's actually very true and it's accurate. So although the, some of the storyline, of course, it's fiction, there's a lot of truth in here and there were signs left and right, that there were problems and they just did not. They just wanted to look the other way and something that recently just came out. I think it's been only just a couple of years as these records were released was that there were already fires out of control when they left Cherbourg France. So these fires would have rendered the ship needing to get junk, right? The ship was already going to be ruined because these fires were out of control and they were only going to try to control them as they move. As they positioned in New York, the ship was already lost and they knew that they knew, or they didn't, you know, something else they found out. There weren't binoculars in the crow's nest, they didn't have emergency flares. They only had party flares. Well, who doesn't love a good party, except for when you're in a marriage and say, I mean, if you go back in time that any fishermen or any sailors, biggest fear ever, it's not drowning, it's fire at sea and they already had that. So it was one bundle one mistake after another. And until really we just find it hits the APEC.

Stephen:

Well, and I'm sorry, I was just going to say that one of the lines that always stuck out to me is, you know, as it was getting darker that night, and they said that the sea was like glass, there were no waves. Everything was flat, which makes it harder to see the icebergs from a distance. And so, I mean, it's another one of those things that they just. Little lines in here, feeding you all the clues. I

Steve:

was going to say, and as they're getting ready for the, the iceberg, so to speak and everything cloud building up to a head, everything in the romance as a building up to a head as well and getting ready for a climax

Stephen:

or two, right? Because rose originally tells Jack, you know, I can't be with you. And then Jack keeps pushing her saying like, no, there's something special here. And they decided to run off together and just have fun. And she had seen all of his drawings and his French girls, and she's a lover of art. And so she's fascinated by his talent because he is talented and she goes, and she shows him the heart of the ocean. And she says, draw me like one of your French girls. Wearing this and only this meaning wearing the necklace and only the necklace. And do you know what I mean?

Ronnie:

Meaning draw me like a Parisian prostituted

Stephen:

I one

Steve:

legged for Asian prostitute

Stephen:

now.

Steve:

And what this led to for me was the first boobies, very first boobies boobies, first boobies, very first boobies I saw.

Stephen:

Right. Which makes sense in 11, that that's the first boobies you ever saw. I was going

Steve:

to say that they didn't have too much of an impact clearly, but they had enough, it did lead to a lifelong fascination with breasts. And I do still love breasts even as a gay man. So I would say that it was love at first sight.

Ronnie:

Well, I found a pair on sale. If you'd like to go buy some, I think you could get that fixed and note.

Steve:

I was gonna say, I don't like them on me. I'm not wearing breastplates or

Stephen:

anything. He doesn't need to go to boobs for queens.com,

Steve:

but not a sponsor of lifetime of happiness,

Stephen:

not a sponsor. No. So they, he draws her, draws her and with the heart. Yep. Fun little fact that whenever you see the hand drawing the thing, it is not Leo's hand, but it is James Cameron's hand that he actually did do the drawing. So the camera is trying to show just the hands and they're moving. So you can't really notice, oh, those hands are 20 years older than they should be. But those are actually James Cameron's hands doing the drawing, which I think is a neat little nod there. They put the necklace back in love Jack. We see him put it in to the safe. She puts the drawing in there and she also writes a note, but we don't see at the moment what the note says. Yeah. And then they run off and they're seen by his assistant, the who's kind of his thug. Yeah. And so they're running from him and they end up running and go down through. So other interesting thing. So like we see the engine room and it's pristine and all these pistons are firing and their steam and it, oh my goodness. Doesn't it look nice. And then you see below and that's where they're shoveling the coal to make the everything turn. And I was like, wow. Even the people that work on the ship there's class differences. Between. Yeah. Like, wait, like you're not good enough to work in the engine room. You work in the coal shoveling room. Like that was another whole big thing that even people that aren't would kill ya. Oh yeah. Like those people were going to die of like lung cancer at some point, if they didn't drown down there, but they're running and they go through the coal area and then they find the cargo hold where all the cars are stored because of course these rich people brought their cars from Europe to America and they hide it called

Ronnie:

a horse carriage, nothing wrong, nothing wrong with bringing it along

Stephen:

now, like, you know, back in 1912, did your family have a horseless carriage? We

Ronnie:

did. What kind of, I still have it? Well, I was driving a blue one back. Oh, wait, I can't go.

Stephen:

I had

Ronnie:

a blue one. Paul brought it forward.

Stephen:

Popol diamond, Ronald Wilson diamond. The first.

Ronnie:

I have to tell you something, you know Y you know how I always like to bring just a little bit of diversity and inclusion into some of this, because I think sometimes some people could be left out of enjoying it as much, because they can't maybe relate to certain things. Maybe they, you know, they could a little bit, but they could may maybe more if they knew that there was other representation there at that time. And I'd like to just share something that, that is truthful. There was an interracial family in second class, and that has been was Haitian. And his name was Joseph Roche. And his wife was from a well-to-do Parisian family, Juliet. They had two little girls and she was pregnant with a third, so beautiful. And They had been living in Paris, but you know, they did face discrimination then being an interracial family, it was 1912. So they were going back to Haiti because Joseph's uncle was the president. So why not move back to Haiti? Whether it was your uncle's the president. And you're probably going to have less discrimination. I wanted to share that. Of course he was a man and died, but the wife and the girls went on to live and the youngest girl, a little Louise only passed away in 1998. So they went on to have a great life.

Stephen:

Now that you brought that up, it did, there were a couple of times that, and I know that it's 1912 and we can't judge things. They say by today's standards, but it did annoy me every time. Rose was like, I feel like Titanic is a slave ship for me. And I was like, I was like, oh girl, Obviously something like

Steve:

someone at that time would

Stephen:

be saying, I know, but she obviously didn't know the conditions of slave ships. Yeah. Clearly

Ronnie:

not. And you know, you're, I, I'm glad you pointed that out. I think the same thing, I cringed to that, and I think, you know, today we don't make a comparisons like that. Just like it's not as a rule, a good thing to make comparisons with the Holocaust unit. There's not really anything that compares. So those sorts of things. But I do know as a fact, it wasn't, you know, just like the different things come throughout different times. There was a thing at that time that working like a slave or uncle he's working harder than this, of course they weren't working on it, but they had no idea what that meant even, but it was a thing. So a slave ship, I mean that, it's almost like you have. Surgeons or these, I don't want to say a Renaissance of expression, but in a way you do see that at that time you know, just like it was also slaying the British aristocracy started to say ain't ain't and you see that in with the lies, the do little in my fair lady that it's, it's, it's considered slang and it's, it's considered cute, or it's considered funny for the, for the upper classes to use it into set, but she has no idea what a slave ship was. He has no idea of its conditions. And so she's just probably saying it to be clever again. There are some things I'll have no tolerance for in the past, like slavery. But I think when we, when we begin to take a microscope to some of this stuff and we look at it, we have to be very careful in our judging. And we have to be very careful not to paint with broad brushes. Exactly.

Steve:

I mean, I've even seen that in modern day, like, or in my lifetime, because I go back and you watch Buffy and angel all the time. And I cringe because back in the nineties to early aughts, it was you know, people use the R word for people with disabilities to describe people that were stupid or stupid things. And so like going back and hearing like Cordelia, and I'm like my favorite characters on angel drop, like, and say the word retarded, like multiple times, I'm always like, Ooh, but like back then in the nineties, unfortunately, I mean, It happens. It happens and

Ronnie:

they do, and they did. And they did it with the word gay that's retarded, that's gay. I mean, my brothers used to say that I probably even said it. In fact, I'm sure I haven't, it was at the end, but of course I don't believe in that. And we weren't, my mother would've smacked us down, but I mean, the R word was dead like that in the nineties. And, and, you know, as a, as a person who loves foreign languages and speaks German and French, it can be a little bit difficult too, because in when French you're describing, you want to say a person of color, you say to people of color, because the adjective has to go after the now and things like that. And it can change a little bit and you know, the word from Latin to like, to, you know, retard or any sort of quite town, you know, just slowed down. And so you do use those other languages and you have to be very careful and to think clearly which words you're using and which language and what their meaning is then, because it can change by the decade as we see. Oh,

Stephen:

absolutely. Life changes. We have to change with it. Now that we get to the part of the movie where like we've been building and it's the, movie's fantastic, but we're about to kick into high gear for the last hour, because without, you know, even the guy in the crow's nest, it's like, I can smell ice. No, you can't because the boat hits a knife.

Steve:

Yes, it does. It hits an iceberg while rose and Jack are screwing in the backseat of a

Stephen:

car. Well, they had, they had finished and they were heading upstairs in the, you know, they, they feel it all. And they hear about the seriousness of it. They, they weren't meant to hear it, but they hear it at that same time, Cal fines the drawing, the necklace and the note from rose, which had said now you can keep me and it in the safe, meaning her and the necklace and the. And so he's already pissed. He calls the man at arms and Sergeant at arms, and they're going to do an investigation because obviously something's been broken into and things have been stolen and Jack and rose are coming back. Not knowing anything is really a miss there to warn people, Hey, there's something really bad happening. And all of the sudden Cal frames Jack for stealing the necklace and gets him arrested, his thug, drops the necklace into the coat pocket. And they're like, can we search your coat pocket? And there's the necklace, blah, blah, blah. Things move really fast. Water is starting to sink the ship. They are getting everyone to put on their life jackets. They're trying to get the boats ready, you know, women and children. First we're moving along. Really really fast. The thing that bothered me immediately is so that the first class people could get on the boats first, they lock the steerage people down below that close all the gates so that no one can get upstairs like that. I still bothers me every time I watch it.

Ronnie:

Mm it's heartbreaking. And I, you know, that's when you know, you really can. I think that's partly, as I mentioned earlier, that the imagining of your hopes and your dreams in that situation and wants to, and for all wants to develop and you know, just a bit of information on most of the first class women and first and second class women and children, except for like one or two, one woman. And maybe I think it was like one child were, were saved and that that's, I mean, Unfortunately, they could have saved a lot more. The vote was actually only the ship was only really at about 60% capacity. They could have had really 242,453 people on board. And they did, and they had 1,317. So yeah, they could have saved a lot more. And many of those could have been the children, at least on the women, other mothers from the third class.

Stephen:

Now, whenever they were talking Mr. Andrews is like, those boats can hold 70 grown men. You can put 60 to 65 women and children on it. You're sending them out with 15 to 20 people on it. From your knowledge of the thing. Was that really what was going on? Where the lifeboats under fit.

Ronnie:

The lifeboats were under field. And we have, we have historic record to to support that towards they as the first boats, at least where like with 12, 15, 16, and even the people thought this was ridiculous. And so we, although it, that the customer at the time was of course women and children. First, we have at least some officers and some crew men on the other side of this trip, you know, exude a little bit of logic, apply a little bit of critical thinking, some adult analysis and say, well, you know, if this boat, the lipid isn't full, why can't these men who are standing here now? And that's really how that's really the only way any of the first or second classmen were cited. But certainly not that many. We know that when Jacob asked her the fourth, if he would have been on the other side of the ship, if he would have known that he could have gotten in Kronos by just by the whim of the officer, that learning a moment, applying laundry, he might've been saved as well.

Stephen:

Hmm. And like rose has her moment to get on the boat with her mother and Molly brown. And I love Molly's line of come on on Ruth first-class seats up here. And you know, rose is like, I'm sorry, mother, and doesn't get on. And even Jack and Calor, we're trying to get rose to get on one of the boats because it's something they can both agree on. Cal is pretty sure he can weasel his way onto a boat and he wants rose to live. And so does Jack and Jack does too. So they're kind of agreeing there, but as it's going down, rose jumps off the boat onto the second class deck and is pulled inside and Jack goes chasing after they meet at the staircase and she's like, I couldn't leave without you. And That's when Cal starts chasing them with a gun. And it's just like, he's lost his mind at that point. And but he also realizes it.

Steve:

I was gonna say he also realizes that he left the necklace in the coat that he gave to her to wear when she got on the boat. So she now has the necklace

Stephen:

and it's one of those things of just we're screwed. And he now is going to try to save himself at least, because even if he loses the millions from the necklace, his life is still

Steve:

there more than anything. And so he steals a child to get on the lifeboat. Oh.

Stephen:

Which is just, I mean, it's shameful. But one of the things that I love is the owner of the ship gets on the boat, makes eye contact with one of the sailors and. Like the shame that the owner feels. I, it, I don't know if it outweighs his, well, at least I'm going to be saved, but it seems to be close. Yeah. Yeah.

Ronnie:

Yeah. I mean the reality and in real life, the rest of his life, he was a social pariah and basically lived as a hermit. Really? That would, yeah, that was the rest of his man's life, but not really. So, I mean, one way or the other, he got his justice arts. I don't know if it's equal to death, but at the same time he was a pariah in society. He was Sean. No one would have any interaction with him. People who survived, knew he had pushed and pushed and pushed something that very few people know actually is that captain Smith pushed and pushed to, because it was his retirement cruise or crossing rather, it's not a cruise, it's a crossing. So, I mean, and in that, yeah. So that's, that's how, that's how he's been doing. And time on this planet.

Steve:

And I mean, it's karma. Yeah. They're trying to survive this as, when it really comes to, then it goes from a romcom to a full-blown disaster movie, and that's when you just get so

Stephen:

excited. Well, and that's one of the things that he's created, this epic drama that becomes an action disaster film that he knows how to do action, obviously. Yeah. And it's unbelievable how tense and exciting and well done that it is that, that last 45 minutes or so where it's starting to sink and they're running

Steve:

at is dropping left and right. Literally,

Stephen:

and like the boat is breaking in half and it's just so well done.

Ronnie:

You see, you see at the very last minute, you know, they always say we're only nine meals away from complete anarchies watch how humans behave. And that is I think a good representation watch how humans are a good light, rather likeness, and that how humans behave in those moments, regardless of class, they behave like animals. That's what they revert

Stephen:

to. You did see the people trying to mob the last of the boats. You solve the people that as the ship was sinking were bowing and praying with the preacher and all that

Steve:

were willing to throw other people under, to get to safety and trampolining

Stephen:

them. And then you saw others like the steerage class woman that couldn't get upstairs, took her children back to bed and was telling them a bedtime story to keep them calm before they died. Or the old couple that were just cuddling in bed. That's that's

Ronnie:

those are the, is the doors that's Mr. And Mrs. Trials. That's a representation of, and those characters and you say you see the best of humanity and you see the Bulger's the worst. I personally would have gone back to my state room on the ADA and dressed in drag and gotten into my first class life. But it failed away way with rude.

Stephen:

What was your, your name was Veronica. What was the last name? Cause

Ronnie:

I didn't have a drag name. You fool. That was something you all made up to start rumors and lie. Oh, that's

Stephen:

right. That's why I can't remember it. Yeah, we called you Veronica something or other and I can't remember what the last name. Yeah, you made up,

Ronnie:

may you called it? Dominic. Ron. I can marry, I had Watergate horses. They had,

Stephen:

okay. Jack and rose are in the water. He gets her over to this floating door. That's like for an armoire and gets her up on there and he only tries, wants to climb on and it tips over. And then he's like, you just stay up there. This is what I always have problems with because I know it's story dictated, but there was damn enough room for both of them to be on that door.

Steve:

They should have picked a smaller door if they were going to make it seem like she was the only one

Stephen:

rose doesn't. Right Jack freezes to death. And so while this is happening, finally, one boat, like, cause all of the lifeboats are out there and people are like, we should go back. And they're like the mob us they'll take us all under and Molly, Brown's like, look at you, people like those are your men out there. And none of the women are, they're all, you know, they're all scared. Rightly so. And they're concerned about themselves, but it shows Molly was, you know, the only strong one, the only really strong one that she's like, Hey, we are safe. There are some people that we could save as well. They, one boat does go back, but by then, Everybody, but rose is dead and she finally lets

Steve:

go, lets says she'll never let go. And when I was very confused because I don't understand what metaphor was back in the time. So I was like, but she just let him go.

Stephen:

But she had promised him until live. I, and so she gets in, she blows the whistle and she saved. And they only pulled like two or three people out of the water that were still alive because only one boat came back. Which

Ronnie:

yeah. And that's real, that's real life in real life. Only one boat turned back and in real life there were about six people who were saved. One of whom was a complete drunk who'd been drinking all evening. And that's how that drunk lived. I think it was one of my friends.

Stephen:

I was it. You finished the joke before I could say so. That's how you're still here to this day.

Ronnie:

Cool. That's floated away on the boat of liquor. And then, and one of the, in real life, one of the survivors was young Jack fare whose mother had already been saved. Of course, whose father drown. He was, I think, 14, 15, 16 at the time, somewhere through there, his father was the vice president of the Penn pavilion railroad. So he was yet, somehow he was lucky enough, the one of the six to not freeze and he was saved and he went on to live a life.

Stephen:

Now, one of the tragic things that we see and it's shown while the ship is breaking apart you know, a lot of windows are breaking and water's filling up, but then they show us where all the China is stored and the China is falling off the shelves and breaking. How do you feel about that?

Ronnie:

My heart breaking part of the film for me. And, you know, they don't just show it once, twice, they show it thrive. Oh, there's beautiful dishes falling, crash. You know, it's not all of them broke. I thought I paused the movie and I thought were separate, were fade. Those could have been saved from the bottom of the senior, most heart wrenching part for me that, and the bigger question of whatever happened to Ruth after she was collected by the carpet.

Stephen:

Well, do tell, do you like it, if you don't know when, you know, because it's a fictional character in your mind, what happens to Ruth?

Steve:

I think she froze

Stephen:

to death. You think somebody pushed her off and, or just there.

Ronnie:

Certainly not she's a survivor. I think she went back and she made fraudulent insurance claim. And then she settled well with this white star line lived happily ever after. And no, it doesn't seem stress.

Stephen:

So in your mind, Ruth is not one of the villains of the movie.

Ronnie:

No. Ruth is practical. You have to show the cure, the family's survival and hanging around with an old drunk playing cards and gambling. Isn't the way to do it.

Stephen:

She's right. So rose is she survives she's on the ship. The Carpathian, they come around asking for names and she changes her last name to Dawson in honor of Jack. Cal had gone down to the third class area to look for people and rose hid herself. And that was the last time she ever saw. And we hear that though. Cal did live that whenever the stock market crashed in 29 that he lost most of his money and he blew his brains out. Yeah. So

Ronnie:

he had that, he had that personality anyway, that fictional you know, the heart of the ocean that diamond was valued was supposed to be valued at, in, in reality of it that close to the hope diamond, which a president is worth$250 million. So he would have had that. That's why he wants that stone back so badly. No doubt. Now we see what kind of character he is.

Steve:

Yes. And as we see the, after she gives the name and after she hides, she reaches into the pocket and notices that she has it. So flash forwarding to modern day old woman rose. It goes out on the, on the balcony at night and we see it in her hands. And what does she do

Stephen:

with that, babe? She pitches it into the ocean, like an idiot. Well, she said

Ronnie:

she saw we'll pick it up.

Stephen:

Yeah, I it's, it's so ridiculous that I know that like, she didn't need it to survive and live all those years because. An actress and she did get to ride horses on the beach and she flew an airplane and she ended up living a life. Well lived, like she had promised Jack that they were going to, so that's great. But you have this granddaughter

Ronnie:

granddaughter. No, she had to wear the same drains, the whole movie. And then something else that blanket that rose was wearing in the end to conceal her face, fell from how she was. That's that same blanket she's wearing to when she's rescued in the beginning. When Jack saves her from falling over and then they put that blanket around her as some sort of comforting shoe, you know, same

Stephen:

blanket, same blanket. Now at the end, you know, after she dies in her bed, an old woman, like Jack said she was going, yeah she reenters the Titanic as her 17 year old self again. And she and Jack meet on the staircase and all the people that died on the ship are there and they cheer. And then it's over, she's home. She's home. Now I have a question for both of you. So like back then, this was the most luxurious mode of transportation. Let's say that something today, like if they invented a new type of, you know, the Concorde was the fastest way to fly from Europe to the U S let's say that there's a new plane that is more luxurious and can go even faster. Who in the world like of people that are names, do you think would be honored with tickets on this first news? Like super plain, Ronnie of course

Ronnie:

we'll spend time in the second fun hops book and Hollins on the

Stephen:

trash. No,

Steve:

I was going to say one, it was on an airplane. He has his connections.

Stephen:

That is true, but I mean, do you, do you think like obviously Do you think the way I think he bring

Ronnie:

it? I think the way you bring up, it's really cool. Cause we're thinking almost drinking all the time. Now, maybe that next big flight that next, next, next big journey is really what for Richard is doing. And bayzos is doing at this moment with these little space flights. Not that they'll be space flights. And so maybe that's maybe that's what gives us some vision

Steve:

into how that might look and turning it around on us or like the listeners to think of. Like, if you, if you were given the chance to be on the very first luxury spacecraft to take you to Mars to start your new life, would you go on round one on the Titanic space

Stephen:

version? Well, and that's a good question. Like, do you think that it would be people like. Prince William and princess. Kate, do you think that it would be people like Beyonce and Jay Z would like would be on say even though, you know, she's world famous, would she and Jay Z be looked down upon because they're entertainers, what

Ronnie:

do you think? Well, entertainers at that time were definitely looked upon differently than today. I mean that was, that's

Stephen:

just like, and so let's say,

Ronnie:

and we always have to remember, I think, I think we often confuse too. Like we, well with class. Yeah. You can be rich trash and you can be poor as can be, but be like the absolute epitome.

Stephen:

Well, like the Kardashians, like would be trash, trash. Exactly. So if the Kardashians were on there, they would be looked down upon like Holly brown. Yeah. Okay. So,

Steve:

Speaking of music, entertainers, what did you think of the band playing on while the ship sank?

Ronnie:

I think that's music to drown by now, but I mean really quickly. I mean, I'm not saying Beyonce is trash because I don't think she is, but I'm saying things like Kardashians or something like that. I mean, I don't, I mean, you can, I mean, really honestly, the equivalent of in that movie, what we're talking about just now is really like Molly brown, the new money, that's really what we're talking about. Right.

Stephen:

And like the, the band playing as they were ordered to entertain the people while they were waiting for the lifeboats. Is that just something of,

Ronnie:

well, they weren't ordered, they were doing, doing it out of a sense of duty. Now I think that's something that has gone by the wayside. The sense of duty, a sense of responsibility, a sense of and, and, you know, and probably for the better, in most cases, but I think they were doing, they weren't doing it out of being ordered to do it. They were doing it out of a sense of obligation and duty.

Stephen:

We are over a hundred years past the sinking of the Titanic. Do you think people a hundred years from now will still be fascinated with it?

Ronnie:

I certainly do. I do. I think just fascinated with that imagining, imagining your dreams and impossibly going up in smoke.

Steve:

Love that good

Stephen:

disaster. And I, I kind of thinking like how our Inferno, well, you know, we talk about the Titanic, they talk about the attack on Pearl Harbor. Nine 11, like, I think there are certain

Steve:

I'm terrified for the movie, you know, down the road when they do like a Titanic version of night 11.

Stephen:

Oh. I'm like they were already working on it before about a love story of people that worked in the towers and like trying to get out. And I think that it was put on hold because they were like, it's too soon. And the people were still too raw about it, but yeah, that's coming.

Ronnie:

I, and that I have to tell you too, like for the listeners, especially there are, if you want to watch a version of Titanic, that's actually closer to the history and, and, you know, and, but with less fiction, if you will, there are so many versions. There's one from the fifties. There's one from the eighties. There's one from like one or two years before this one came out like 95, 96. I think that was a mini series on lifetime. There's one that came out in 2012. There's one that they're all the time and they're a little bit closer to the real history. So I'm going to just play that out there for the listeners, because they're each one of them is fascinating to watch whatever countries have done several versions of them.

Stephen:

Isn't there a version done by the guy that did Downton Abbey,

Ronnie:

Julian Fellowes. Yes. And that is available on Amazon, Amazon. And I think it was really good. It was

Stephen:

really good because the one that you were talking about in the nineties actually starred. Catherine Zeta Jones.

Ronnie:

Yep. It did. And that was, that's a good one too. I have that one as well. Yeah. Happy to share. Happy

Stephen:

to share it. Do you know that, like we now think of Titanic as Leo and Kate, but there was almost a different Jack and rose because Gwyneth Paltrow and Matthew McConaughey were originally in talks to star.

Ronnie:

I can see that. I mean, cause Gwyneth can pull after, you know, the equivalent of the young lady, a member of the aristocracy and he certainly can pull off some old, some riffraff running through the

Stephen:

road that fell through like Kate Winslet was really campaigning for the part. And she was sending James Cameron flowers and roses specifically with notes saying from your rose after she auditioned and. And this was a movie that changed her life forever. Like Kate Winslet. We now know her as an amazing actress. Like we recently saw her and mayor of east town on H it's so good. So, you know, you're, you love Celine Dion and her backwards tuxedo from the Oscars, but did you never get the hat, the hat that came with that? Yes. Not to forget the hat. Do you know the song almost wasn't

Ronnie:

really

Stephen:

well because it, Cameron only wanted songs without words, but composer, James Horner worked with lyricist will Jennings and saline and they secretly recorded a demo for it. And James Cameron heard it and was like, okay, I love this. And so you know that you hear it. So many times during the movie, but

Steve:

just the instrumental, but then you hear it with the words in the credits.

Stephen:

Yes. So the song itself won the academy award for best original song. It won the 1999 Grammys at one record of the year song of the year, best female pop, vocal performance, and best song written specifically for a motion picture. It also won the golden globe award for best original song.

Steve:

And I remember it being on the radio for weeks and weeks. It was on 10 weeks at number one, 10

Stephen:

weeks at number one, it sold 18 million copies. And of course my senior prom theme was my heart will go on. Yeah.

Ronnie:

I'm so glad to hear that. Cause I'd like to take the opportunity to serenade you now, do you go.

Stephen:

That sounds just like slain my thought.

Steve:

Now what also went on was the Titanic being in the movie theater is isn't that true? It

Stephen:

is because like the movie, like movies, usually, if you don't see it on the first 45 to 60 days, you're going to have to wait for it to come nowadays out on video or streaming. But back then this movie was around for months. So we said it was released on December 19th in 1997. Whenever it came out on VHS on September 1st, 1998, it was still in the theaters. That is the first and still only film to stay in the theaters that long.

Steve:

Yeah. I was going to say that's almost 10

Stephen:

full months and like, I know people like I run it. How many times do you think you saw Titanic?

Ronnie:

I at least a handful.

Stephen:

I saw it twice in the CA

Ronnie:

I was ringing my shame bell from

Stephen:

Ronnie, my darling. Now I'm calling you darling, so that you'll understand. What are your thoughts about Titanic? The movie and its legacy?

Ronnie:

Well, of course I'm bought with, been in love with it and always will be as a legacy. I would love to see another blockbuster. That James Cameron would do. That would be very similar to this, of course, different in its own way, 20 some years later, but actually be closer to history. So the musical Titanic, which was fantastic, and I hope you listened to the music. I mean, I saw it on Broadway and it is wonderful. It is closer to the real life, right? It's not as fiction and it has the real characters in their name. The music relates to the people's lives. I would love to see as a legacy aversion of Titanic, of the same quality as like this, except, you know, modern time and reflect the reality of the passionate jurors a little bit more, and really show us some of the insights of their lives and show us that character development that I just crave. So that would be great. And I would also like to continue seeing the lifeboats being seated according to class.

Stephen:

Now there were rumors for years that have, I've never been able to find confirmation or official denial, but allegedly there is an hour more of Kathy Bates, Molly brown footage that was cut from the film whenever he realized the love story he had and that the extra Molly brown stuff would affect the pacing of the love story. Would you have, would you enjoy like a director's cut that adds back in more Molly brown stuff?

Ronnie:

I would love that because the reality is, is she, her character was a real character and maybe we don't know, but if the rumors are to be true, maybe we would see more insight into that. And maybe that insight would actually be, would not be fictional that I would be factual. And that would be, that would be wondrous to behold. I

Stephen:

agree, darling. I know that you last night, what were you as we were watching it? What were you saying? Well, I was saying

Steve:

that, I mean, I'm glad that we rewatched it before recording because that's just good podcasting research. Yeah. But B, because, you know, originally when I agreed to do this episode, it was more of an act of love for Ronnie. Because I watched it when I was 11 and didn't really like it, cause it was a really long movie and I had the attention span of 11 year old. I thought it was a documentary and I was shook when I found out it was fixed. And it just like, it was just a long boring romance, in my opinion, when I was younger, that to the point where I didn't even really watch it as an adult. And so this is probably the second time I've ever watched the movie in full. And it's awesome. Now as an adult, like, and an age better than most movies do like an aged really well, it holds up, I appreciated the romance of it. I appreciate it. The action of it. It just, if it wasn't for this podcast and for this rewatch, I would still be thinking negatively ill of the Titanic.

Ronnie:

I'm flattered. I'm flattered. You D you did this for me, but if you want to show me true love, let's do a podcast on grey gardens.

Stephen:

W we'll watch it. It's gonna say

Steve:

TBD, Ronnie

Stephen:

TBD. Now, are you talking about the the one with drew Barrymore, or are you talking about the documentary?

Ronnie:

That's good. The documentary it's well, it's well pictured and painted in the one with Jessica Lange wearing more.

Stephen:

Okay. Okay. Good to know. And so whenever Titanic came out and then it kind of became almost like, oh, you're watching Titanic or, oh, you enjoy Titanic. It was, it became so popular that it became popular, popular to look down on the movie. And I can honestly say it's probably been a decade or more since I've watched the whole thing. And I have to say like you did that. It holds up so well. But I think that James Cameron created a modern masterpiece with this movie that it's only, you know, 24 years old. It'll be 25 next year. And maybe they'll put it back into theaters for a short run, but this movie. It doesn't make any missteps. Like the writing is so good. The acting is phenomenal. The visuals are fantastic. This, the attention to detail that he put into this, that it has been talked about in articles and things. It's very, very true. Like the care he put into this shows. And I think that's why it has aged as well as it did. And I hope that people that haven't seen this for, you know, 10 plus years or something, we'll go back and watch it and realize how good it really is.

Ronnie:

I do too. It's definitely worth it. Yeah.

Stephen:

Well, Ronnie is coming to the end of the show where we would ask you, do you have any final thoughts or anything last you would like to say to our listeners? If

Ronnie:

I could save one dish or hundreds to add to my collection and fraud. So that's all.

Stephen:

Thank you. Once again for joining us for our Ronnie fans out there, he will be coming back whenever we do any more seasons of Downton Abbey, and we will give great gardens to look, to see if it would flow well for the show.

Steve:

All right. I was gonna say listeners, if you want to hear Ronnie back for grey gardens or for us to move up our Downton Abbey series in the timeline, let us know by timing it on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram at happy

Stephen:

life pod. And you can also get in touch with us directly@happylifepodatgmail.com. Excellent.

Steve:

And until next time everyone stay happy.