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You remember the scene: at the end of the film Titanic, Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and  Rose (Kate Winslet) escape the sinking ship only to find their way to a piece of a door floating in the water amongst scattered debris and panicked passengers. Jack boosts Rose up onto it so that she can live, and he just kind of dangles from the side treading ice water until he dies. You'll remember that part clearly, because that's when all the sobbing throughout the movie theatre began!

 

If you were one of those sobbing fans, I do have some good news for you. James Cameron, the director of Titanic, has finally agreed to prove to audiences once and for all that Jack had to die. (Well, maybe not good news to the fans...) The best part, he’s teaming up with "MythBusters" to do it.

 

For their season premiere, the kings of busting myths and urban legends are about to tackle a question that has been on your mind for the last decade-and-half: Could both Jack and Rose fit on the wooden piece of debris together and survived? Did Cameron deprive them of their chance to live a long happy life with their 2.3 children?

 

“It’s interesting, because I think 'MythBusters' is gonna tackle this problem, and I’m gonna help them do it, actually. We’re gonna put it to rest,” says Cameron, explaining, “It’s not a question of room (on the plank); it’s a question of buoyancy. When Jack puts Rose on the raft, then he tries to get on the raft. He’s not an idiot, he doesn’t want to die. And the raft sinks and kind of flips. So, it’s clear that there’s only enough buoyancy available for one person. So, he makes a decision to let her be that person instead of taking them both down.”

 

Various Internet memes have popped up recently indicating that two of them could have easily fit on the door, if only selfish Rose would have simply moved over. Why, they could have even played cards!

 

 

 

However, Cameron begs the differ, saying, “If they he had gotten on (the plank), with her they both would have been half in and half out of the water, even if they could balance on it — and they would have both died (from hypothermia).”

 

Cameron makes a good point, but despite what he thinks, film fans and internet experts have been preaching “not only would they have fit, but it would float”. But let’s face it, people: if Jack and Rose had both survived, it would have made the movie less memorable and I guarantee that we wouldn’t still be talking about it 15 years after it came out. But instead of just telling people that Jack had to die (for Hollywood reasons), Cameron is actually being quite the good sport by teaming up with "MythBusters" to provide his audience with scientific proof that Jack just couldn’t have beaten the odds.

 

In the preview clip below, you can watch Jamie hit the water firsthand to test the film's accuracy.

 

 

 

What do you think? Could Jack and Rose have fit? And even if they could, would it have stayed afloat? Tune in to "Mythbusters" Sunday night (October 7) at 8pm on Discovery to find out!

 

 

- Felix Kay, YH Staff