3 films that tell a universal story of transformation

TITANIC

In the 1996 movie Titanic, James Cameron explores the clash of the classes in a world that is on the precipice of change. What is at stake is the maintenance of power and status quo in Britain. The movie takes place in 1912 in the period immediately prior to World War I when Britain is struggling with discrimination against the Irish and Catholics and the upper class are struggling to maintain their status quo against a coming social revolution.

The main character is Rose who is modeled after an actual passenger on the Titanic named Rose Dawson Calvert 1895-1996). In her life, Rose was a very optimistic individual, who felt constrained by the first-class life she was being pulled into by her family, her fiancé and society. While it seems in the film that Rose has it all, it is simply a veneer and she considers that the only solution is to commit suicide. It is through Rose’s eyes and story that we see the hope and desire for passion and love, the dreams and struggle of the lower classes for respect and equality, and the fears of the upper class to hold onto their power. All of these themes are played out through Rose’s personal journey as she goes from the rich girl in first class to a woman fighting for the life of the man she loves amidst the sinking of the ship.

Through the course of the film you see Rose transformed in multiple ways. The film begins by showing Rose as a frail and elderly woman, living with her dreams and sadness. She is a survivor, but a weak and feeble character. As the film goes back in time to the Titanic’s voyage, Rose emerges as a strong willed, spirited woman willing to fight for what she wants against society and insurmountable odds. She begins to see a broader world and experiences the transformative effect of true love.

Rose has great courage to act against the pressures of her family, her fiancé and society as a whole in pursuing her relationship with the lower class drifter Jack. While she feels stifled by her status, she has much to lose by shunning her privileged lifestyle. At the onset of the 20th century, society still maintained views about the separate, and indeed opposite, natures of men and women. These views became further exaggerated by the industrial revolution in defining mechanized labor (and its invention) as the province of men and the domestic responsibilities as the natural domain of women, men and women’s relationships to and with each other and society change.  As held true in the past, we see that in times of anxiety, such as the intense and rapid change industrialization brought, there is a resurgence in the enforcement and belief in classical, or traditional, gender roles (Radek, 2001).

CASABLANCA

Set in Casablanca in World War II, what is at stake in this movie is life itself, as well as loyalty, patriotism and friendship. With the coming of the Second World War, many eyes in imprisoned Europe turned hopefully, or desperately, toward the freedom of the Americas. Lisbon became the great embarkation point. But, not everybody could get to Lisbon directly, and so a tortuous, roundabout refugee trail sprang up and Casablanca became a hotbed of freedom fighters, Nazis, and desperate souls seeking freedom.

The central character is Rick Blaine, exiled American and former freedom fighter who runs the most popular nightspot in town. Blaine comes into the possession of two valuable letters of transit that allow him to escape. Rick represents the bravura of an American freedom fighter with a broken heart.

Rick begins the movie as a cynical and angry lone wolf, having trusted and been betrayed by a woman. As the movie progresses he is transformed into a selfless man who risks his life and makes the ultimate sacrifice for love and friendship.

Rick has many reasons not to act. He has been betrayed before by women and his countrymen, and he is being hounded by Nazis in a dangerous place. The easiest thing for him to do is to do nothing. The hardest thing for him to do is to forgive and to trust again.  

LAWRENCE OF ARABIA

Set in 1916 in the Middle East, this film explores the complexities of identity and the struggle for freedom and sovereignty. What is at stake is the power of the British Empire set against the battle for sovereignty of the Ottoman Empire. But to win their freedom, one man must convince disparate, powerful and independent Arab leaders to trust each other, a single man, and an ideal.

The central character is Thomas Edward Lawrence, a British loyalist and inordinately complex man who has been labeled everything from hero, to charlatan, to sadist.  Lawrence blazes his way to glory in the Arabian Desert in an effort to help the Arabs gain freedom while he attempts to rally them under the singular ideal of a greater kingdom, united under a single ideal.

How is the character transformed? The film is a romanticized version of the true story of Lawrence, and shows him being transformed from a rugged and cruelly detached individual, to an idealist with a desire to make a difference in the world. While he tries valiantly, bravely, and selflessly to change the attitudes of the Arab Sheiks, and to help them see the grander future of a united Middle East, the characters around him are not transformed. In the end he becomes a disillusioned and embittered man, whose dreams die tragically, as he does, in the sands of the desert. In reality, "Lawrence did not change the map of the Middle East — the spheres of influence had been drawn up secretly between Britain and France in 1916." (Lyden)

There are good reasons for the Arab tribesman and leaders not to act. Britain did not need another competitive power to British rule, and the Arabs had century old hostilities and distrust between them that would not easily be put aside in compromise. It would have been very easy for Lawrence not to act and to have abandoned such an effort which seemed doomed to fail from the beginning. In the end, the fact that he fights for this ideal against such odds of success makes him a tragic hero.