Children all over the world spontaneously came of age at a very specific moment in late 1997, when Rose DeWitt Bukater said to Jack Dawson, "I want you to draw me like one of your French girls." Kate Winslet dropped trou, James Cameron's camera captured it all, and the drawing scene in Titanic became instantly legendary. That is, everywhere but India, where the scene was censored for the original 1997 release-- apparently kids in India had to discover the joys of breasts another way back then.
Now the 3D re-release of Titanic, happening worldwide on April 5, has given a new generation of kids in India the chance to do what the previous generation never could. According to Times of India, the film's re-release has been cleared with a U/A rating, which means it can screen in all theaters across the country. The Times also claims that India is the #1 fanbase for the film worldwide, based on some slightly suspect Facebook fan page information, but Titanic will be released there in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telegu, which at least awards them points for effort.
I have no idea if kids these days would actually react to Titanic's nude scene the way we did back in the day-- what with the Internet and all. But here's to a filmmaker's original vision actually making it into theaters, even if it took 15 years to get there. 15 years? God, we're old.
