Although it may be one of the most cliché clips in film history, Titanic’s infamous “I’m flying” scene proves to be a true example of Longinus’s sublime. Longinus explains one reason why such a clip depicts the sublime, “For a piece is truly great only if it can stand up to repeated examination, and if it is difficult, or rather, impossible to resist its appeal, and it remains firmly and ineffaceably in the memory,” (Longinus, 120). Despite its alleged “cheesiness”, this clip continues to have its appeal; the characters are overwhelmed by the environment around them. Longinus explains that a sublime experience can never be anything but its own sublimity, nothing to examined differently. All agree that it is this remarkable scenario that proves greater than the characters themselves.
The scene opens with Jack meeting up with Rose. Immediately as Rose steps onto the tip of the ship, all communication is eliminated. The characters are instantly caught up in the sublimity around them. Longinus’s explanation fits this scenario perfectly. He explains that the true sublime experiences lies in the acceptance of an overwhelming natural greatness as well as a realization in an individual’s existence. He says, “For this reason the entire universe does not satisfy the contemplation and the thought that lies within the scope of human endeavor, our ideas often go beyond the boundaries by which we are circumscribed, and if we look at life from all sides, observing how in everything that concerns us the extraordinary, the great the beautiful play the leading part, we shall soon realize the purpose of our creation (Longinus, 155). Jack and Rose recognize the greatness among the ocean waves meeting the open sky. It is at this moment that the audience sees these characters recognize their existence upon the natural world. The conflicts that they have grown so wrapped up in throughout the movie appear meaningless when compared to this sublimity. The sublime goes beyond all limits of each characters’ lives. Those boundaries that created a division among the characters is eliminated. Instead, the characters are bound together by their acceptance in the overwhelming natural world. Longinus explores this concept. He describes, “ For when men who differ in their pursuits, their ways of life […..] and their manners all think one and the same way about the same works, then the unanimous judgment,[…..] of discordant voices induces a strong and unshakable faith in the object of admiration,” (Longinus,120).
This clip depicts all the true elements of the sublime. This type of experience is supposed to take an individual away from their current perspective and prove that there is an overwhelming greatness that exists in the world. This scene illustrates that the sublime eliminates all predispositions about society, reminding every person that he/she is only a small existence in nature. Whether it be P.B. Shelly’s experience in his poem “Mont Blanc” or James Cameron’s depiction of Titanic, the sublime proves to be a overwhelming experience that awes anyone who witnesses it.
Works Cited
Murray, Penelope, and T. S. Dorsch. Classical Literary Criticism. London: Penguin, 2000. Print.
