Millions have seen Titanic, one of the greatest American epics about love and tragedy. However, many remain puzzled over its ending.
Jack Dawson (Kate Winslet) is a drifter and artist who falls for Rose DeWitt Bukater on board their ship, until it hits an iceberg and sinks, forcing Jack to help Rose onto a floating doorframe before freezing to death himself.
1. He was 20 years old
Titanic became one of the highest-grossing movies ever, grossing more than $1.7 billion worldwide. Starring Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson with numerous other prominent Hollywood actors in supporting roles, Titanic quickly rose up the charts.
In the film, Jack and Fabrizio win third-class tickets for Titanic through a poker game and become fast friends as they explore it together. Together they experience love on board.
Soon enough, they meet Rose DeWitt Bukater (Winslet), their future bride. Moments before Titanic hits an iceberg and sinks, romance blooms between the couple.
Over the past 25 years, fans have wondered if Rose could have found space on her makeshift raft for Jack and saved his life. This topic even got addressed on MythBusters!
Now, a new study aims to end any debate and confirm Jack did indeed die in the movie. James Cameron plans on conducting an experiment for National Geographic’s series Titanic: 25 Years Later with James Cameron.”
Cameron recruited stunt divers and an expert in hypothermia to assess whether Jack and Rose could have survived in the water, testing different scenarios with them. First they tried having Rose sitting on the front of a raft while Jack submerged himself; but this proved ineffective as it proved unstable, so instead Cameron tried having both Jack and Rose kneel on one raft together with only their upper halves visible above debris.
Studies conducted to analyze Jack’s body temperature revealed that it could drop significantly within 20 minutes after submersion in water, leading to his demise in the movie.
2. He was married
Titanic, one of the greatest romantic and epic movies ever made, tells the tale of Jack Dawson a drifter who saves Rose DeWitt Bukater from taking her own life when her ship was sinking. An extremely emotional film which has moved generations of moviegoers since its debut.
Jack and Rose’s story of how they met is so captivating, many viewers of the movie wondered if it were real or not. This was due to its believable storyline that depicted strong romance onscreen.
Even though Jack and Rose had only been together a short while, their deep connection made it hard for people to believe they weren’t real people.
Although many viewers may wonder whether Jack was ever actually married during the film, no evidence suggests this. Instead, his happiness and genuine feelings for Rose make up a believable love story.
In the movie, he played a third-class passenger who won his way onto a ship through a poker game. Once aboard, he began a secret affair with Rose (first class passenger). At first intended as a way to cheer her up, but soon realized he had fallen deeply in love.
As her mother Ruth (Frances Fisher) insisted she marry Cal Hockley – another wealthy and arrogant Englishman on board the Titanic who eventually proposed marriage – Rose chose instead to remain with Jack instead.
Jack and Rose met only after only a short time aboard the Titanic; thus it would have been difficult for them to form any genuine bonds between themselves at first. Furthermore, there were many differences between the two of them which may have made getting along harder; therefore it was essential for them to find ways to make their relationship work.
3. He had a baby
Jack and Rose’s story is so captivating, it can be easy to forget that they’re entirely fictional characters. As such, many fans of Cameron’s Titanic movie wonder whether or not the couple seen there exist in real life.
This series takes place in a small California town and centers on Mel and Jack (Alexandra Breckenridge and Martin Henderson), who move there after experiencing miscarriages or experiencing husband deaths, in hopes that they might find healing together.
However, shortly thereafter a dramatic turn occurred that involved one of their unborn children. As part of a storyline about fatherhood, Jack and Mel agreed that they should undergo a paternity test to identify who their baby’s father might be.
Jack found themselves struggling when they decided to adopt three children at once; at that time, Charmaine Roberts (Lauren Hammersley) was pregnant with twins and wanted another son or daughter for their relationship; so when Jack learned of their decision he said no and decided against adding to his family.
Season 4 offered another shock: it was revealed in the finale that Charmaine was indeed pregnant–not by Jack!
After this revelation, Mel and Jack had to come to terms with the reality that their happy ending wasn’t coming true; this was particularly difficult for Jack who now faced being a father again while also navigating Charmaine’s twins and her relationship issues with Todd.
Season 4’s finale provided viewers with another major shocker: Who is Charmaine’s father?
Jack provided comfort to Charmaine as she struggled to cope with news that her ex-husband had cheated. Charmaine wept while telling him he wasn’t their twin father.
Mel had to decide if she was ready for a third child; while she wanted one, she wasn’t sure whether Jack was.
4. He died
Since Titanic first came out, viewers have debated whether or not Jack’s death in the film was needless. Fans argue that had Rose made room for Jack on the floating door frame, he could have saved himself from hypothermia and lived to see its end.
Mythbusters featured an episode where they tested whether there was enough room on a door for two people to fit comfortably on it, but after years of debate director James Cameron has finally put an end to it all.
“The answer to this question is no,” he stated in the Toronto Sun, adding that a scientific study had been undertaken in order to put an end to any discussion or speculation on this matter.
He used stunt doubles similar in size and build to DiCaprio and Winslet to perform the scene and determine whether they could live out its script. Once submerged in water, these doubles went through similar procedures as Jack and Rose before being submerged for good.
They discovered that Jack likely died due to not being able to hoist his upper body out of the water quickly enough, or because the cold ocean water kept half his body submerged beneath its surface and therefore kept Jack frozen to death.
Cameron joined forces with a team of scientists, experts in hypothermia research and sudden immersion into cold water, to formulate an answer. Through scientific methods they recreated this scene in a pool in New Zealand.
Simulations were run that replicated conditions aboard the actual Titanic where water temperatures reached 28 degrees Celsius at the time of sinking, and they found that Jack would likely have perished had he not been able to get out of the water as quickly. Furthermore, climbing onto Rose’s doorframe with her might have helped him remain warmer for longer and may have extended his survival chances.
Jack was a 20-year-old from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin who won two third-class tickets on the Titanic through a poker game with Olaf and Sven. Before embarking on his voyage he traveled around extensively while becoming skilled hand to hand fighter. Additionally he was an accomplished artist, creating many paintings featuring nude women in Paris.