Discuss the ways in which Cameron
has used Binary Opposition to create meaning in the Titanic.
In this extract from the titanic,
Cameron uses the mise-en-scene of the extract creates a binary
opposition between the rich and poor. When the audience first sees
the titanic, you notice that the bottom of the ship is black, and the
top of the ship is white. This would be irrelevant, if we didn’t
see that the poorer, middle class passengers entered the boat at the
bottom, and the richer, upper class people would enter the boat
higher up, and their cars would be placed directly on top. This would
have been filmed this way so the audience gets a clear understanding
that the poor were considered not important and almost evil in
comparison to the white of the rich people, which shows that they are
pure, clean and perfect.
The audience then sees Rose, who is
wearing a white dress, linking to the purity and perfection
associated with the rich, upper class. But more importantly, the
audience is introduced to her before Jack; which shows that she is a
much higher ranking and more important character in society and in
the film. Moreover, the use of Rose arriving in a gold plated car
reinforces the idea that she is of a higher ranking than Jack. Gold
is considered a very rare and expensive metal, which can connote that
Rose plays a very important role in the film. This contrasts to the
way Jack is introduced to the ship. We see him running which could
connote that he is of less importance in society and in the film.
Yet, we know he is to play a very important part in the film, Cameron
could have decided to introduce jack this way to make him an
unsuspecting hero.
Cameron also presents the binary
opposition of ‘Rich and Poor’ by iconography. The clothes and the
color of the clothes that Rose wears clearly denote that she is of
upper class. The rich purple headwear she has on also denotes that
she is from a rich background. This contrasts with what Jack and the
people around him are wearing in his scene. All of the characters
have a mixture of dark brown and green clothes on (dirty colours)
which denote that they are poor. Many of the extras in the scene also
wear flat caps, an indexical sign of the working class of that time.
The audience also sees Rose’s mother who is wearing a green dress.
Unlike the working class, her green is of a very deep and rich tone.
This connotes that she is jealous of her daughter. The fact that her
daughter is a bright, beautiful, young woman, obviously makes the
mother very proud, but also makes her have some sentiment of anger
inside, as the mother knows that she is not the ‘main attraction’
as such anymore. This will make the audience wonder if the mother is
going to play a fully innocent part in the film.
In addition to this, the lighting
of both scenes can determine the class of both protagonists. Whenever
Rose is in the shot, she is in daylight – high key lighting –
which connotes that she is pure and innocent, whereas when the scene
changes and we move into the bar where jack is, the lighting becomes
low key, when compared to the outside by the ship. This can connote
that Jack is not a very good person and that the audience should be
wary of him.
In addition to this, Cameron uses
binary opposition to determine the differences between the male and
female protagonists of the film. The opening of the scene, the
audience can see that Rose does not have the overwhelming emotion
that the rest of her family has. As she approaches the ship, and lays
eyes on it for the first time, the visage on her face remains glum
and lifeless; an indexical sign denoting that she does not want to be
on going onto the ship. Jack’s arrival to the ship is very
different to Rose’s. The audience sees him rushing towards the ship
with pure excitement thrown across his face; with fast paced, upbeat
music in the background, which will make the audience immediately
think that Jack is a chaotic character, an anti-hero. This would
reinforce the differences in class and status at the time - Rose has
a very ungrateful attitude towards having the opportunity to sail on
the titanic, whereas Jack is extremely grateful to have scraped a
chance to ‘go home’ on the ship.
In comparison to this, the audience
can see a binary opposition in the fact that Rose feels as though she
is restricted by something. In the extract, Rose reveals her true
feeling towards going on the ship. ‘To me it was a slave ship.
Taking me back to America in chains’
This denotes that she is unhappy
about being aboard the Titanic, yet, it also connotes that she feels
restricted by her class and family. Cameron would have presented Rose
in this way to show the differences between the main protagonists, so
that it makes the audience start to wonder and question how the two
characters come together later in the film.
Rose, as a character, juxtaposes
Jack. When the audience is first introduced to Jack, he reveals to us
that he is gambling with all of his possessions. He throws in all of
his last change and possessions, which consist of a pocket watch. The
diegetic sound of the pocket watch connotes that time is running out
for Jack and this is last chance. The fact that he is willing to part
with all of his belongings denotes that he is a man that has no
worries in life. Nothing restricts him. The fact he is gambling
connotes that he isn’t a normal hero or ‘good guy’, as gambling
is deemed a game played by the ‘bad guys’. In contrast to this,
we see a playful side to Jack, he states that Fabrizio wont be seeing
his mother for a long time, due to the fact that they had just won
everything on the table. This makes his character Juxtapose the posh,
serious and sophisticated character of Rose.
Cameron would have included this to
make sure the audience make the symbolic link between gambling and a
bad person, and have second thoughts about Jack as a character –
can you trust him? Will he make the right decisions?
Word Count: 1066.
By Reece Garside.
