Jack and Rose’s heartbreaking final moment together in Titanic is still one of the most controversial movie endings, even over 20 years later. After the infamous ship goes under, Rose is floating on a door that looks just cozy enough for two. Her star-crossed lover is left hanging on the sidelines in freezing waters and sinks to his death. Couldn’t he have fit? This question has now been posed to Leonardo DiCaprio. Check out his hilarious response:
Okay, so his words may be “I have no comment,” but just look at the Oscar winner’s body language. He takes a deep breath as MTV News’ Josh Horowitz asks the question and then nods while softly laughing as the question unfolds. As his Once Upon a Time in Hollywood co-star Margot Robbie calls it the biggest controversy, he adds “ever” not once, but twice. As Brad Pitt (who was actually up for Jack at one point) also presses the issue, he has folded arms in avoidance, repeating in slight frustration:
Like I said, I have no comment.
If he could defend it, he would, right? Then again you can’t blame him for not wanting to fuel the fires of the long-running debate. It’s plagued discussions from Titanic fans for decades and even sparked this Mythbusters segment:
According to these daytime television science icons, Jack and Rose could have fit on that door! They do decide to attach one of their life jackets under the door to stabilize the ride as well, but it looks like even without this, they could have held out long enough to both be saved.
Writer/director James Cameron has since commented on their experiment calling it “full of shit” because of the 28 degree temperature of the water. Well, right back at you, Cameron, because Neil DeGrasse Tyson even weighed in - saying no human has as little survivor instincts as Jack shows in that moment. As for Kate Winslet, here’s her opinion:
I think he could have actually fit on that bit of door.
Buoyancy and survival debates aside, the ending is part of what makes as Titanic as memorable as it is. The sad goodbye between Jack and Rose is a vital element of the story and maybe he just needed to die. James Cameron defends his decision:
Had he lived, the ending of the film would have been meaningless. ... The film is about death and separation; he had to die. So whether it was that, or whether a smoke stack fell on him, he was going down. It's called art, things happen for artistic reasons, not for physics reasons.
Leonardo DiCaprio has likely been posed this question a million times before to fans in the street, still heartbroken and scarred by the ending to his popular early role even today. He refuses to tell us his thoughts on the subject. It might have been exactly the right thing to say. A variety of facts and views are in front of us, let’s put Jack’s fate to rest.
Check out the actor in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood on July 26.
