What comes to mind when we hear the word, "Titanic?" Might be a large oceanliner; maybe a giant iceberg, or even a collosal sea disaster. For most of us that came of age in the 1990s, instead of any shipwreck imagery, "Titanic" might actually evoke images of Celine Dion, a wrinkled old woman, or a hand in a fogged-up car window. Personally, I'll always remember how Richie Rich's butler Cadbury palyed the arrogant douchebag shipbuilder, and how Billy Zane--last seen as on of Biff's bully entourage in "Back to the Future"--was now the main antagonist in "Titanic" (besides the iceberg itself, I suppose).

The word "Titanic," and the event itself, have a whole new meaning for my generation. We, as shy little middle school boys, took our then girlfriends to see the film, watching as tears streamed down their faces and tried hard not to well up ourselves (or maybe that was just me); the sappy music, Kate Winslet's bare breast and bare ass, and the ever-cheesy "I'm flying" or "I'm the king of the world!" (both uttered in the same, cliched, front-of-the-ship spot); these things are how we remember "Titanic;" a tragic sea disaster wrapped up in an aura of love, passion, and a ubiquitous array of deep emotion. Like it or not, the movie is the top-grossing motion picture of all time.

I began to wonder how a real-life Titanic survivor would perceive the film; If I were one, I might be a bit offended. Regardless of whether or not you, or I, or anyone liked the film, there's no denying the film oozed love and romance; dare I say it's the "go-to" movie when my generation talks about movies with love as the central theme. But would a real survivor, having been there, having seen the ship overtaken by the seeinngly calm North Atlantic waters, having watched his or her mother, brother, or father die as the doomed ship tilted up, up, up, and then cracked in half? In the same way one cannot imagine what went through the heads of those who lept to their death from the top floors of the World Trade Center, one cannot imagine what the real sinking of the Titanic was like.

Now I know that love stories, especially with the right mix of music, sex, and on-screen chemistry, sell, and in the case of "Titanic," REALLY sell. I just think about it and wonder if the afformentioned mix truly tells the tale of the ship, it's people, and it's tragedy. Of course, James Cameron portrayed that mix through his two main protagonists - and through a very clever love story - but what if, in about 60 or so years, they made a movie about 9/11, or about Katrina, or some other tragedy, and stuck a few random teen heartthrobs in there, added a topless scene, created a catchy score, and then released it to the public? I'm not sure I'd go for that. I didn't witness 9/11 or Katrina live, but I lived through it. That said, a bleeding romance interwoven into a plot whose core IS tragedy-real, human tragedy- is, in my opinion, not the best way to bring to life an event of such magnitude.