Pirates of the Caribbean vs Titanic

Pirates of the Caribbean and Titanic are two totally different films although to some extent both have some similarities or co-incidences with each other apart from the fact that they are set at sea. The films were both distributed by popular companies, starred popular actors and were made by noted directors, providing a breakthrough for some of the cast in the respective films. I first saw Titanic when it came to theatres in Christmas of 1997 and despite its upsetting scenes I found myself unable to cry and could just stare blankly at the screen from beginning to end although later in life I would read more about the true stories of the ship that was wrongly thought of as unsinkable. Six years later I saw Pirates of the Caribbean in September of 2003 in theatres and given my familiarity with the robbers of the sea realized that this film had changed the way one looks at a pirate. I would discover later on that the film was based on a theme park ride at Disneyland which was born out of the fascination that Walt Disney, the creator and namesake of Disney had with piracy

While Titanic is a true story, albeit historical fiction, Pirates of the Caribbean is based on a theme park ride of the same name at Disneyland although it was also inspired by the fascination of Walt Disney (the creator and namesake of Disney) with historical pirates. This analogy describes the number of co-incidences that Titanic has with Pirates of the Caribbean









Introduction: differing plots
While this document mainly focuses on the seeming similarities between both Titanic and Pirates of the Caribbean, both films for the most part are sparsely different through the following plots



Titanic (December 19^th 1997)
When diving to the wreck of the famous RMS Titanic, the main purpose of treasure hunter Brock Lovett in doing so is to find a rare jewel known as the ‘heart of the ocean’ believed to be stored in a cabinet on the ship. However despite retrieving the cabinet, his celebration is cut short when nothing is found there except the nude painting of a woman. When Rose Dawson sees Lovett’s findings on television, she contacts him and visits him with her granddaughter with confirmation that the woman in the picture is her before narrating the story of how she was a first class passenger aboard the ill-fated Titanic and underwent pressure from her mother to marry Caledon Hockley in order to make up for their financial debts. Contemplating suicide, Rose is saved by second-class passenger Jack Dawson whose reluctantly grateful fiancée invites him to dinner but changes his mind about Jack when he comes to know that Rose partied with him in first class. Even though her mother and fiancée threaten her not to see him, Rose realizes she prefers Jack over Cal and they both fall in love. When the ship collides with an iceberg, amongst the panicked passengers and crew, their survival and love for each other is put to the test



Pirates of the Caribbean (July 9^th 2003)
Elizabeth Swann, the daughter of Governor Weatherby Swann has been fascinated by Pirates since she was a child and her life changes when on the way to Port Royal where her father has been posted, they rescue Will Turner, a boy stranded at sea. Elizabeth believes him to be a pirate due to a gold medallion that he wears and secretly takes it for herself. 8  years later, Elizabeth has come of age to be married to Admiral James Norrington of the British Royal Navy while Will Turner despite harbouring love for Elizabeth has come to work under a blacksmith. The same day that Will forges a sword for Norrington, Jack Sparrow, a pirate without a ship arrives in Port Royal and despite saving Elizabeth from drowning due to her tightening corset, is sought for capture by the Navy. Thanks to Will Turner, Jack is captured but that night more pirates attack from a ship known as the Black Pear; and take Elizabeth hostage due to the medallion that she bears. Will breaks Jack out of prison due to the pirate’s familiarity with the Black Pearl and the two launch a rescue of Elizabeth from Jack’s mutinous former mate, Barbossa although later on Jack and Will come to realize that the medallion that Elizabeth took from Will is part of an ancient treasure that curses anyone to be undead if they touch a single piece and take it for their own, unless a blood sacrifice is made















References
Both Titanic and Pirates of the Caribbean are historical fiction although Titanic was more factual than Pirates of the Caribbean was albeit with some original events that were not part of the story thanks to the creators. Both stories are set at sea although Titanic happens in the middle of the Atlantic ocean while Pirates of the Caribbean as the name suggests is set in the Caribbean as well as original locations created by the makers for the film. James Cameron and Gore Verbinski, the directors of Titanic and Pirates of the Caribbean respectively had a fascination with the elements that inspired their films even before making them; Cameron was always interested in shipwrecks from an early age and wanted to make a story about the RMS Titanic, mixing it with a love story set on board the ship so that it would convey a more stronger feeling about the tragedy of those on board who did not survive the sinking. Pirates of the Caribbean was born out of Verbinski’s fascination with Pirates and his interest in making a Pirate Story after purchasing the rights to Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean which he enjoyed immensely. The theme park ride was also born out of Walt Disney’s fascination with pirates from an early age although when it came to the script behind each film, James Cameron wrote the entire script for Titanic by himself while the script for Pirates of the Caribbean was written by Ted Elliot and Terry Rosio. It is interesting that among the central characters in each film, the main ones have the same name, Jack (Dawson) in Titanic and Jack (Sparrow) in Pirates of the Caribbean. Unlike the latter however who was not based on any historical person (or pirate for that matter), there is a belief that the former may have been inspired by a person of the same name whose grave was uncovered amongst those who did not survive the sinking of the Titanic


There are a number of co-incidences in terms of production and connection for each film; Matthew McConaughey was considered for the title role of both Jack Dawson in Titanic and Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean. Leonardo DiCaprio who played Jack Dawson in Titanic worked with Johnny Depp, the portrayer of Jack Sparrow in What’s eating Gilbert Grape in 1993. Ten months before the release of Titanic in 1997, the film Donnie Brasco was released. Starring Johnny in the role of Joseph D. Pistone aka Donnie Brasco, the film was a true story about a cop who infiltrated the American mafia as an undercover spy in the 1970s

Both films were also produced by popular organisations; Titanic was produced by 20th Century Fox and Pirates of the Caribbean by Disney although the film was based on a Disney ride itself





Genre and length
Both films are relatively short with Titanic at 195 minutes and Pirates of the Caribbean at 143 minutes although the former is longer than the latter


While both are adventure films, Titanic’s genre also involves romance and tragedy while Pirates of the Caribbean’s genre revolves around fantasy and adventure with hints of romance. Unlike Titanic which is told through flashbacks and narration, Pirates of the Caribbean is told chronologically

Both films are also produced by notable film companies; Titanic by 20^th Century Fox and Pirates of the Caribbean by Disney

History of the films
In Titanic, Brock Lovett has been fascinated with the Titanic since he was a teenager although his main purpose in finding it is to find the heart of the ocean. Similarly, in Pirates of the Caribbean Elizabeth Swann has been fascinated by pirates from a young age and thinks it would be exciting to meet one. A recurring theme in both films is the desire to find a rare jewel, in the case of Titanic, it is the heart of the ocean while in the case of Pirates of the Caribbean it is the Aztec gold. The difference is that while Lovett has been trying to find the heart of the ocean for years while En route to Port Royal with her father where he has been positioned as its governor, Elizabeth helps to rescue Will Turner and on seeing his gold medallion, assumes he is a pirate and takes it for herself, learning many years later with Will and Jack Sparrow that the medallion is part of a treasure that curses anyone to be undead if they remove a single piece from it. Rose sees Lovett’s discovery on the news and sets out to meet him which leads to her telling him the story of her association with the ill-fated ship

Previous connection
In Titanic Rose Calvert, previously Rose Dewitt Bukater is perhaps one of the few surviving people on the R.M.S Titanic and 84 years after its sinking, is led back to its memory on seeing Brock Lovett’s discovery of the items in the shipwreck and agrees to tell the story of how she was saved from the sinking ship. In Pirates of the Caribbean Joshamee Gibbs, the first mate of (Captain) Jack Sparrow when introduced, is shown to be part of the British Royal Navy before joining the world of piracy later on although it is not stated when he left the former and joined the latter or how many years passed since the two occurrences

Symbolism
Both Titanic and Pirates of the Caribbean are set at sea and both involve ships. However Titanic for the most part has its eponymous vessel as a lone ship in most parts of the film; it is supported by smaller ferries when it launches and later on its surviving passengers and crew are rescued by the R.M.S. Carpathia although in this case, the Titanic has already sunk and the survivors with the help of the remaining crew are picked up by the Carpathia. Pirates of the Caribbean has ships almost close to each other most of the time. A notable example is when Jack Sparrow and Will Turner on their way to save Elizabeth Swann hijack the HMS Interceptor and when James Norrington tries to stop the pirate and the blacksmith, they take command of the Interceptor and sail away to find Elizabeth. The Interceptor later battles against the cursed crew of the Black Pearl before being sunken and during the battle against the Navy and the cursed crew lifeboats and rowed towards the Pearl carrying soldiers. The boats look similar to the Titanic’s lifeboats but are much larger and can fit more people than the Titanic lifeboats and in the case of how they are behaved upon, in Titanic, the lifeboats are rowing away from their sinking ship while in Pirates, the soldier’s ships are advancing on The Black Pearl. Interestingly when the Titanic’s stern begins to slant upwards before sinking, there is a shot of a boat rowing away in the foreground, mirroring a different situation in Pirates wherein after Jack and Will steal the Dauntless and later take the Interceptor from its crew who try to stop them from taking the Dauntless, the latter ship has its rudder disabled and the ship crashes into the lifeboat that carries the Dauntless’ crew. When Barbossa’s crew attack Port Royal, the panic of the locals there mirrors the horror that the passengers on the Titanic faced when the ship was struck by an iceberg and the British establishment struggling to protect Port Royal mirrors that of the crew on the Titanic struggling to help passengers although in the case of the latter, many of the crew were more concerned about themselves rather than the passengers due to the different status of Class 2 and 3 to Class 1

Another common theme in both films is an important element concerning gold or jewellery; the story of those who wish to find Titanic is triggered by a desire to actually find a jewel known as the heart of the ocean that was lost with the Titanic and in Pirates of the Caribbean, it is a pirate medallion of Aztec gold. However the medallion is part of a larger treasure of identical pieces that was cursed by the Gods to render anyone undead if a mortal were to remove a single piece whereas with Titanic, the heart of the ocean was given to businessman Caledon Hockley by his steel tycoon father Nathan before Caledon passed it onto his fiancée Rose. However while the heart of the Ocean is never actually recovered from Rose by Brock Lovett who seeks to find it through his fascination with the Titanic, Jack Sparrow, Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann find the treasure that the medallion belonging to Elizabeth is part of which sets into motion the rest of the story. The abandoning of the important jewel occurs at the end of each film; at the end of Titanic where Rose throws the heart of the ocean into the sea at the same spot where the Titanic sank and at the end of Pirates of the Caribbean, the medallion is reunited with all its pieces although this seems to be an indirect reminiscent of when Rose reunites with Jack in heaven amongst all of Titanic’s unfortunate passengers at the end of the film which also mirrors Jack Sparrow’s reunion with his crew at the end of Pirates of the Caribbean

Family and traditions
Both Titanic and Pirates of the Caribbean revolve around family customs and social status especially when it comes to the female protagonists in each film who despite being forced into marrying another man love someone else. In the former film, Rose is to marry Cal in order to cover up her and her mother’s financial debts that were lost when her father died and she feel pressured into it but she realizes she prefers Jack over Cal in the middle and end of the story. In the latter film while Elizabeth still loves Will, she is due to be married to Norrington at the insistence of her father who does not approve of Will’s romantic relation with his daughter although this is not implied or hinted at as much as Will and Elizabeth’s evident fondness for each other. Unlike Rose who contemplates suicide until she is saved by Jack (Dawson), Elizabeth does not contemplate suicide but on the day of James’ coronation, she feels her breathing is restricted due to her corset and falls into the sea where she is rescued by Jack (Sparrow) who has just arrived in Port Royal. While both women are saved by a person called Jack, in Titanic, Rose is the object of Jack’s love and vice versa while in Pirates of the Caribbean, Elizabeth is the object of Will’s love and vice versa, not Jack

The threat of suicide is also common in brief through both films where Rose is about to throw herself off the Titanic for her mother putting pressure on her to marry Cal but she is stopped saved by Jack. The only aspect of a suicide threat in Pirates of the Caribbean occurs when shortly after Elizabeth and Jack are recaptured by Barbossa, Will having survived from the sinking ship he and Jack stole that battled the Pearl but lost climbs onto the Peal and reveals himself as the son of Bootstrap Bill Turner whose blood is meant to lift the curse of the treasure bestowed upon Barbossa and his crew and threatens to pull the trigger of a gun on himself but is encouraged by Jack (Sparrow) not to do so just as Jack (Dawson) encourages Rose not to throw herself over the Titanic. The aftermaths of when Rose is saved by Jack Dawson and Elizabeth is saved by Jack Sparrow are not taken well by those who initially come to save the women. Much as Jack (Dawson) is arrested by the crew and master-at-arms of the Titanic and yelled at by Cal after Jack saves Rose, the same thing happens to Jack (Sparrow) after he saves Elizabeth and is taken into custody by James Norrington and escapes, only to be stopped by Will Turner and is recaptured, a similar element occurring in Titanic where Jack is framed for being an apparent thief of the heart of the ocean during the Titanic hitting the iceberg and is tied below deck although is saved by Rose; a similar aspect is at the end of Pirates of the Caribbean, Jack Sparrow is again recaptured and sent to be executed but is saved by Will with Elizabeth’s help. Both films also harbour a strong disrespect towards women in brief; Rose is slapped by her fiancée Cal for being with Jack who has been framed and tied up below deck for no crime of his and Elizabeth is slapped by Barbossa’s second-in-command Bo’Sun while coming aboard the Black Pearl to negotiate with the Pirates about ceasing their attack on Port Royal. Even though Barbossa repraminds his favourite colleague for this, he hits Elizabeth again when he realizes that she has lied about being the child of Bootstrap Bill Turner, the only member of Barbossa’s crew who was against the mutiny against Jack Sparrow and thus his blood was needed to lift the Pirates curse. Both Rose and Elizabeth are later not afraid to admit to their would-be-fiancée after hours or maybe even days of pressure that they love another man although in the case of Titanic, Rose says to Cal that she loves Jack while passengers are being lowered into lifeboats and Elizabeth tells James that she loves Will when he is trying to save Jack Sparrow from being hung. In both cases there is a lot of panic amongst although in the case of Titanic, it is caused thanks to the iceberg striking the ship and in the case of Pirates of the Caribbean Will causes panic by saving Jack

Memories are a recurring pattern in both films. 84 years since the Titanic sank, 100-year old Rose is drawn back to it when Brock Lovett advertises his findings of it on television and she agrees to share her story of her association with Titanic as well as the heart of the ocean which Brock is desperately seeking. Eight years after sailing from England to Port Royal where her father was posted, Elizabeth still reminisces about saving Will at sea during the voyage and seeing the Black Pearl on the way. In both cases, each woman abandons the jewel that has been triggering the whole story although in Titanic, the heart of the ocean was an ordinary jewel whereas in Pirates of the Caribbean, the medallion was part of an Aztec gold

Unlike Titanic where shortly after the sinking of the ship Jack dies while Rose survives in, Pirates of the Caribbean, Will and Elizabeth profess their love for each other at the end of the film

Taking different names
Following the sinking of the Titanic, shortly after being rescued and taken on board the Carpathia, Rose takes the surname Dawson for the sake of Jack who was lost during the disaster. Remembering what he said about her continuing on with life she did just that and later married a name by the name of Calvert whose children with her resulted in her granddaughter Lizzie. When captured by the captain and crew of the Black Pearl, Elizabeth gives her surname as ‘Turner’ leading the pirates to believe that she is the child of Bootstrap Bill Turner the only pirate to be against their mutiny on Jack Sparrow and thus wrongly believe that she is required to lift the curse as they drowned Bootstrap and his blood is needed to lift the curse

Weaponry and fights
Given the familiar history of the world’s ‘unsinkable ship, Titanic had nothing to do with conflict although according to many eyewitnesses there were many officers who used guns aboard the sinking ship and some even wielded axes or clubs to try to discipline passengers when they would not listen to commands not to enter lifeboats, clearly ignoring the fact that it was the passengers who mattered not them. This fact is something not ignored in the film although there are many disputes about this according to many descendants of officers on the Titanic. Pirates of the Caribbean being a film about Pirates has many conflicts of weaponry with swords being the major ones apart from pistols and cannons although the use of the latter weapon is reminiscent of the unrelated rockets fired by Titanic officers into the air to signal to other ships that the Titanic was sinking. Unlike Pirates of the Caribbean however there is no actual physical conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist

Rescues
Rescue is a common theme in both Titanic and Pirates of the Caribbean although for Titanic it happens when the Carpathia rescues the survivors of the Titanic and before that when a few of the crew decide to row back to those drowning to see if anyone is still alive. Regarding Pirates of the Caribbean it happens when Will Turner breaks Jack Sparrow free from prison to seek his help in rescuing Elizabeth Swann and this is reminiscent of when Rose Dee Witt Bukater flees from her mother and Cal to rescue Jack Dawson who has been unfairly imprisoned. Will breaking Jack free from prison resembles how Jack and his friends, Tommy and Fabrizio break open a gate to prevent Titanic crewmembers from keeping second and third class passengers from reaching the boats for the sake of the first class passengers. Another form of rescue in Pirates that is reminiscent of the Carpathia coming to save Titanic’s survivors is a day after Barbossa maroons Jack (Sparrow) and Elizabeth Swann on the same island he marooned Jack on ten years ago, the British Navy rescues Elizabeth and Jack and set out to rescue Will from Barbossa despite objections from Governor Swann and James Norrington

Collaborations with composers
Since he began his career as a filmmaker, James Cameron collaborated with James Horner to compose the score for most of his movies and Titanic was no exception. The same thing happened with Pirates of the Caribbean where Gore Verbinski collaborated with Hans Zimmer although unlike Cameron and Horner whose collaboration went a long way, Verbinski only collaborated with Zimmer for a second time. Titanic also had a theme song sung by Celine Dion called ‘My heart will go on’ whose instrumental theme became part of the background score for the film and became instantly identifiable with not just the film but all real-life elements related to the historical Titanic. Pirates of the Caribbean did not have any songs however but its score became really popular especially ‘He’s a Pirate’ and that had the same effect; the theme became identifiable with not just Jack Sparrow but all pirates, historical or fictional





Chinese Zodiac references
Both Titanic and Pirates of the Caribbean feature animals that have something to do with the Chinese Zodiac. Titanic features appearances from both dogs and rats, both species of which are part of the Chinese Zodiac. In Pirates of the Caribbean, while a dog does appear, another member of the Chinese Zodiac to make an appearance is a monkey






Premiere and public reaction
Both films had their premieres in Los Angeles although Titanic had its premiere at the at the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre while Pirates of the Caribbean had its release in Disneyland since that is where the ride that inspired the film came from. Before its American premiere however, Titanic did premiere at a film festival in Tokyo, Japan. Each film was not expected to be a hit although in the case of Titanic, such a belief came about because it was one of the most expensive films ever made while in the case of Pirates of the Caribbean, it was because the pirate genre had not been successful for years and its leading star Johnny Depp rarely made a big film. However both films became a smash hit with critics praising Titanic for bringing about emotions and a sense of romanticism on the RMS Titanic while critics praised Pirates of the Caribbean for bringing about a new view of Pirates and a longing for adventure at sea

While the films did release in their respective years in Singapore and New Zealand, the former country almost did not allow the release of Pirates of the Caribbean in the nation due to references to the afterlife. It is unknown if either film released in Kenya or South Africa or Namibia








Accolades
Both Titanic and Pirates of the Caribbean were nominated for numerous awards, especially at the Oscars. However unlike Pirates of the Caribbean, Titanic actually won numerous Oscars, including for Best Director for James Cameron although regarding Pirates of the Caribbean, Johnny Depp did receive his first Oscar nomination

The End