Black and White Baron

Titanic

The movies Titanic and The Notebook are two of the most heart-wrenching films of all time.  Both are romantic tragedies structured the same way, in which an old person tells the story of a poor boy and a rich girl who fall in love, but are prohibited from seeing each other.  However, of the two, Titanic is far more tragic, more romantic, and better than Notebook.

Since both romantic tragedies, the more tragic movie is better.  In Titanic, 1500 people die and in The Notebook, two people die, after living long and fulfilling lives together.  In Titanic the entire social system of the day stops the couple from seeing each other and the rich girl gives up almost everything for her lover.  In The Notebook, the family of the rich girl was upset but they still loved her, and she still lived in a dream house.  In Titanic, one of the two lovers, the boy dies, and the girl has to live more than 80 years without him.  In Notebook, the couple dies happily in their sleep, together.   Titanic is the much better romantic tragedy.

The movie Titanic is much more than a love story. Titanic is a look at the opulence of the Gilded Age compared to the poverty of the period.  It’s a powerful condemnation of the caste system of the time, and it is a look into human nature, into what we do to survive; while The Notebook is just a love story.

Finally, the ending scene of Titanic is unforgettable.  The 100 year old survivor of the Titanic, the female lover, after 80 years, takes the priceless diamond necklace, given to her by the man she was supposed to marry, and throws it into the depths of the ocean.

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Yellow Baron

The Notebook

 
I’ll be honest.  Before entering this competition, I had never even heard of The Notebook.  I have spent much of this past week asking my friends, teachers, and siblings anything they might know about this movie: What’s it like? Where does it take place?  Is it sad? Will it make me cry?  The more I learned, the lower my expectations fell.  Yesterday I grudgingly read the full Wikipedia plot summary, and to my dismay, I found that the plot sounded boring and mundane.

 Today, with the deadline for submission only hours away, I finally forced myself to sit down and watch an illegal version of The Notebook online.  I pulled out my tempurpedic neck pillow, a bowl of dumplings, and some hot sauce, and braced myself for the worst.  What I saw however, changed my life.      

In those 123 minutes of pure Zen, I found my life transformed by the passionate tale of two star-crossed lovers, whose love proves strong enough to overcome all of life’s obstacles.  My eyes welled with tears as I watched, chopsticks in hand, my heart racing a little faster with every passionate kiss.  For those two hours, I was completely engrossed in the world of Noah and Allie, my trivial world of AP prep and homework vanishing from memory like a bad dream.  I was in a better place, a place where love truly conquers all and pure happiness is attainable.

Titanic and its 200 million dollar, grossly overworked special effects barely conceal a romance that is far shallower than the final resting place of the film’s namesake.  The simple beauty of true love emanates from every scene of The Notebook, capturing the audience in a combination of pure joy and heart-wrenching tragedy.  Titanic, on the other hand sinks.