How much of Titanic movie is true?

Titanic continues to be one of the most impressive cinematic achievements and a story that viewers constantly revisit, but how much of the movie is based on a true love story? James Cameron became a widely known and respected name in the film industry thanks to The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day, but he drew a lot more attention in 1997 with Titanic, a romance-disaster movie based on the accounts of the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912, which was his biggest and most ambitious project up to that point.

Titanic told the story of Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) and Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio), two passengers from different social classes who fell in love aboard the famous ship during its ill-fated maiden voyage. Titanic was a big success with both critics and viewers, becoming the highest-grossing movie ever at the time (later surpassed by Cameron’s Avatar in 2010 and then by Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame). It was praised for its visuals and performances, though some criticized Rose and Jack’s love story. Still, Titanic has a special place in the hearts of many and continues to be one of Cameron’s best works.

Although Titanic is based on a true story and even added some real-life characters, not everything in the movie actually happened. Cameron had to either change, add, or embellish some details to fit the story he wanted to tell. Here’s how much of James Cameron’s Titanic is real, and how close it is to the true story.

The Real-Life Inspiration Behind Rose

Titanic’s main characters, Rose and Jack, were not based on real history. Therefore, there was no such romance between a first-class woman and a third-class man. They were inspired, to an extent, by some real-life people, though Rose’s inspiration has no connection to the Titanic. As revealed by Cameron, American artist, Beatrice Wood was the inspiration behind Rose, as Cameron was reading her autobiography during Titanic’s development. Wood was a painter, sculptor, writer, and actress who came from a family of wealthy socialites. As he was reading Wood’s book, Cameron said that he realized it described “almost literally” the character of “Old Rose." The movie’s Rose is “only a refraction of Beatrice, combined with many fictional elements.” Surely, Rose and Beatrice Wood have some similarities, as are their love of art and their wealthy family background, but Wood had no connection with the real Titanic. Therefore, there is no Rose in Titanic's true story.

As for Titanic's Jack, he wasn’t inspired by anyone, but his name is very similar to that of a man who was on board the Titanic. A man who signed as “J. Dawson” was a passenger on the Titanic, but the “J” stood for Joseph, not Jack, and he was born in Dublin. Joseph Dawson was no regular passenger, and he was actually part of the ship’s crew, working as a coal trimmer. Cameron didn’t know there was a real-life Joseph Dawson until after the script was finished, so Jack’s name being similar to Joseph's was a mere coincidence. Joseph Dawson’s grave received a lot of visitors after Titanic was released, who left cinema stubs, pictures of Leonardo DiCaprio, and more as they believed it was the resting place of Jack Dawson.

The Real Molly Brown

Kathy Bates’ unforgettable character, Molly Brown, was one of the few relevant characters in Titanic based on real-life people who were actually on board. Margaret Brown was an American socialite and philanthropist, but she wasn’t born into a wealthy family. Margaret married James Joseph “J.J” Brown, who wasn’t a rich man either. Still, the family acquired great wealth when his mining engineering efforts turned out to be instrumental in producing a substantial ore seam. Margaret and J.J. separated in 1909, but they continued to care for each other. The agreement gave her a cash settlement and a monthly allowance that made it possible to continue her travels and social work.

When the real Titanic hit the iceberg and began to sink, Margaret helped other passengers board the lifeboats and had to be persuaded to leave the ship in a lifeboat (Lifeboat No. 6). Once there, she urged that the lifeboat went back to save more people, but the crewman opposed it. Margaret threatened to throw the crewman overboard, and sources vary as to whether they returned and if they found anyone alive. Once in the RMS Carpathia, the ship that rescued the Titanic survivors, Margaret organized a survivor’s committee to secure necessities for the second and third-class survivors. Due to her actions, the media named her “Unsinkable Molly Brown,” and she passed away in 1932 at 65.

The Titanic Really Hit An Iceberg

Of course, the sinking of the Titanic after hitting an iceberg is unequivocally true. On April 14, 1912, at 11:40 p.m. (ship’s time), the crew spotted an iceberg and alerted the bridge. First Officer Willaim Murdoch ordered the ship to be steered around the iceberg and the engines to be stopped, but there wasn’t enough time, and the ship's starboard side hit the iceberg. The hit created a series of holes below the waterline, and though the hull was not punctured, it was dented and allowed water to seep in. According to survivors, as depicted in the movie, pieces of the iceberg landed on the promenade deck.

Titanic's real crew was not prepared for an emergency of this magnitude, and as ships were seen as unsinkable back then, the Titanic only had enough lifeboats to carry half the passengers on board. The crew didn’t know how to properly carry out an evacuation either and launched many lifeboats barely half-full, with third-class passengers left behind, causing many of them to become trapped below decks as the ship continued to fill with water. A little over two and a half hours after the Titanic hit the iceberg, the boat deck dipped underwater, and the sea poured in through open hatches and grates, and as its unsupported stern rose out of the water, the ship broke into two pieces.

The real Titanic sank at 2:20 a.m., and most of the remaining passengers and crew were immersed in freezing water, dying within 15-30 minutes. As seen in the movie, the lights continued to burn until just before the ship went under, and as recalled by a survivor, a series of “terrific explosions occurred,” probably from the boilers. The wreckage of the Titanic was found on September 1, 1985, during an expedition led by Jean-Louis Michel and Robert Ballard, who discovered that the ship had, in fact, split apart, as it was long believed it sunk in one piece. Therefore, Titanic did cover the ship's sinking in a way that was very true to life.

The Band Continued Playing

One of the most memorable moments from Titanic is the string quartet playing as the ship begins to sink. In real life, the band did continue to play, but it’s unclear which was the last song they played. Survivors reported the band played “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” and “In The Shadows,” and newspapers shared the final song was “Nearer, My God, To Thee,” while survivors said it was “Song d’Automne.”

The Elderly Couple

Another unforgettable (and heartbreaking) moment in Titanic is the elderly, first-class couple who decided to stay on the ship and embraced in bed as their room filled with water. The couple was Macy’s owner Isidor Straus and his wife Ida, and they were offered a place on Lifeboat No. 8, but Isidor chose to stay on board as long as there were women on the ship. Ida refused to leave her husband, and according to witnesses, Ida told him, “we have lived together for many years. Where you go, I go”. They were last seen sitting on a pair of deck chairs, which witnesses described as a “most remarkable exhibition of love and devotion,” and only Isidor’s body was recovered.

Passengers Were Rescued From The Water

As seen in Titanic, the true story of two of the 16 lifeboats returned to pick up survivors from the water, but the shock and more were too much for some, and they died on the boats. The boats that returned were Lifeboat 4, led by Quartermaster Perkis, who reportedly pulled five people from the water (of which only three survived), and Lifeboat 14, headed by Fifth Officer Harold Lowe (played by Ioan Gruffud in Titanic), who with the help of a working crew of six men, picked up four people from the water.

The Carpathia Rescued The Survivors

At around 4:00 a.m. on April 15, the real Titanic’s survivors were rescued by the Carpathia, and the bodies of those who died on the lifeboats overnight were left on the boats and recovered sometime later. Carpathia was bound for Fiume, Austria-Hungary (now Rijeka, Croatia). Still, as it had neither the stores nor medical facilities to look after the Titanic survivors, it changed its course and returned to New York so that the survivors could be properly looked after. Many of the Titanic survivors lived for many more years, while others succumbed to shock and other problems and died weeks after the disaster.

Was There Space For Jack On The Door?

The infamous door scene is definitely one of the saddest in Titanic, and in turn, raised a lot of questions. Firstly, could Jack have even fit on the door with Rose? The short answer is "yes." Based on the size of the makeshift raft, Jack could've gotten on without the door sinking. In real life, Jack's survival instincts would've taken over, and in turn, Rose wouldn't have let her lover freeze to death in the ocean. With these things in mind, Jack's death seems pointless, which is part of why this aspect of the movie garners outrage among many. It's a wonder as to why Jack didn't even try to save himself, as anyone in that situation would've at least told Rose to just scoot over. To add insult to injury, Mythbusters even did an episode regarding the Titanic scene, and the results found that Jack could've clung to the door without it sinking.

Despite whether or not Jack could've lived in real life, director James Cameron has stuck adamantly to his choice and wishes that the whole debate would just go away. In an interview, Titanic director James Cameron told BBC Radio 1, "[...] could Romeo have been smart and not taken the poison? Yes. Could he have decided not to bring his little dagger just in case Juliet might stab herself with it? Yes, absolutely. It sort of misses the point." While it may miss the point of Titanic, it doesn't stop the gut-punch realization that Jack could've lived if Rose had just moved over a little – and that James Cameron killed Jack as deliberately as the icy Atlantic.

Next: Wild Titanic Theory Claims Jack Was A Ghost At The End