Titanic…I’m the King of the World!

What do you get when you put together two good-looking talented actors, an intense, dramatic love affair, and a widely known true story of a once thought unsinkable ship sinking on April 15, 1912 on it’s way from Southampton to New York City? Titanic, directed by James Cameron, nominated for 14 Academy Awards and winner of 11. At the time in 1997, it was the most expensive film ever made ($200 million) and the highest-grossing film of all time. It retained the highest-grossing status until Cameron’s film Avatar stole the title in 2010.

Oh, Titanic. This movie is a legend. I remember the hype around the release was so huge. Everyone knows the story, and there have been remakes since the tragedy, but Cameron’s film brought the story to life in way that had never been done before.

Watching this trailer really brings back memories. Everyone was obsessed with this movie. I myself saw it three times in theaters, and I don’t usually do that. Every girl in my school fell in love with Leonardo DiCaprio after seeing this film. It seems like he is made to play these intense romantic roles, like his Romeo role in Romeo & Juliet. In Titanic, he was able to make really gushy, lovesick scenes and corny dialogue believable.

We all remember this scene. “I’m the king of the world!” It’s probably one of the most well-known phrases in pop culture. DiCaprio was able to take that really cheesy line and say it in a way that lifted the spirits of the audience. You were happy and excited for Jack Dawson as he looked out over the vast ocean ahead of him.

Besides Disney movies, I blame Titanic for giving me the false belief that guys can be just as romantic as Jack Dawson and would do anything for their love. In this case, Jack, a lower class passenger, set his eyes on the upper-class Rose DeWitt Bukater, played by the beautiful and talented Kate Winslet. “I’m flying! Jack!” This scene just captivates your attention. I couldn’t take my eyes off DiCaprio and Winslet. Cameron made the perfect choices in angles while shooting this scene. You really get a sense of how big the ocean was and how alone they were out there, but also how exciting it was to be on a ship of that size. By watching the movie, you were embarking on a new adventure with the characters.

Wow, did it get hot in here? The drawing scene is also another very memorable point in Titanic. Rose asks Jack to draw her like he draws his French girls. The scene actually has more meaning than I thought it did. Back in 97, it was just embarrassing to watch while with my parents and an “oohing” moment with my friends. If you think about it, this scene represents Rose’s attempt at liberating herself. She was trapped in a rigid lifestyle, forced to marry a man she did not love. She felt like she was suffocating and wanted a way out. Being drawn in the nude like this was Rose’s way of expressing her emotions.

This was another embarrassing scene to watch with anyone at the age of 9, but probably one of the most memorable scenes of the movie. Everyone knows the hand. Winslet turned up the steam in this sex scene when she slapped her hand on the window and left an imprint. I remember that this was the scene that everyone talked about and made fun of. In cars, my friends and I would try to re-create the hand slapping motion and imprint whenever the windows got all steamed up due to weather.

“I’ll never let go, Jack. I’ll never let go.” I tried to find a good enough video of this scene to put on here, but the ones I found were bad quality, too long or cut off at the wrong part. So I just decided to put the picture up here because in this case, a picture is worth a thousand words. Out of the entire film, THIS is the MOST memorable scene. Probably one of the most memorable scenes in film history, in my opinion. It was scary, creepy and tragic, yet DiCaprio and Winslet were still able to keep the love alive. Because the film was based on a true story, everyone knew what was going to happen. The ship was going to sink no matter how much you hoped that the ending would be a happy one. I would cringe every time I saw the frozen to death bodies. The music and the darkness also escalated the sadness and feeling of despair. I think this really showcases DiCaprio’s and Winslet’s talents. While I am able to make fun of this scene later on in life, I still get tongue-tied while actually watching it. The intense emotion that the actors portray is incredible. A little fun fact: the water was actually really warm, which exhibits DiCaprio’s and Winslet’s talents even more. This is also another scene that people often try to re-create. I found this funny video on YouTube of two little kids portraying the roles of Jack and Rose in this scene.

Hahaha, they are too cute. I especially love the other little boy in the background whispering to his mommy.

Aaah, the heart of the ocean necklace. “But I thought the old lady dropped it into the ocean in the end.” Well Britney Spears, you were right. The last memorable scene of Titanic is when Old Rose, played by Gloria Stuart, walks out to the edge of ship and drops the legendary necklace. Who knows if the character actually meant to drop it or if it just slipped from her hands, but I do know that everyone was asking, “Whyyyyy!?” I think that she wanted the necklace to be with Jack, but if I were her, I probably would have made some money off it. The very end of the film is also supposed to be left to interpretation. The camera slowly moves past pictures in Rose’s bedroom of her experiencing all of the things that Jack wanted for her, including wearing pants and riding a horse the way a man did. The camera then slowly moves past a sleeping or deceased Rose (your call) and into a dream or heaven (also your call) where she at last reunites with Mr. Jack Dawson and all of the other people lost on the RMS Titanic. I think that she died, but some people believe it was just a dream. What do you think? Either way, I believe that this was a perfect way to end the film.

Besides the movie creating a crazed obsession, Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” also created a huge frenzy.

This song played on every single radio station and between every single commercial break for well beyond the time when the hype died down on the movie. At first, I loved this song. Celine Dion’s voice is amazing and powerful. It reminded me of the tragic love story; however, that was also the problem. There was such a craze surrounding this movie, that all of a sudden it did what every other craze does: it faded. Just as quickly as it rose, it fell. All of sudden, it was considered un-cool to like Leo and to obsess over Titanic. My friends and I were annoyed by the song, and would change the radio station every time it came on. Eventually the dislike-of-anything-Titanic also died down. The film is extraordinary and the acting, whether you like to admit it or not, captured your heart and human inclination for love story tragedies.

But, wait, Titanic is coming back? According to a USA Today interview with Cameron, he is planning to re-release Titanic in 3D in the spring of 2012 for the 100th anniversary of the sailing of the ship. Wow, that will definitely bring millions of people to the theater, in my opinion. However, I am worried about the effect the 3D will have. It took me three times to not get the feeling like I couldn’t breath when water was rushing and breaking through the ship, and that was just by watching the screen. With all the dramatic sounds and imagery, a 3D Titanic experience will be even more intense. Everything is going to be right in your face, and you will feel even more like you are on the ship. While I do have some qualms on the subject, they probably won’t stop me from seeing the new version of the film. After all, who wouldn’t want to experience Leonardo DiCaprio in 3D?

Beanie Baby Craze

Beanie Babies are the kind of 90s pop culture craze that just amazes me. Yes, of course I had a Beanie Baby collection. They were the cool thing to collect. Created by Ty inc. in 1993, Beanie Babies are different colored, plastic pellet filled stuffed animals.

When I first started growing my collection, I was attracted to Beanie Babies because let’s be honest, what kind of little girl could resist cute, cuddly, little stuffed animals? I was only interested in them for their cute and cuddly value, but that quickly changed once I realized that people were actually making big bucks off these furry little creatures. To me, this change happened overnight. I had apparently already lost half of the value of my Beanie Babies by taking off many of the little heart shaped Ty tags that were attached to them.

How was I to know? I thought they just got in the way of playing with the beanies. Needless to say, every Beanie Baby purchase after that kept their tags.

The pop culture craze of Beanie Babies was not a mistake. Ty inc. followed several marketing strategies that led them to success. To avoid mass production, the creatures were kept at a reasonable price of around $5. They kept the beanies on the down low by not bombarding customers with advertisements. Because these toys were kept secret in this way, they appealed to customers even more because they didn’t know what to expect. The unpredictability of the stuffed animals kept the product engaging. People didn’t know when a beanie was going to be retired. They also limited the production of the toys, keeping them rare. By selling them at smaller specialty shops instead of large chain toy stores, Ty inc. gave off the image of authenticity. And who said bigger is better? Beanie Babies were also successful because of the simplicity of the design. People knew what they were buying. With the Ty tags, beanies were more than just a stuff animal. They turned Beanie Babies into a personal experience by including names, birthdays and unique poems. Because there was such a variety of animals to choose from, the creatures appealed to everyone. Collectors had to have them all. Retirements of certain models created high demand and sent collectors on a wild goose chase to find the retired beanies.

Little boys and girls were not the only ones collecting Beanie Babies. Adults joined in on the craze as well. In my opinion, that’s a sign of a very successful marketing effort. Ty inc. was able to turn a product that was meant for children into a product that adults cherished as well. In many cases, adults were more Beanie Baby crazed than children.

Yes, the awkward boy narrating is Samm Levine from the cult classic Freaks and Geeks and the movie Sydney White. I have to say, that older guy must have a very strong sense of self to tell the world that he has a passion for collecting Beanie Babies. While I am amazed by the phenomenon that the beanies created, I still think that they should be left to kids. Something about a grown man collecting stuffed animals doesn’t sound right to me.

With the height of the craze around 1995, the fad eventually slowed down after 1999. I am very sad to say that I never ended up selling my collection. They are still in a bag in the basement of my house. I kick myself everytime I think about it because if I had sold them back in the 90s, I could have been a very rich kid. Unfortunately, when the fad died down, so did the price. I recently looked on eBay, and people are currently selling them for as low as $1 and as high as $10. But there is an alternative to selling your Beanie Babies for money. You can donate them. “Operation Beanie Baby” is a mission started by Easter Seals Arc in Fort Wayne, Indiana to bring joy to the lives of deployed soldiers in Iraq as well as Iraqi children.

I wonder if Beanie Babies will ever make a comeback here in the U.S. There have been companies since who have come out with similar products. Perhaps the most popular today are Webkinz.

To me, they look almost exactly like Beanie Babies, except they have a more furry texture. The result of living in digital age, Webkinz animals come with a special code that children can then use to interact with a digital version of their animal on the Webkinz website. Kids who attended the camp I used to counselor at were crazy for these things. They’d bring them to camp and take them everywhere. I guess that shows that there will always be a market for cute and cuddly collectibles. To try to stay in that market, Ty inc. recently launched Beanie Babies 2.0, which employs the same code tactic.

I’m not sure if I think that Beanie Babies 2.0 or any other stuffed animal collection could ever reach the magnitude of the 90s Beanie Baby phenomenon. If a company could get everyone to be obsessed with collecting once, it could happen again. Children will always love anything cute and cuddly; however, do you think adults would be able to fall victim to a trend like this again? Share your thoughts.