Tuesday 17 April 2012

100 year anniversary of the sinking of Titanic: my dedication

100 years ago last weekend, a moment in history was chronicled for the death of over 1,500 people. RMS Titanic, the White Star Line ship hailed as 'Unsinkable' sunk to the murky depths of the Atlantic on the 15th April 1912 after hitting an iceberg in the early hours of the morning. It left a legacy for the shipping industry, and touching the hearts of mankind across the globe.

It's a story which, 100 years on, is not forgotten. All the various, glamorous TV and film productions, the sparkling new museums and galleries and the hundreds of tales of those on board the ship have collectively helped to inform the world of the tragedy and the disaster.

Yet it amazes me that people are so sick and tired of the Titanic. To a degree I suppose, the story has been used time and time again for the benefit of TV and movie productions. The much-hyped Titanic series on ITV was a case of this, which despite using the tales of love portrayed so fantastically in the 1997 James Cameron film, failed to deliver anything remotely significant or compelling to the public, suggesting fans of the Titanic do tire of the publicity and narrativization of the tragedy.

But let's not forget what really happened. It's not about a love story, it's about a legacy. A ship carrying people of all classes and all races, an epitome of the past that shocked onlookers at the time. Even today, with tragedies such as the recent Costa Concordia, the shock and pain of disasters at sea still strikes a chord with audiences across the globe.

So despite the numerous marketing and advertising opportunities, let us not forget the real story of the Titanic. I hope, that in another 100 years, it will still lie on the bed of the Atlantic, and will still retain the shock and devastation that it has carried over the last 100 years.

If you watch anything, this fantastic clip from National Geographic uses CGI to re-imagine how the Titanic sank. Pretty impressive.

This post is a dedication to the tragedy of what happened on the 15th April 1912. A dedication to the lives lost, the families who suffered and to the legacy of RMS Titanic.

Pictures Courtesy of Wikipedia

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