It seems that one century on and we
are all still as obsessed with the most famous of all shipwrecks – the Titanic,
as we ever were. ITV has only this week announced (or at least started to
advertise) that in April, the month in which the Titanic met its untimely end
exactly one hundred years ago, their new four part drama cunningly entitled
“Titanic” will be airing.
The story of the Titanic apparently
has no shelf life, and time and time again the fated voyage is used as the back
drop for a melodrama. Yet I can’t help feeling that it’s a little old hat.
Let’s face it, someone in the ITV drama is not going to make it. It’s like Jack
and Kate all over again. You've only got to look at the newspapers of the day
to see the number of fatalities vs. survivors.
I would therefore hazard a guess,
that if the ITV program revolves around couples or class, which it probably
will! I think we can expect to see not very many happy endings. The men
involved – unless very rich and completely unscrupulous, are not going to make
it onto the lifeboats, and will have to take their chances with the freezing
cold water of the Atlantic. The characters that are in steerage (or basically
economy / cattle class as we call it today) are also doomed by circumstance and
more importantly fortune, to face a watery demise.
Whilst I understand the logic
behind the decision to air in April 2012 (one hundred years on since the
Titanic sank), I do wonder if there weren’t a few people at ITV who felt
slightly uneasy about this given the recent events off the west coast of Italy
with the Costa Concordia.
Yet it appears that from conspiracy
theorists to romantaholics, the Titanic seems to offer something for everyone.
People are drawn in again and again by stories about the ill-fated ship, and over
the years there have been hundreds of films, miniseries, dramas, books, and
documentaries told and made about the ship.
The stories are all very similar
though, and we already know the characters fate. They are as doomed as their
prospects of reaching New York on board the Titanic! I can’t help but feel that
it’s like watching a football match where you already know the result. Nothing
changes the outcome no matter how excited or demoralised you get about the
goals or the way that your team is playing. The outcome has already been
decided, and you are merely a late observer.
So what it is about the tragedy
that makes the Titanic so appealing to use in terms of a story? Other ships
have sunk over the course of history yet it seems that writers, film makers,
producers, etc, have no interest in these. It seems that Titanic is to sunken
ships, what Simon Cowell is to reality music talent shows.
The true story is harrowing, and
I can’t help but think that it is this that provokes and stirs a kind of morbid
fascination and overly romanticised sentimentality towards those that were
onboard. The idea that only women and children were offered salvation in the scarce
lifeboats that were on the ship, and even then it was only the rich and elite
women and children.
Or, I wonder, if it is that we
are fascinated and drawn by the notion of both our own mortality and arrogance
of the day. The fated Titanic was after all said to be unsinkable! Given that
it was made out of iron and steel, I can’t help but think – doh!
Regardless of our intrigue or
interest and despite the fact that we all know that in the end the Titanic will
sink. ITV I am certain can be sure of good ratings, and not least because it
appears that Julian Fellows is behind it. So I think they be assured that any
Downton Abbey viewer is at least going to show an initial interest!
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