After having seen this film several times, I I do not believe Cal has any compassion whatsoever. This is obvious from his cruel treatment of Rose. However, the most glaring example is when he takes the child and enters the lifeboat. This was done solely to save his own life. He had no interest in saving the life of a child. The only time that Cal shows even a possible sign of compassion is when he tosses the matches to Jack after dinner. He smiles and thanks Jack for coming. Is he actually thanking Jack for joining them for dinner? Is he sincerely thanking Jack, in his own way, for saving the life of his fiance? Is he sarcastically "thanking" Jack, thereby indicating that Jack's presence in first class is, as Spicer Lovejoy later stated, "no longer appropriate." I believe it is the latter for the following reasons: 1) prior to dinner, Cal tells Jack that he "could almost pass for a gentleman;" and 2) Cal tells Jack that he should not join the wealthy men for brandy because they would be discussing business and politics, an obvious insult to Jack's social position.

Perhaps I am being to cynical of Cal. If anyone else has any thoughts on this subject, please let me know.

-- WEP (WEP@carol.net), February 03, 1998

Answers

No, this guy has no redeeming quality. He is as about as low on the food chain as one can get! Great acting job!

Regards, Peter

-- Peter Nivling (pcnivling@capecod.net), February 03, 1998.

common.. cal? compassion? no.

-- Jordan Gray (Yek401@mailexcite.com), February 03, 1998.

Caledon was, above all else, a product of his upbringing/society. He acted in the manner in which he was raised to believe he had a "right" to, even though it ended up being shameless behavior. I just want to reiterate that Billy Zane is a fabulous actor! I often get upset because it seems to me sometimes that people are losing sight of the "true story of Titanic" and only focusing on this "fictional" segment. However, I have come to terms with this and enjoy the movie to its fullest extent and in my heart.

-- Jennifer E. Bialek (JenBialek@AOL.com), February 03, 1998.

FWIW, on the Oprah Titanic show with Jim Cameron, Kate Winslet and Billy Zane, Jim stated that Billy fought to give Cal a side which made him more than a cardboard cutout bad guy. As Cameron stated, sure Cal was a cad, but he *did* love Rose.

-- Dave Cook (dcook@idirect.com), February 03, 1998.

When I came out of the theatre, I was so mad that I believed if I ever came face to face with Billy Zane I would slap him!!!(Even though is was just acting, of course) He did a terrific job with this role.

-- Allison (allisonelizabeth@mb.sympatico.ca), February 07, 1998.

I beg to differ on Cal. His character was the most disappointing part of Titanic for me. Otherwise I totally loved the movie. His character WAS a cardboard villian. I would have liked to see him have inner conflict like most real people do. He's got a bad side, a good side -- like everyone. Same with Jack's character - all good. I bit too unbelievable. But, maybe in a 16 hour director's version mini series, we can see their characters fleshed out a bit

-- C.Rieger (crieger@rogers.wave.bc.ca), March 08, 1998.

I think Cal DID have a 'human' side to him, but he constantly hid it, probably because he was raised to do so. Like most first class people of the time, his entire life was cardboard as a result of his surroundings. In the scene where he goes insane on Rose for the first time, when he throws the table at breakfast, he realizes he's losing her. As I read in a book about the movie "His heart is breaking, just as he realizes he has one."

-- Bethany (beth174@hotmail.com), February 08, 2002.

First off; Billy Zane is a fabulous actor. Second; He's damn fine. Third; One must come to realize that fabricated as a social conglomerate in society's highest inner circles requires one to assume a facade of sorts. In a sense, Cal had to 'act' like he agreed with everyone on every topic...had to act like he was with the club. All those that say he was too one-dimensional, need to understand that that WAS Cal's character...he wasn't allowed to be himself. It was a shame that the only way viewers saw a glimmer of his inner self was through aggressive acts (slapping Rose, yelling at her, etc.)...it still goes to show you that Billy Zane really strained to make Cal believable. I think he did a damn good job.

-- Cal's Chick (sorceress25@hotmail.com), November 29, 2002.

Although Cal seemed to have such a snotty, sarcastic, you can hate him the whole entire movie. There's one scene where he seems to be vulnerable and that's when he gives Rose the necklace and says to her 'Open your heart to me, Rose' After that, it all comes downhill. He's the portrait of jelousy.

-- Rod (rodsella@hotmail.com), July 28, 2003.