Why One Rose May Be On Everyone’s Lips On Valentine’s Day
With Valentine’s Day coming up, a rose that lasts forever may represent the most romantic of all gestures. But this year it appears another ‘Rose’ is looming large like a giant lurking iceberg.
The film Titanic might have given people a few chills for rather more romantic reasons, despite the historical fact behind it being one of mass death from hypothermia. Nonetheless, there is no doubt that for many, the 1996 film starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo di Caprio captured both the imagination and the heart.
So it is that with impeccable timing, the film is set for a cinema re-run on both sides of the Atlantic in early February, having originally come out in December 1997, just over 25 years ago.
Perhaps a new generation of young sweethearts can sit together on February 14th and enjoy the tale of the unlikely and evanescent romance between upper class Rose de Witt Bukater and poor American artist Jack Dawson, who is only sailing after winning his ticket in a game of poker.
Alas - here’s the big plot spoiler - the ship hits an iceberg and sinks, with only Rose surviving as she clings on to a piece of wood not large enough for both of them. But, as the song goes, her heart will go on, even to the point of the same Rose, aged 101, coming on board a search vessel looking for the lost ‘Heart of the Ocean’ necklace that she was believed to have taken with her to the ocean floor.
However, the old lady actually had it all the time - until she casts it into the sea before dreaming of a smoochy reunion with Jack (or doing this in the afterlife after dying in her sleep - you decide).
Even though the last real-life survivor died in 2009, Titanic retains an enduring fascination; for example, the Daily Mail recently reported with great excitement on the discovery of two old rail carriages that had taken passengers to the port in Southampton.
Nonetheless, a rose that lasts permanently is better than one that made it to 101 or a rusting shipwreck. Hopefully, nobody will be throwing it in the sea.
