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'Titanic' director James Cameron has commissioned a study to defend the movie's ending

Do you think Jack could have survived the night?

via Wikimedia Commons

"Titanic" director James Cameron.

Twenty-five years ago, James Cameron released his epic “Titanic,” achieving a rare feat in Hollywood: a box office smash that was also loved by critics. “Titanic” won 11 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, and raked in $1.8 billion at the box office, making it the third-highest-grossing film of all time.

Even though his film is one of the most acclaimed in Hollywood history, Cameron still can’t help himself from getting involved in the great debate about the film. Did Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Jack Dawson, die unnecessarily at the end of the film?

Specifically, could Jack have fit onto the door Rose floated on instead of getting hypothermia and drowning?

Cameron has previously dismissed the discussion surrounding the scene. “I’ve never really seen it as a debate, it’s just stupid,” Cameron told the BBC in 2019. “There’s no debate. But if you want to unearth all the dumbass arguments associated with it.”

Around the same time, he noted that Jack’s death was an artistic choice so the size of the door doesn’t matter.

"It was an artistic choice, the thing was just big enough to hold her, and not big enough to hold him," he told Vanity Fair. "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."

Regardless of how Cameron feels about the scene, the debate has raged on. “Mythbusters” proved that Rose and Jack could have fit on the door together. But they would have had to fit a life preserver beneath it to improve its buoyancy. Good luck putting that together in the frigid water.

America’s leading science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson has also poked holes in the scene’s logic by noting that Jack would have put up more of a fight to stay alive. "Whether or not he could've been successful, I would've tried more than once. You try once. 'Oh, this is not gonna work. I will just freeze to death in the water.' No, excuse me," Tyson told HuffPost. "The survival instinct is way stronger than that in everybody, especially in that character. He's a survivor, right? He gets through. He gets by."

Although, after Jack saves Rose from trying to jump ship earlier in the film, he notes that it’s impossible to think in such cold water.

"To tell you the truth, I'm a lot more concerned about that water being so cold," Jack told Rose in the film. "Water that cold, like right down there—it hits you like a thousand knives stabbing you all over your body. You can't breathe. You can't think."

Even though Cameron dismissed the discussion in the past, he has to be a bit bothered that the pivotal scene in his film is questionable enough to cause a rigorous, 25-year debate. So now he’s launched a thorough investigation into the scene to settle it once and for all.

“We have done a scientific study to put this whole thing to rest and drive a stake through its heart once and for all,” Cameron told Postmedia while promoting his new film, “Avatar: The Way of Water.”

“We have since done a thorough forensic analysis with a hypothermia expert who reproduced the raft from the movie and we’re going to do a little special on it that comes out in February,” Cameron continued. “We took two stunt people who were the same body mass as Kate and Leo and we put sensors all over them and inside them and we put them in ice water and we tested to see whether they could have survived through a variety of methods and the answer was, there was no way they both could have survived. Only one could survive.”

Cameron is doing all he can to end the “Titanic” debate, but no matter what kind of research he shows, the scene he filmed will always have a hard time passing the eye test when someone sees it for the first time. But, that’s not so bad, the scene always passes the heart test which, in art, is all that matters anyway.

And, as we know, Jack’s heart will always go on.

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5 times Leonardo DiCaprio's viral documentary gave me real feelings.

Leonardo DiCaprio's new documentary, "Before the Flood," has been on YouTube for just a few days, but it already has millions of views.

The documentary is a moving, uncompromising look at climate change, produced by both DiCaprio and National Geographic. In the documentary, DiCaprio, who's been an outspoken supporter of climate action, gives us a refreshing, very frank look at what the climate change situation is really like.

DiCaprio doesn't pull his punches on the big stuff, but what actually fascinated me were some of the smaller, simpler, more emotional moments.

"Before the Flood" is an hour and a half long, and I can't recommend watching it enough, mostly because of these five affecting, emotional moments that stayed with me once the movie was done.

1. The quiet moment when a researcher admits how much the natural world means to him.

All images are screengrabs from "Before the Flood"/National Geographic/YouTube.

Near the beginning of the film, DiCaprio goes up to Greenland to check out the glaciers and ice sheets. You'll get to see amazing footage of crevasses and ice floes, and he also does some really cool interviews, including one with a local hunter.

But one moment in this scene stands out: DiCaprio is standing with Dr. Enric Sala, a marine ecologist and National Geographic explorer, watching some narwhals come up before them. You can actually hear the whales click and purr.

Then, just at the end, Sala turns to DiCaprio and says, unbidden, "You know, I don't want to be on a planet without these animals."

2. The moment in Beijing that made me think about my own family.

A short while later, the crew is in Beijing talking to a Chinese woman who's holding an air mask in her hand. She explains what it's like to live surrounded by Beijing's legendarily bad air pollution, mentioning that her family puts on their masks when they step outside and feed the cat.

"When the air is bad it hurts my throat," the woman says.

The scene isn't as visually impressive as drone footage of smoke stacks or giant industrial machines, but it stuck with me all the same. It sounds like the kind of everyday comment someone in my family might make.

3. The moment when Sunita Narain called out DiCaprio's wishful thinking and told him to get real.

Later, DiCaprio goes to India to talk to Sunita Narain, an environmentalist and activist. About 30% of India — roughly 300 million people — still live with no electricity, so the discussion turns to how to bring power to people without resorting to fossil fuels.

If you're like me and like thinking about the nitty-gritty of climate change — not just the big goals but the hard truths and big questions — this is an amazing exchange. But the best part is when she calls out the U.S. for wanting India to move to renewables while the U.S. drags their feet.

"If it was that easy, I would have really liked the U.S. to move towards solar, but you haven't," Narain says. "Let's put our money where our mouth is."

It's real, uncompromising conversation and actually feels awesome. It's a "take that" to every simpering, milquetoast politician who's more concerned with firing up their base and talking pretty than getting results.

4. The moment I'll remember every time I watch a snowy movie from now on.

While they were filming "The Revenant," they actually had to have the snow trucked in. It was too warm. In fact, they ended up having to fly halfway around the world to frosty Argentina in order to continue filming.

I remember "The Revenant." I remember the snow and the cold and the biting frost of that film. To think of future movies having to truck in snow is just so ... weird. I'm not sure I'll be able to see any frozen, snowy landscape without wondering how much snow was there and how much had to be trucked in.

5. Finally, what might have been my favorite moment: when DiCaprio asked Obama a really uncomfortable question.

This is my favorite moment in the film by far.

"You are the leader of the free world," says DiCaprio. "You have access to information that most people do not. What makes you terrified for the future?"

Obama's answer? He waxes poetic about his kids for a moment, but when it comes down to it, he says, a huge amount of people live near the ocean. If the sea levels rise, those people will need to flee to somewhere — and that could be a problem.

"In very hard-headed terms, you've got to worry about the national security implications of this. And the capacity for the existing world order as we understand it to survive the kinds of strains that the scientists are predicting."

In truth, this movie is full of amazing moments. It was really hard to pick just five.

There were so many awesome scenes, like when DiCaprio visits the mayor of Miami Beach, which is already experiencing flooding, or when he feeds rescued orangutans in Indonesia and tried his Italian on Pope Francis.

But in the end, "Before the Flood" has two simple messages.

One, we have to consume differently. We need to think about where our food and lifestyles are coming from. In many ways, though, we're beyond the stage where simple actions can solve everything. So two, and perhaps more importantly, we all need to vote. We need world leaders who will invest in renewables and put taxes on carbon.

The final segment, by the way — where DiCaprio gives a speech to the United Nations — might be the most affecting. I found it hard to not tear up. But I'm not going to link to it because you really owe it to yourself to watch the whole movie.

Leonardo DiCaprio's Oscar acceptance speech reminds us of 5 reasons we love the guy.

Since he sailed onto millions of middle school bedroom walls in "Titanic," Leonardo DiCaprio has been winning the Oscar of our hearts on a daily basis. Now, at long last, he's finally won an Oscar IRL.

A swanky man. Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images.

Even though this is Leo's first win, he's been doing award-worthy work on the sly for some time now — on issues arguably more important than whether one 19th century dude can make it over a mountain with freezing wet hair.

"Climate change is real. It is happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species," DiCaprio said in his acceptance speech.

It's not the first time Leo has gone to bat for the Earth and the most vulnerable folks who live on it. Here are five other times we wish we could give him a golden statue for.

1. The time he stood in front of the UN and begged politicians and CEOs to stop pretending that global warming was someone else's problem.

Lots of celebrities have pet causes. Angelina Jolie has orphans. George Clooney has Haiti and Darfur. Aaron Carter has Donald Trump.

Leo? He's taken on the minor task of preventing the complete, apocalyptic annihilation of the human race at its own hands.

Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images.

And he doesn't just talk the talk, he talks the talk in front of some of the most powerful people on planet Earth. Here's what he said at the UN back in September 2014:

"This is not a partisan debate. It is a human one. Clean air and a livable climate are inalienable human rights. Solving this crisis is not a question of politics. It is a question of our own survival. This is the most urgent of times and the most urgent of messages."

Dude knows how to give a speech.

2. The time he bro'd out with John Kerry in Paris and helped secure perhaps the most important international agreement on climate change in history.

John Kerry and Leonardo DiCaprio have a lot in common. They're both human males. They've both appeared on great American sitcoms (seriously!). And, most importantly, they both went to bat for #TeamEarth in Paris in December.


That meeting they were at? It ultimately produced the Paris Agreement, a landmark climate charter between 195 nations of the world, all of whom committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions enough to limit global temperature rise to less than 2 degrees Celsius.

These are countries that ... don't always agree with each other, to put it mildly. I'm not suggesting DiCaprio was single-handedly responsible, but I wouldn't be surprised if Xi Jinping's office contains 18 newly-signed copies of "What's Eating Gilbert Grape."

Just saying.

3. The time he used an acceptance speech to speak up for the rights of Native Americans and First Nations people around the world.

In his Golden Globes acceptance speech for "The Revenant," Leo gave native communities worldwide a much-needed, well-deserved shoutout.

The reason? To remind an audience of millions that their struggle for land rights continues to this day — something that rarely gets a lot of attention, especially at a big Hollywood awards show.

Some have criticized "The Revenant" for relegating Native American characters to the background, while others have praised it for accurately depicting the native characters it does feature as belonging to distinct, competing tribes with unique cultures. Leo couldn't have used his visibility better in this moment.

Respect.

4. The time he promised to stop investing in fossil fuels and started putting his considerable monies toward greener ventures.

Not only is DiCaprio part of the Divest Invest Coalition, which urges investors and organizations to take their money out of companies that contribute to climate change, he's an investor in a startup that's attempting to use mobile technology to make waste disposal cleaner and more efficient.

This way, the greener our trash hauling economy becomes, the richer Leonardo DiCaprio gets — and the more likely he gets a Spruce Goose in real life.

GIF from "The Aviator."

Powered by emission-free hydrogen fuel cells of course.

5. The time he pledged $10 million of his foundation's money to save Earth's oceans.

In addition to ponying up the cash, Leo has spoken out forcefully against the destruction of aquatic ecosystems, for the rights of people living on the low-lying islands of the Pacific who are struggling with sea-level rise and for the health of Earth's oceans general.

"We're plundering the ocean and its vital resources," DiCaprio said in a speech to the Our Ocean Conference in October 2014. "And just because we can't see the devastation from dry land, does not mean it's any less dangerous to life on earth. And it has to stop."

This is a huge step for Leo. Let's not forget, this is a man who drowned in the ocean just 19 years ago.

GIF from "Titanic."

Way to let bygones be bygones, Leo!

And congrats on the big win! This award is deserved not just for one great performance but for everything he's done to make the world a better place.

Thanks for fighting the good fight, Leo. Can’t wait to see what you do next.

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See the innovative earth-saving ideas Leonardo DiCaprio's foundation is bringing to life.

When he's not fighting off bears or trying to win an Oscar, Leonardo DiCaprio is busy saving the environment.

The man is passionate about the planet. And why shouldn't he be? It is THE ONLY PLACE CAPABLE OF SUSTAINING HUMAN LIFE. Sorry, his enthusiasm is contagious.

DiCaprio speaking at the COP 21 Paris Climate Conference last December. Photo by Thierry Chesnot/Getty Images.

On Tuesday, DiCaprio received the Crystal Award from the World Economic Forum for his work on climate change.

The Crystal Award honors artists whose actions improve the state of the world. DiCaprio and his foundation (the aptly named Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation) work with more than 70 partners in 40 countries to protect the planet's remaining natural ecosystems.

DiCaprio traveled to Davos, Switzerland, to accept the award alongside fellow recipients Will.i.am, Chinese actress Yao Chen, and Olafur Eliasson, a Danish artist. Photo by Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images.

As DiCaprio said in his speech, "These complex ecosystems can never be replaced; they are the foundation of our global economy, and more importantly, our interconnected climate — without them life as we know it will simply collapse."

During his acceptance speech, DiCaprio pledged $15 million from his foundation to fast-track sustainability projects around the world.

DiCaprio is putting his money where his mouth is and fast-tracking several innovative sustainability projects in every corner of the globe.

Photo by Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images.

These are the five exciting projects his foundation committed to:

1. $6 million will be used to help monitor commercial fishing activity.

Global Fishing Watch is a new interactive web tool from Google, Oceana, and SkyTruth that actively monitors all of the trackable fishing activity in the ocean to help put an end to overfishing. The platform is still in the prototype stage, but will be available to the public, allowing consumers, seafood suppliers, the media, fishermen, and other stakeholders to track commercial fishing around the world.

A fisherman arranges dried fish near Manila Bay. Photo by Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images.

2. $3.2 million goes toward protecting the rain forest from the palm oil industry.

The funds are headed to the Rainforest Acton Network to help protect one of the last rain forests on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Indonesia produces much of the world's palm oil, and producers are intentionally burning forests to clear the land for plantations. The fires have resulted in dangerous brown air, over half a million respiratory infections, and more carbon emissions each day than the daily activity of the entire United States economy. The grant will help preserve 6.5 million acres of rain forest, which DiCaprio described as, "the vital lungs of our planet."

Fires rage as the peatland forest is cleared for palm oil plantations in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images.

3. Another $3.4 million is headed to support indigenous populations as they defend their land against oil drilling.

ClearWater protects portions of the Amazon rain forest in Ecuador, where oil drilling has marred the once pristine landscape. The partnership with DiCaprio's organization also brings together the Ceibo Alliance — four indigenous nations, the Cófan, Secoya, Siona, and Waorani, working as one for the first time ever to protect their land, water, and rich culture.

A local activist shows waste from an oil well in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Photos by Rodrigo Buendia/AFP/Getty Images.

4. $1 million in debt relief will be given in exchange for ocean and coral reef conservation off the coast of the Seychelles.

Off the coast of east Africa's Seychelles Islands is a portion of the Indian Ocean about the size of Nebraska. Rising ocean temperatures and carbon levels are damaging coral reefs in this spot, which once provided a lush habitat for many marine animals.

To protect this vital ecosystem, the Nature Conservancy proposed a $30 million debt swap for the Seychelles Islands in exchange for a promise to protect marine life and promote conservation. DiCaprio's foundation is contributing $1 million to the effort.

A sea turtle looks for a nesting spot on the beach of one of the Seychelles outer islands. Photo by Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images.

5. And finally, $1.5 million will be used to promote renewable energy in the U.S.

Stateside, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation is teaming up with the Solutions Project, a nonprofit with a vision for a 100% renewable energy future. The $1.5 million will fund smaller community-based efforts all over the country.

President Obama chats with Sandra Richter, the co-founder and CEO of Soofa, which produces solar-powered sofas that can be used to charge electronic devices. Photo by Mike Theiler-Pool/Getty Images.

DiCaprio hopes to fund more projects, but he can't do it alone.

Though DiCaprio's passion is palpable, it can't write checks. And as he reminds us, currently less than 3% of all philanthropic giving goes toward conservation, sustainability, and animal protection.

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