Editorial: Marx and 'Titanic'
Karl Marx and the movie "Titanic." What do they
have to do with each other? We'd have thought little. But a
review on National Public Radio caught our attention when it
said something like "parts of this film could have been
scripted by Karl Marx."
A little more research showed that the director of
"Titanic," James Cameron-of "Terminator" and "The Abyss"-joked
during production, "We're holding just short of Marxist dogma."
He was talking about the film's handling of the different
outcomes for the rich and poor passengers of the ship. What did
he mean?
Apparently in saying this, Cameron thought of Marx as
someone who describes reality through the prism of the class
struggle. On the ocean liner Titanic the upper-class passengers
loll in luxury on the upper decks while the poor are confined
below and the sailor-workers toil in the depths. As disaster
strikes, the ship's officers lock the poor and workers below to
drown, while the too-few lifeboats are filled only with the
rich.
This certainly paints an ugly picture of the rich, but it is
limited to only a clear statement of fact. Marx would do more
than that.
Was Cameron thinking broadly enough to see the Titanic
disaster as a metaphor for today's capitalist world? Driven by
the insatiable drive for profit-just as the ship's owners were
driven to go full-speed ahead to reach their destination
early-the capitalists can't help investing, expanding and
speculating even when the icebergs of market and currency
failures are right there in clear sight, dead ahead.
Marx did see capitalist disasters looming. But Marx was a
philosopher who, unlike those before him, did not limit himself
to social commentary. He saw his role as changing society.
What would it be like if Marx had scripted "Titanic"? The
working-class passengers and their fellow workers-the
sailors-would organize to take over the ship. If this happened
too late to avoid disaster, they would at least make sure the
lifeboats weren't used to save the rich and the system of
exploitation responsible for the crash.
We don't know if this makes a better movie. But it makes a
better world.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
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