I'll Never Let Go

Today I shamelessly saw Titanic in 3D. I had been looking forward to it for weeks. Over those past few weeks, I was asked countless times from disapproving friends why I was bothering to see the movie. To those nay-sayers out there I reply, "Why would you not see the rerelease of Titanic in 3D?" Leo and Kate pretty much defined by entire 12th year of life.

A few thoughts after seeing Titanic in 3D:

First, that drawing scene is far less awkward without your mom sitting next to you. I saw Titanic for the first time with my mom. In middle school, you basically had nothing of value to say if you had not seen Titanic so it's not like my parents were horrible people for allowing me to see it. However, I was not one of those kids who had to beg either. My parents saw the movie on a date night and after coming home, one of the first things my mom said was that I would have loved the movie and she would be happy to take me. Looking back I am beyond confused by this. Maybe it was her way of tricking me into having the sex talk. All of her other efforts up until this point had ended in me running from the room in tears. I'm not exaggerating even a little. So anyway, there we were, 12 year-old Danielle and her mom watching Titanic. By the time the ship actually went down, I was already so traumatized by the frontal nudity and the car sex that I barely noticed all of the frozen dead bodies.

Second...and speaking of the dead bodies, it was not until this time around that I really understood the tragedy of the whole situation. For some reason when I was 12, I was so caught up in the dramatization of it, that I just never realized how many people actually died when the ship sunk. Out of over 2,000 passengers, only 700 survived. I didn't really understand or realize that before. I blame this on the drawing scene.

Third, the best part about a rerelease of a movie is that you don't have to worry about missing anything. I never take bathroom breaks or make trips to the concessions while watching a movie in the theater, and I mean never. However, because I already have Titanic pretty much memorized, when my stomach started rumbling I had no problem getting up for a popcorn refill. It was actually pretty freeing.

Fourth, I still could not manage to make myself cry.

Fifth, as I drove home from the movie theater I wondered what made this movie so special. For me there is definitely an element of sentiment to it but I remember people seeing this movie 5 to 10 times in the theater when it was first released! What draws so many people into Jack and Rose's story?

Well, old lady Rose pretty much summed it up when she said, "Jack saved me in every way a person can be saved" right before she tossed the Heart of the Ocean into...well...the heart of the ocean. Then in the final moments of the movie the camera scrolls over photos of Rose traveling, flying a plane, and riding a horse on the beaches of California. Jack physically saved her life, but he also revived her spirit. It was very apparent that Rose lived the rest of her life as a testament and tribute to Jack's sacrifice.

This being Easter weekend, these thoughts of Jack and Rose led me straight to the cross and my relationship with my Savior. I promise, I'm not trying to get super spiritual here. I hate when people do that. You know me better than that. I rarely turn daily things into spiritual moments on this blog. I just couldn't help but to take the 20 minutes it took me to get home to think about the sacrifice that was made for me and how my life is different. I live as a testament and a tribute to a man who truly did save me in every way a person can be saved.

So tomorrow as I sit in my church's Easter service, reflecting on the cross and the resurrection, I will most likely be thinking of Leo.

My heart will go on.