Sunday, September 5, 2010
Titanic Once Again
So I have to admit I've never seen The Titanic. But I have a strong fascination with the story. As soon as I saw an article (http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2015271,00.html) about new photos taken of the long-ago sunken Titanic, I knew I had to write about it. In class we have been working with artifacts to piece together the so-called "murder" of Mr. Bolos. What better of an artifact to study and refer to than the Titanic in the history of the United States. Can you imagine if the Titanic hadn't been discovered? The movie, which is an American cinema staple, would not have been made. That's an obvious one. What else wouldn't have happened? While the sinking of the Titanic is an event we are all familiar with, is it important to keep studying the artifact, (the ship, itself), even today? The Time article brings up the point that taking pieces of the wreckage in order to study them out of the water may increase the rapid pace of the deterioration of the Titanic. I wonder what is so important about this event that occurred almost 100 years ago that they have to possibly ruin this historical masterpiece. Once something has occurred and has been scrutinized for so long, shouldn't we just let it go? I think it's fascinating that we were able to get clearer and more detailed photographs of the sunken beauty, but it's not worth the possible destruction of it.
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Hayley-
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I love your website url! So creative :)
As for your post, I am not educated on the topic any more than the article and James Cameron's Titanic enables me to be. With the knowledge I have, I would say further research is justified. Even considering the destructive results, no one can benefit from the Titanic's existence except for researchers. Average people do not, obviously, have access to the vessel that sits miles under water. Considering the researchers benefit from their expeditions, they may as well continue. Keeping the Titanic intact boasts no apparent benefits if research cannot be conducted on it.
Thanks for the thought provoking post, can't wait for next week's!
Glenna
Thanks for your input, Glenna! I think you make a great point that people other than researchers cannot access it so it doesn't matter. But would you feel differently about it if it wasn't the Titanic but some kind of masterpiece of art, like the Mona Lisa, that was being destroyed for research?
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