OK, after seeing the movie 3 times already, I am still not ready to admit that old Rose dies in the end. I say she is just peacefully dreaming. My friends say she dies, because she is "an old woman, warm in her bed" as Jack said she'd be. Also, in the "dream" she sees all the people that died when the ship sank. . .hmmm. I guess that would make sense and actually be a happy ending. Maybe they're all happily reunited in Heaven! What do you think?

-- Lori Larsson (ohgifted1@earthlink.net), January 04, 1998

Answers

I was puzzled by this also. It never occured to me the first time I saw it that she had died. Like you, I just thought she was dreaming. But the second time, I realized that it does make sense. She was reunited with Jack and all the others who were lost on Titanic. What a happy ending.

Annie :) :) :)

-- Annie (titanic16@hotmail.com), January 04, 1998.

I think she dies. At least, that's what I'd rather believe. It gives the movie a happy note to end on. She's finally reunited with Jack and it's all the people who had died on the ship who are there. It's heaven and the Jack and Rose can finally be happy!

-- Shannon (ewbarrington@juno.com), January 04, 1998.

Yes, Rose does die at the end. She dies "...an old lady, warm in her bed." Her spirit goes back to Titanic and she is reunited with Jack and all the others who died on the ship (The Captin, Mr. Andrews, etc.). :)

-- Liz (lizzard@lcc.net), January 05, 1998.

She dies? Maybe this is the warmest ending. To an 101-year-old lady, her life is full of happiness( At least she once held it...). And, she also achieve her whole-life dreams -- to meet Jack again ; even in her dream.Sometimes I also wonder this is just a dream ! Like tha saying : " Nothing could happen between us." Rose's heart will always go on...

-- Never Dies (Jones@worldweb.net), January 05, 1998.

Yes, Rose does die as all of you said. Weren't all those pictures they showed at the end sad? They showed a picture of her with a fish. Remember how Jack said he always went ice fishing? Well, she went ice fishing, too. Ahhh, how sad. And how Jack sang to her that song about Josephine flying? They showed a picture of her getting ready to fly in a private plane. And you all probably saw the horse back riding picture. Those pictures really made me cry.

-- Heather (ClickyLove@aol.com), January 05, 1998.

Yes,. she does die. In a screen play I read, it says, "Rose falls into her bed to sleep...or something more than that..." or something liek that. It makes sense. She has found peace. She has put the jewel back where it belongs and told her story. She has lived her life and is ready to "Go back to Titanic...."

Becky

-- Becky (Raisongal@aol.com), January 05, 1998.

According to the screenplay posted at www.script-o-rama.com, scene 309 (next to last scene of the film, according to this) reads as follows:

A GRACEFUL PAN across Roses shelf of carefully arranged pictures:

Rose as a young actress in California, radiant... a theatrically lit studio publicity shot... Rose and her husband, with their two children... Rose with her son at his college graduation... Rose with her children and grandchildren at her 70th birthday. A collage of images of a life lived well.

THE PAN STOPS on an image filling frame. Rose, circa 1920. She is at the beach, sitting on a horse at the surfline. The Santa Monica pier, with its rollercoaster is behind her. She is grinning, full of life.

We PAN OFF the last picture to Rose herself, warm in her bunk. A profile shot. She is very still. She could be sleeping, or maybe something else.

Cheers!

-- Kip Henry (kip-henry@ouhsc.edu), January 06, 1998.

Oh Lori, no Rose can't die! I would love to think she was just dreaming but i guess i have to admit it makes sense that she dies "warm in her bed" i loved the pictures at the end too.... *sigh* what a great movie...Lori we have to go see it again!!!

-- Sarah Weimer (sweimer@earthlink.net), January 07, 1998.

I think that Rose died at the end. In the movie, Jack told her that she is "going to die as an old woman, warm in her bed...", and in that scene, she was laying on her bed. Also, keep in mind that she kept all the secret to herself for all these years("i never tell your grandfather"), and finally she has a chance to let it out, and after that, her "duty" is finished, and she is ready to go and re-unite with Jack. It makes perfect sense that all the people at the last scene are people that died during the accident(Rose's mother was not there!), and so I think Rose died instead of dreaming at the end of the movie.

-- charies (charieschan@hotmail.com), January 08, 1998.

Yes, I think that Rose dies. Jack said she would die an old woman warm in her bed, and then when she is "dreaming," she is at the staircase, but everyone at the staircase died. I think it makes the whole ending much more happy as well. And Leonardo is really hot. :)

-- Christy Fowler (cfowler@bgnet.bgsu.edu), January 08, 1998.

I thought she lived the first time I saw the movie, but now after reading all of these emails, I think you are right, she did die! After all, she had thrown the diamond away, it signaled an ending to the story and to the life of Rose. I also think Leonardo is very good looking :)

-- Karen (kar1515@aol.com), January 08, 1998.

i am pretty sure rose dies... jack illuded it it earlier in the movie with the line about dying "an old woman... warm in bed" also, in the dream/death sequence rose meets jack at the clock on the grand staircase, which resides under a white dome, then the camera moves to the white dome and fades to white (white=holy/god).. the dome: brilliant, extravagant, and white, acts as almost a god for the upperclass (or a golden calf maybe?).. the dome is eventually destroyed (during the sinking) which makes sense because a false god has no place in reality, only in the imaginary world in which the upperclass lives, later shattered by the sinking of titanic.. rose and jack reuniting is more or less a dream or an ideal, and this is why it is appropriate for the dome to reappear.. heaven is a dream or an ideal.. and that is rose's final destination.. titanic comes into heaven's port..

-- Jordan Gray (Yek401@mailexcite.com), January 09, 1998.

On the way home from the movie, my husband and I were talking about the ending. I thought that she was dreaming. She was wearing a white dress that looked like a wedding dress to me. My husband thought that she died because all of the people standing around the staircase were the ones who had died sometime during the sinking. I can see his point, but I still think she was dreaming!

What I thought was going to happen was that John was going to turn out to be the woman's (her grand daughter's) grandfather! I thought that she may have gotten pregnant in the car that night. And she would tell her the truth at the end of the movie. What a twist that would have been!

-- deneen (the hicks@geocities.com), January 18, 1998.

I guess I never have been one to go along with the majority. I do not think that Rose dies in the final scene. I think she is sleeping and having a wonderful dream. The love theme as sung by Celine Dion begins immediately as the scene fades to black. The first line of the song begins, "Every night in my DREAMS I see you, I FEEL you. That is how I know you go on." I also do not believe that Titanic is really a heavenly place to spend eternity for the people who so tragically and horribly died there. dave

-- david piehl (dpiehl@sysrc.com), January 26, 1998.

Of course she dies at the end....it's perfect - her and Jack are finally together in heaven. Rose did her duty, she put the diamond back where it belonged and told her "secret" about Jack, her one true love....and - she died an old lady warm in her bed

-- Andrea!~ (ExMusic@AOL.com), January 27, 1998.

God! david- of course she dies, there would be no point at all to even having the Old Rose in the movie if it wasn't to give the movie a happy ending! Imagine how sad it would be if she woke up and realized that wonderful thing was just a dream !?!? : (

-- Cara (sammons@mint.net), February 03, 1998.

I thought that after seeing the movie5 times that all those people were to show the cast.I guess that I never really thought about it....

-- Danielle :-0 (bayless@shorenet.net), February 06, 1998.

Heather, your words about the pictures made me start crying. I never noticed that she went ice fishing but I did notice that she went to the amusement park where he told her he would take her "to drink cheap beer and ride the roller coaster until you threw up." He said something like that to her. IT's so sad...

-- Jennifer (foo@bar.com), February 15, 1998.

Bucking what seems to be the trend on this group, I don't find Rose's pictures at the end of the movie a sad moment at all. I think that it is one of the most powerfully affirmative moments of the entire film.

What Cameron does in this scene is quite incredible, really, and possible only in the medium of film. With no words and only a brief camera shot, he manages to tell us everything we need to know about what kind of person Rose was after 1912. Remember what Rose was like at the begining of the film, an anguished, near-suicidal young woman with almost no hope of happiness, and compare that to the look on her face in the photos of her standing next to the airplane and on the horse at the shore near the Santa Monica pier. Her joy in living, of persuing her chosen values is unmistakable.

We can infer that the loss of Jack was hard (how could it be otherwise, in the context of what they had together?), but Rose didn't pass the years in sadness, pining for something that was not possible. She kept the memory of Jack sacred in her heart, and used her strength--and what he had taught her--to have a rich and joyful life. Her life was better just for having met him, even if she couldn't be with him. She had discovered that life was worth living.

I think that this puts the Titanic disaster in proper perspective, and, in a sense, gives the film its basic theme: what a terrible tragedy an event like the sinking of Titanic is; but even so it does not have to destroy a person's spirit.

Rose is a flesh-and-blood character, but at the deepest level, she is also a symbol, a symbol of all the people who survived the sinking (perhaps at a very wide level of abstraction, even *all* survivors of tragedy and disaster) and went on with their lives. As a character in a favorite novel of mine says at one point, "the pain only goes down so far. There's a part of a man's heart were it stops, which cannot be touched by pain or grief."

All with one shot...best director, anyone?

-- Thomas Shoebotham (cathytom@ix.netcom.com), February 16, 1998.

Thomas, my thoughts exactly! I could not have said it better myself!

I think it was also very symbolic when she tossed the heart of the ocean overboard. She took it from her chest (her heart) and dropped it. It was as if, at that moment, her soul returned to be with Jack. No, I wouldn't say that Titanic was heaven (or a heavenly place) but I think the heavenly part was to be reunited with her soulmate.

Also, for a lot of the people on Titanic, it was probably one of the happiest times of their lives. They were full of hope and ambition, it was one of the most exciting times in their lives, and even though it ended tragically, I believe heaven is a place where you are eternally happy.

-- Becky Gordon (becky.gordon@pfs.sprint.com), February 17, 1998.

Becky:

Funny you should mention that, about the diamond...my wife is convinced that the diamond is a symbol for Rose's heart. (I'm pretty much convinced, too.) Her thoughts (very briefly) are:

When Cal gives it to her, he says, "open your heart to me, Rose." What does she do? She puts her hand tightly around the Heart (of the Ocean), closing it off from his, and our, view. When does she show it again? Only when Jack draws her. Then she is free to open her heart, to show it to someone. Also, remember her words from near the end, "a woman's *heart* is a deep *ocean* of secrets." [emphasis added]

There is more to it, but that is the basic idea.

-- Thomas Shoebotham (cathytom@ix.netcom.com), February 20, 1998.

I believe she dies. After she told her story, the guy felt sort of like a "grave robber" so he probably won't go back to Titanic again, and maybe that's what she wanted. She probably knows she's going to die too,so she let's her only memories of Jack go, knowing she will be there soon.

-- Sara (sarar@rnet.net), February 27, 1998.

There seems to be a consensus agreeing that she did at the end. I would like to add that, at the end of the movie, and after she is rejoined with Jack at the clock, notice that camera pans you to the white glass dome, and you are led into the light. I thought that this scene is like the end of the movie Ghost, where there's a bright light, which we all must enter to return to God (Not to proselytize, but my faith says you can only enter heaven through faith in Jesus Christ). So in the end Jack is there at the clock, time has stood still because he is still young, time has stood still for her, because of her love for Jack. They reunite, then there's the bright light which represents them entering into heaven. Is Jack a prophet or what??? just kidding, lol!

-- Shawn Joseph (Shawn_Joseph7@hotmail.com), August 16, 2003.

Im only 14 but the endin is pretty obvious, even to a teenager! of course she die!!. As some1 sed earlier "it wouldnt b very heavenly if they had to spend eternity on the boat they died on" - but if you think about it, Rose had some of the best times of her life there (eg : the party in the basement, spendin time with Jack, havin the "most erotic time of her life" etc) i believe that her and jack are reunited on the titanic when she dies and she can be with her 1 true love forever. they can go dancin every night and have as much fun as they please. a much better ending. as she drops the heart of the ocean into the sea, its showin that her heart WILL go on because no one will find it where she threw it. she has opened her heart her granddaughter and the other crew and now that they know there was a man called jack, she can rest in peace. titanic is such a cool movie, ive watched it about 1000000 times :D i wish england could do such wiked storylines but we're rubbish at producin films! (im from manchester in the UK) xxxxx

-- Becki Peake (playboi_eyecandi@hotmail.com), April 13, 2004.

does she balls. shes alive. thats y she is in the

Titanic Chronicles, The (1999)

-- Daniel (crash_and_burn_261@hotmail.com), April 14, 2004.

How do you know she is not dreaming?maybe she had to see him one last time before she went and not end up with her husbend?you will an old woman in your bed....she made her promise but why would she go back to him?

-- kelly (kellly60560@aol.com), April 16, 2004.

Of course she dies she lived her life like jack wanted her to go on make lots of babies get married watch them grow up.she did all the things her and jack were to do she did it for the both of them.she lived her life to the fullest jack saved her 2 times.she got married like he said but jack was her real soulmate and love forever.she saw the the things she had on the ship from the safe saw the picture that jack drew with her not covering the necklace.she told her story .went to the of the boat let her heart go to jack.she went to bed showed her life.They were waiting for her.remeber the note make it count meet me at the top of the stariecase.

-- leslie (lixion@aol.com), April 18, 2004.

she said I am getting of the ship with you I think she said I am getting of with you means she is going to him! and with him.

-- kim (lrirm@aol.com), April 18, 2004.

Come on get real she so died like jack told her to live like she did and he mentioned that she would die as an old lady in her warm bed.Which she did and she was re-united with him and the rest of the crew and at the end they were waiting for her you need to have a bit of commen sense there in that scene.An old lady does'nt go on a search and tells the story of titanic and then goes to sleep and dream that sort of stuff.She new she was going to die and that her time had come thats why she gave jack and the ocean back the necklace.

-- jade louise byrne - cameron (fwendlythumper@hotmail.com), September 04, 2004.

You are supposed to be the one who decides weather Rose is alive or dead. But keep in mind, if she was alive, she would be dead soon anyway, and i think dying on the water would be peaceful for her, because she is closest to Jack.

-- Rachel Andersson (mfwalker@erols.com), September 04, 2004.

How sad that she would die and not go to her husband whom she certainly would have spent more than 3 days with!!! I used to think she dies at the end but now I think she is dreaming. Cameron is smart enough to realize Rose would go to her later-husband. The post that mentions Celine Dion song starting as the scene fades is dead on..."I see you in my dreams"...

-- Guest (klintern@shaw.ca), November 15, 2004.

Ofcourse it does because you live and you die!!!

-- Emily yousup (Kusangchoden@aol.com), March 13, 2005.