100 years ago
Iceberg Right Ahead!
One hundred years ago tonight.
One hundred years ago tonight, the Titanic struck an iceberg. Two hours and twenty minutes later, her passengers no longer stood on her sturdy deck. At least 1500 of them either remained in the bowels of the ship or floated at the surface, chilled to death by the frigidly cold waters of the North Atlantic. Those 700 who remained in the lifeboats after ordeal had nothing to do but wait.
“Wait to die. Wait to live. Wait for an absolution that would never come.” – Old Rose DeWitt Bukator.
Amazing to think about, isn’t it? Not only that the event happened 100 years ago, but that it still holds so much intrigue. Not just for me, but for people everywhere. You know how obsessed James Cameron had to be in order to fulfill his movie project? He spent more time with the wreckage of Titanic than the actual passengers spent with it when she floated on top of the water’s surface.
It’s also amazing to think about how quickly the ocean water took her under. A ship considered by many to be unsinkable took just under 2.5 hours to be completely submerged and settled into her final resting place. A floating palace, it was called, or a floating hotel. For as grand and safe as it appeared to be, it only took 2 hours and 20 minutes for her to go under. There’s a message to be learned from the whole ordeal. Not just architecturally, or in terms of the number of lifeboats on a ship deck, or how class segregation only results in heartbreak in disaster settings, or how men’s arrogance can cloud proper judgement….but there are larger forces at work constantly that should not be meddled with.
“God himself could not sink this ship.” Those are the word of Cal Hockley in the film ‘Titanic.’
I’m not saying God mandated the sinking of the Titanic to prove a point. I’m not trying to turn this into a religious debate either. Only God knows what His plan is, and I’m not going to point fingers and claim this was a message from the heavens.
What I will say is that a larger force was at work when the Titanic struck the iceberg and sank so quickly with not nearly enough lifeboats, no other ship to come aid the Titanic in time, or that the emergency flares shot off in distress were misinterpreted as party fireworks. All these circumstances to be lined up so perfectly in an awful and disastrous way is too coincidental to not believe a larger force was at work. Be it Fate, the Force, the Greek gods, or dozens of ocean nymphs, someone in the universe was trying to make a point to mankind.
As a result of the Titanic’s sinking, ramifications were dealt and things changed for ocean liners for the better. There are now plenty of lifeboats, there are emergency drill practices, someone is manning communications at 24 hours a day, and technology is much better in terms of mapping out a destination. You know exactly what route to take, what obstacles are there, everything you would need to know.
Titanic is a haunting and beautiful event of human history. Beautiful for its industrial innovations of its era, for its grandeur, and for what it meant to so many people aboard its decks. Haunting for its tragedy, for the heroism it saw in its final hours, and for the warning that mankind is not always right.
It’s a romantic story of ship, all in all, with its passengers being ordinary people. The passengers very easily could have been you and me. Maybe we wouldn’t be sailing in first class, but we easily could have been the 3rd class passengers simply coming to America to start a new, and better, life. When I went and watched the movie in theaters last week, I found myself crying at the part where Rose has her chance to get off the ship by climbing into the lifeboat. She was actually in a lifeboat, and around her, men are telling their wives and children good-bye in their own ways. They know the ship is going down, and they probably won’t survive. I was crying, not only because the scene is terribly sad, but because I saw myself in the women’s shoes. I easily could have been one of those women, waving good-bye to my dad for the last time.
I could have been one of them. Hauntingly beautiful in its relatablility, isn’t it?
In honor of their courage, I’d like to dedicate this post to those aboard the Titanic, surviving and deceased. I’ve been obsessed with Titanic since I saw the movie as a 9-year old girl with a rampant imagination. Fifteen years later, I’m still in love with the story, the history, the tragedy, everything. I don’t think my obsession with this event will change in my coming years. The spirit of the ship will always exist with me, and your memories as I discover them, will live on, too.
“Trust in God: She will provide.”
Being a big deal during the British suffrage movement, Emmeline Pankhurst spoke these words and broke the molded thinking that God is a man.
When it comes to that topic, I don’t know what I believe. Is God a man? Is God a woman? Essentially, God can appear in any form he/she deems necessary. Do we really need to deem him/her as male or female? I’m not too big on debating religion with people. You start by saying you’re talking about it for fun, to get a feel for that person’s beliefs, because you’re curious. It may start out that way. Soon, you’re yelling at each other and mad because neither of you view religion in the same light and indirectly taking personal offense to whatever they say. I’ve been there. I’ve spent days not talking to friends because they bad-mouthed my beliefs. I didn’t talk to my ex boyfriend for most of Easter because he admitted to going to church with me on Easter Sunday only to appease me. He thought the whole ceremony and service was crap. Every word spoken was being spoon fed to us, and we, thoughtlessly, we drinking it in. It’s in the past now, so whatever, but that made me so mad, I didn’t talk to him for a few good hours, despite the beauty of the day and how much I love the Easter holiday.
Religion is not a good dinner topic. Just saying.
I regret to inform you of my Fabulous Friday finds again this week, and am pushing them back until tomorrow. I have been exhausted on a new level this week, and the instant I am done with whatever needs to be done on my personal agenda, my eyes close and I am asleep. The other night, I woke up because my phone buzzed with a text message right by my ear, and I found myself in a corkscrewed position. Legs were up on the couch, on arm under my head, the other wrapped underneath my hip, and my body twisted in a very uncomfortable manner. Just picture a human corkscrew with her legs up in the air. That was me.
Last night? I passed out on my laptop, glasses smooshed into my face still wearing my jacket.
Just a strange, tiring week.
So, Fabulous Fridays are coming at you tomorrow afternoon sometime, and they are fabulous. No need to explain myself. Otherwise it wouldn’t be Fabulous Friday. What I will do in the meantime, however, is share some Beatles love with you. Who doesn’t love the Beatles? Another reason why I’m sharing some old school Beatles tunes is because back in 1964, this band dominated the music charts, scoring 12 spots on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, five in the top five spots:
1.) Can’t Buy Me Love
2.) Twist and Shout
3.) She Loves You
4.) I Want To Hold Your Hand
5.) Please Please Me
Use these oldies tunes to get your blood pumping for your Saturday night festivities.
Be safe out there, and may the Force be with you.
The Modern Jedi 