Titanic's 100th Anniversary

Image: The Titanic; Wikipedia

     Well, today marks the 100th anniversary since the tragic night on April 14, 1912, in which the ship called "The Titanic" collided into an iceberg and sank into the Atlantic Ocean. In actually, the ship sank in the early morning of April 15th, but the events that led to its sinking began during the night of April 14th. For information, you might enjoy reading here and here! A lot has been said about this ship since its tragic ending a century ago, that the truth has now merged into myths, legends, and conspiracy theories! To me, the story of Titanic, from the ship itself to the people and the aftermath, plays out like a Greek tragedy. Today, the fascination with this ship is mainly driven by countless books, T.V. specials, artifact displays, die-hard fans and, especially, multiple movies!

     I became a fan of the ship Titanic when the 1997 film (of the same name), by James Cameron, was making its way around theaters. I was in the 5th grade, and my school was so fascinated by the actual story that the school gave out bookmarks which advertised a museum event in honor of the actual ship. At first, I didn't comprehend the bookmark - all I understood was that it was about a ship that sank a very long time ago...Then, one night, there was a special on T.V. which promoted the James Cameron movie, while also sharing stories from actual eye witnesses and showing actual parts of the sunken ship underwater. (That same special would later be included onto the movie's special anniversary DVD). I don't know why, but seeing the sunken ship intrigued me, and the tragic story of the ship played on my heartstrings! While most of the other 5th grade boys enjoyed the James Cameron movie for a certain scene with Kate Winslet, I enjoyed the movie because of the ship itself, and especially its "final moments" afloat. To me, The Titanic was its own character, and I wanted to see it meet its end by watching it collide with the iceberg, flood, break in half and, ultimately, land on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean! For a better example, my wanting to watch Titanic just to see the ship sink is equivalent to wanting to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt. 2 just to watch Harry walk into the Forbidden Forest and sacrifice himself to Voldemort!

     Since then, I've seen almost every T.V. special on its sinking, and have heard some ridiculous conspiracy theories from them! I've also seen several movie depictions aside from the James Cameron version (some were good, and some have been terrible). Even as a high school graduation gift, my mother took me and my sister to a Mosi expedition of the ship, where we got to see an actual part of the ship, view how the night sky looked on April 14, 1912, and do a walk-about through rooms showcasing artifacts and details about passengers. And, I've occasionally read books about the ship, however, because I was younger, most of the books were Scholastic editions! It seems silly to admit this, but my fascination with the actual ship kind of made me fall in love with history just like Harry Potter got me to fall in love with reading fiction! Afterwards, I looked at history differently than just boring events and facts, and soon started reading about the Romans, the Spartans, the citizens of Pompeii, and similar subjects.

     Well, enough about the past! Because it's been a century since the unfortunate night of April 14, 1912, and because the ABC network is premiering its Titanic miniseries tonight, I thought it would be fun to showcase some of the movie trailers from movies which have had The Titanic as its hidden main star!

Clip from Atlantic (1929):

I never knew this movie existed!

Trailer for Titanic (1953):

I saw this version, and it was okay...

Trailer for A Night to Remember (1958):

This is a top-notch version, very good!

Trailer for Raise the Titanic (1980):

Sure, it's an absurd notion, but the little parts I saw on T.V., when I was younger, made me excited that these characters were actually raising a sunken ship! Of course, Robert Ballard showed the world that it was impossible to raise the ship in its entirety, since he discovered that the ship was broken in half, with the back half completely destroyed!

Trailer for Titanic (1996):

I didn't see this in 1996 (I was too preoccupied being a kid!), but I saw the rerun in 2000 or 2001 on the CBS network. This mini-series wasn't that great and I just couldn't help comparing it to James Cameron's version.

Trailer for Titanic (1997):

I think it's one of the better versions, with a really good story and great acting and great special effects.

Trailer for the Re-release of Titanic (1997/2012):

It's the same 1997 version, only in 3D and showing in theaters for the 100th anniversary acknowledgement.

Trailer for Titanic (2012):

This is the mini-series special premiering tonight on the ABC network. It's from the creator of the PBS series, Downton Abbey. I hope it's good, but a part of me thinks it'll only fail in comparison to Cameron's version, and be cheesy like the 1996 mini-series version!

Picture Day Memory

Clip-art by Microsoft Office

This past Wednesday was Picture Day for the faculty and students at the school where I am student teaching. All the second graders were excited about having their pictures taken, so I thought I would share with them one of my vivid memories of past picture days. I recalled the story of when I was in fourth grade and had pictures after coming from P.E. 

It was a warm day, and we had been running around the track course. Somehow, my nice, prepared hair was no longer nice-looking! When it was time for pictures, I took a comb and simply started combing my hair back, like I typically did that year. At the time, as I was standing in line and waiting my turn, I was puzzled as to why several teachers kept laughing at my hair. I was certain that I had combed my hair, so why were they laughing in my direction? Well, I did not know it at the time, but it turns out that by combing my hair back I had given myself a very poor unintentional impersonation of the "Elvis" hairdo. To this day, I cringe every time I see my fourth grade portrait!

Anyway, the students loved the story. They found it amusing how their "teacher" made a terrible picture when he was a kid. When we got to the room where the photographer was, I was under the impression that the only ones having their pictures done were my cooperating teacher and the students from my homeroom. Well, imagine my expression as I discover that all interns had to have their pictures taken too! To some, this would be less horrifying news, but I had just recently taught two classes about the sun's energy, and I had tried on a couple of hats to show examples of how to be safe outside in the sun by wearing decent hats the proper way. Once I found out that I had to have my picture taken too, I automatically returned to the memory of my fourth grade portrait. I was like "Oh, no!" The students thought I feared getting my picture taken, so it amused them as I asked several, "How's my hair, is it fixed okay?" Thankfully, a couple of the kids were honest and told me areas that needed flattening down. I just hope I don't have another poor "Elvis" hairdo!