Thursday, April 5, 2012

'Titanic' Changed My Life

The title of this post isn't really an exaggeration.

When James Cameron's Titanic came out in 1997, I was 16. I saw it in the theaters with my friends. Then I saw it again with my family. Then I saw it one more time with some more friends.

Let's not even talk about how much I desperately coveted Kate Winslet's wardrobe.

It was the first movie that made me go back to the theater for repeat viewings. It also opened my eyes to the amazing shared experience that a global phenomenon could be. People everywhere were talking about. Everyone I knew had seen it. This included many of my relatives in Iran. The film wasn't released in theaters there but they got a hold of it. They saw it; they loved it.

I have to admit, even as a 16-year-old I could see some of the flaws in the movie, particularly in the writing of the dialogue (I was, admittedly, a geeky, writerly 16-year-old). But it honestly didn't matter. The love story, the acting, the costumes, the spectacle, the fact that I'd had a monster Leo crush since his Growing Pains days (true story): the movie as a whole transcended that for me and it did for most people too (whether or not their Leo crush was as longstanding as mine). That's why it was the #1 movie for so long, the best-selling movie of all time for so long too.

I wanted to be a part of that. I wanted to be part of an industry that had the power to infiltrate so wholly and completely, to tell a story that touched so many people's hearts and minds.

So, a year later, I was applying to film school. And then I was in film school and writing scripts. Screenwriting eventually led me to novel-writing, which eventually led me to a published book.

I will, naturally, be going to see Titanic in 3D. I'm excited about getting to experience it on the big screen one more time. I'm also excited to be led back to something that started a huge journey for me: a story that made me want to tell stories professionally. Sometimes -- I think -- it's important to be naive and starry-eyed or at least to be reminded of what that felt like.

Will you be seeing Titanic 3D?

8 comments:

  1. I probably will not be seeing Titanic in 3D because movie-going is so expensive, but I do now want to re-watch the movie to ogle Kate Winslet's wardrobe. Why don't we still dress like that? I know it was probably uncomfortable and difficult to get around in, but...PRETTY!

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    1. So true! I also ogle the wardrobe from 'Downton Abbey' for exactly the same reasons.

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    2. What I really, really want is some of the clothes from Mad Men. Some of those 60s dresses were utterly superb. And the colors...so vibrant!

      I also want all of the completely impractical, gigantic dresses on YA covers. Would I be able to walk? No. But I would look fantastic.

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    3. Big YES to Mad Men!! I also have a huge clothes-crush on anything Audrey Hepburn wore in the late 50s/early 60s. Particularly any of her Edith Head or Givenchy gowns. I want to live in those clothes.

      Walking is supremely overrated. :-)

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    4. Yes to that! Although I definitely do not have the right figure for Audrey Hepburns stuff. HIPS!!!

      I also really love the 60s swimming costumes. More coverage would be awesome!

      Someday, I will find something fantastic and vintage at a Goodwill, and that will be the best day ever.

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    5. I own this bathing suit in two colors: http://www.modcloth.com/shop/onepiece-swimwear/bathing-beauty-one-piece-in-black

      I LURVE it.

      When you find your fantastic and vintage piece, please post a picture!!

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    6. I WANT IT LIKE BURNING. But 89 dollars would buy me SO MANY BOOKS. Torn!

      Sure! It could be years from now, though. :(

      So far, the most awesome thing I've gotten at goodwill is a Slytherin track jacket. I would be a Ravenclaw, but who cares?!

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    7. That is awesome. I would jump at any sort of Potter paraphernalia I found at Goodwill too, house-agnostically.

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