Titanic's 100th Anniversary: My Grandfather Had a Ticket and a Dream

Article first published as Titanic's 100th Anniversary: My Grandfather Had a Ticket and a Dream on Blogcritics.

As the excitement and interest about the infamous ocean liner Titanic and the 100th anniversary of its sinking reaches a zenith this weekend, I have been thinking about my own family story about the great ship. All families have stories that are told and handed down, and one of my grandfather's great tales was about his ticket to sail on the Titanic, an opportunity which he felt would fulfill all his hopes and dreams. Pop was set to sail on the great ship on April 20, 1912, away from all he had ever known and toward what he felt would be a grand future. Of course, fate had other plans.

Growing up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Pop lived in a tenement apartment with his eight siblings and his parents. The youngest of four sons, Pop got to go to school while his older brothers never did; they had to work as soon as they could get out on the street and do something to earn money. Pop's decided advantage was learning to read and write, something that would give him an edge in the years to come.

Pop had a fascination with the sea in large part due to his father Anthony, who worked as a longshoreman on the city's docks. Pop would go and watch his father working, see the ships great and small, and wish for the day he could cross that ocean. While many of his family and friends spoke about the dream of coming to America, the grim reality that he saw all around him was nothing like the hopeful stories that had inspired them all to come to the USA in the first place.

Unfortunately, Anthony died at thirty-five years old while working on the docks. Pop said it was probably a heart attack, the work being so horrendously arduous and the hours incredibly long. So what little money was coming in from my great grandfather's salary was now gone; therefore, Pop's school days ended and he too hit the streets looking for work after having just completed third grade.

The gritty streets of Pop's New York in the late 1890s must have been an amalgam of every possible horror known about that period and a hell that cannot be imagined. From all the gruesome stories Pop told, his real New York made something like Martin Scorcese's film Gangs of New York seem like a church picnic. Pop saw all the cruelty, the poverty, the squalor, and the inequity that existed, registering it deep down but pushing forward because he had no other choice.

Flash forward to early 1912. Because Pop could read and write, he had secured a job as an assistant for a Doctor Martin who lived near Gramercy Park. Pop's duties included driving the doctor all over the city to various appointments, luncheons, and functions. He also took care of the doctor's papers and mail, and his salary of ten dollars a week enabled him to buy some nice clothes and help his mother.

Pop still dreamed of getting out, away from this fractured world just like his childhood friends actor Jimmy Durante and singer Eddie Cantor, who had escaped the neighborhood. Pop got his first shave at sixteen from Durante's father, and while in the barbershop that day Jimmy's brother Robert, a New York City cop, came in and impressed Pop in his uniform with the shiny buttons. Pop asked him why he became a cop, and Robert told him it was either that or become a crook. Knowing their neighborhood, Pop knew how true those words were.

As he was driving Martin everyday, they spoke about many things. One of the biggest topics in those early weeks of 1912 was Titanic. In an age before TV and radio, this ship's story still had somehow consumed the interest of people everywhere. Pop had been reading everything he could about the ship, and he would tell the doctor about the amenities that would be on board: the electric lights, the elevators, the lavish suites, the swimming pool, and the heated cabins. Martin wondered if he should get tickets for his wife and him, and Pop said that would be a grand idea. The doctor later revealed that he had inquired about the cost for the first class quarters he wanted, and four thousand dollars was too dear for him.

Of course, the well educated doctor and the poorly educated employee talked about the ship from their own perspectives. When Martin said something about, "The name alone is an incredible case of hubris," Pop was not sure what he meant. The doctor had said something about Greek mythology, and this inspired Pop to hit the library to look up "hubris" and read all about the Greek gods, especially the Titans. When he went back and spoke to the doctor about Cronus and company, his boss was impressed.

They continued to speak about the ship and its legacy and eventual curse: it was supposed to be virtually unsinkable. Since ships were the airplanes of that day, imagine if we were told by an airline that a plane was not capable of crashing? This captured Pop's imagination because sinking ships were a reality; he had seen the salvaged wrecks being towed into New York harbor as a boy when he stood alongside his father on the docks. Ships big and small had gone down, sending goods and people to watery graves. The possibility of an unsinkable ship was so alluring, so powerful, and that mystique hovered over Pop's every thought about the famous ship.

In late March of 1912, Pop had worked a straight twenty-four hours taking the doctor to all his emergency appointments during a heavy snowstorm. Martin had always admired his work ethic, but he felt this extra effort deserved some kind of reward. A week later the doctor got in the car and presented Pop a little gift for all the hard work he had been doing: a third class ticket for passage on the Titanic. "Maybe I can't go, Dave," he said with a hand on Pop's shoulder, "but nothing should stop you."

Pop said he was speechless, just staring at the ticket that he could never have afforded; to save $36 would have been impossible for him at that time. Martin knew Pop had a dream, and it was much bigger than being a chauffeur for him. Pop thanked him profusely, went home excitedly, and showed everyone the ticket. During the ensuing days, he prepared for the adventure that lay ahead of him by going to the library, reading all about London, and thinking about how his new life would unfold after he got off the great ship in England.

By the time Pop saw the infamous headline on the front page of The New York Times about the ship sinking, he was shaking as he stood at the newsstand with the paper in his hand. It was as if all of his dreams had hit that iceberg too, sinking deep to the bottom of the icy sea forevermore with the ship that had captured his imagination. How could an unsinkable ship sink? he wondered. Of course, people have been asking that question over and over ever since.

He made his way down to the docks where his father had worked and died, and he saw the eventual arrival of the Carpathia with the haunted surviving passengers, changed forever by the tragic loss they experienced out on that icy ocean. Pop took the ticket from his pocket, shed a few tears, and threw it into the water; he knew the dream was ostensibly over. Wealthy New Yorkers like Isidor Straus and John Jacob Astor had died on that ship, and now this poor New Yorker would never have the chance to set sail on it.

The next day Pop went back to the Durante's for a haircut, and he asked the barber if his son Robert could help him get a job. He became a New York City cop, and later that year he met my grandmother at a dance. They fell in love and were married three days later. Pop always said it was love at first sight, but Nana joked that looks were deceiving, yet they remained married until her death in May 1972, just a few months short of their 60th anniversary.

Pop moved out of the neighborhood, building his own house in Queens where my father and his brother would be raised. Pop lived a life he never imagined when living in the tenement. Never mind the Titanic; he had a place that he could call his own with a bathroom and yard. He must have thought, with apologies to Titanic director James Cameron, that he was indeed king of the world.

Many years later as an old man he would tell this story with dry eyes. He had come to terms with what happened long ago, and even felt in many ways that the sinking of the ship saved him from making a big mistake. His idea to sail to England and work his way down to Italy was not planned out, and he may never have made it. He could have ended up trading a New York slum for a London one, and what good would that have been? He seemed happy but also felt a great sadness for those lost because, as he said, "Most of them who died on that ship were poor just like me."

My grandfather had a dream to sail on Titanic, but it was never meant to be. His one regret after all those years was not keeping the ticket. I said that would have been worth something, but he said he would have never sold it. He would have framed it and hung it on the wall in order to always remember that fate had other plans for him.

Photo Credits: Discovery.com, NY Times

Avatar Should Once Again Make Cameron "King of the World"

After wanting to see James Cameron’s new film Avatar since its premiere in December, I finally did get to the theater this weekend, and I now understand why there is so much talk about the film (as well as why it is nominated for nine Academy Awards). Simply stated, going to see Avatar is not so much seeing a movie as it is an overwhelming visual and sensory experience. The film scores on so many levels, and the visceral and kinesthetic connections literally and figuratively transport the viewer into another world.

Some people might be tempted to identify Avatar as something else, or maybe even call it Titanic in space, but then they would be missing the whole point. Yes, we have the haunting music of the remarkable James Horner to remind us of that film, and there is a strong love story at the core of Avatar, as in Titanic; and yes, the lovers are from different worlds and have the odds stacked against them, but Cameron has taken Avatar to a deeply complex level, and the 3D experience drops the viewer into a different time and place where he or she can almost reach out and touch the detritus of an explosion, feel the pulse of an alien world, and understand the universal components involving the sacred nature of the individual spirit.

The story centers on wounded Marine Jake Sully, in a solid performance by Sam Worthington who left a powerful impression in Terminator Salvation as a machine with a soul. We see paraplegic Jake transported to the moon Pandora where he will be part of an exciting experiment originally intended for his twin brother Tom, a scientist who recently passed away. Since the twins are a genetic match, Jake is an ideal replacement in the body of an avatar, a living creation of one of the indigenous Na’vi people of Pandora.

The conflict is quickly established as Jake understands he has two jobs to accomplish. One is explained by hard as nails Colonel Miles Quaritch, played with fierce intensity by Stephen Lang. Quaritch wants Jake to infiltrate these people as a covert operative with the express purpose of bringing them down. The other job is explained by Dr. Grace Augustine, played by Sigourney Weaver as a chain smoking scientist with a heart. She wants Jake to bond with the Na’vi, become one of them, in order to better understand them and establish a cordial relationship between them and the humans who have invaded their world.

As Jake lies in what looks like a high-tech tanning bed, his consciousness enters the avatar. The creature is twice the size of humans, with blue skin, yellow eyes, and a long mane of hair that has tendrils which can make a neural connection with all living things on Pandora. Jake is obviously ecstatic about now inhabiting a body that can walk, and his function seems to be at first providing protection to Grace and her colleagues as they explore the jungles of Pandora in their own avatar forms.

The action unfolds quickly in the dangerous world where Jake suddenly finds himself besieged by creatures big and small. He runs for his life, separating from Grace and the party and winding up alone for the night in the jungle. His would seem to be a certain death, but Jake is saved by the Na’vi princess Neytiri, played by Zoe Saldana who was memorable as Uhura in last year’s new Star Trek movie. Neytiri saves him against her own better judgment because Jake appears to be blessed by the goddess Eywa, when Jake is surrounded by the Seeds of Ewya, floating creatures filled with light, indicating his inherent goodness and worthiness to the princess.

What follows is reminiscent of many fish out of water stories, especially something like Pochahantas and Captain John Smith, where the invader must win over the tribe in order to become one of them. While his mission seems duplicitous at first, we can see Jake slowly moving toward the light, finding in the Na’vi a level of tranquility and meaning that he has never known in his human life. Neytiri’s assigned by her father, the chief of the tribe, to school Jake in the ways of the people, and she becomes guide, teacher, and eventually, as one would expect, they begin to fall in love.

Viewers may be tempted to think of Cameron’s earlier work, especially the slam-bang action of Terminator and Aliens, but Cameron has transcended the action movie and elevated the sci-fi component of the genre to a new level here. Every frame of the film has gorgeous texture, a sense of meticulous arrangement, and yet it causes a displacement, jarring the viewer as Jake becomes one with his new body and in touch with his new world.

While the Na’vi are a different species, Cameron has made certain that they have recognizable traits, and these indigenous people of Pandora have a distinct culture and history that reflects aspects of some of the people living on this planet. Most of all, the essential thing is that Neytiri is beautiful enough physically and spiritually to win Jake’s (and our) heart. He connects with her, and ultimately the essence of Pandora, in unimaginable ways that uncover the deepest essence of individual integrity and spirit.

At the heart of the jungle is the Tree of Souls, a luminous giant tree that is a repository of all the Na’vi who ever lived, their evanescent voices echoing across time for those ready to accept their message. When Jake and Neytiri finally “mate” it is after they connect their tendrils to the tree. She and Jake hear the centuries unfolding, the call of the Na’vi invigorating their spirits and igniting their passion.

Their happiness will be short lived, as Quaritch eventually unleashes an assault on the jungle in an effort to secure the richest deposit of Unobtanium, an energy source that will solve all of humanity’s energy problems back on Earth, but which happens to be lodged under the site of the Na’vi village and their tree.

Those seeking the action from Cameron’s previous films will not be disappointed with the final battle, and eventually Jake in avatar form and Quaritch have the inevitable hand-to-hand combat that could be expected, with the end result not disappointing the viewers in any way. What is amazing is that these sequences are accomplished so seamlessly, the effects not getting in the way of the bloody fight to the finish between good and evil.

Despite all the elements of an epic tale being present, as in Titanic, Cameron reveals himself as a romantic at heart, with the love story being the most crucial element in Avatar, and that love is shown as transcending race, species, and all obstacles. Neytiri and Jake share a pure love that rises above all the trappings of cultural and physical limitations, thus taking the Biblical message of “God is Love” and connecting Jake to the essence of Eywa, the Mother Goddess who envelopes Neytiri and him in what is an eternal union of energy and thus spirit.

Despite the wonderfully rich 3D experience, and the surreal dreamlike flow of the film, the message Cameron sends is that love will triumph over all, even when the body dies. We are all connected, if not through tendrils in our long ponytails to the Tree of Voices, by the energy of our individual spirit and inherent goodness. For guys like Quaritch, something less pleasant is obviously waiting.

Whether or not the film succeeds in making Mr., Cameron once again "King of the World," securing him more Oscar gold, it stands as the defining work in a rather impressive career. Avatar has been so successful because it has told a timeless tale of love, of perseverance, and of good rising above evil.

The fact that all the mesmerizing 3D elements and special effects are present does not relegate the core theme to secondary status. Cameron’s Avatar is an affirmation of a spirituality connecting all of us, no matter what race or species, to one another in a profound and enduring way. That is why people are going back to see the film again and again, because in this film the message is more than the medium and has resonance that will last long after the credits roll.