Sorry Titanic fans, there was no way to save Jack

For those of you still looking for some kind of closure or justification over Leonardo DiCaprio’s character’s death in Titanic, well, sorry. Speaking to Vanity Fair, Titanic director James Cameron was once again asked about the heartbreaking ending to the highest-grossing movie of all time.

Two decades ago, the final scenes of Titanic shattered hearts across the globe, when Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jack Dawson sank into the North Atlantic Ocean while his beloved Rose (Kate Winslet, of course) awaited rescue on a floating door. For years, fans of the film have wondered why Rose couldn’t have shared the door with Jack. They’ve theorized that such a tragic ending could have easily been avoided if she just moved over a bit.

So, when asked why Rose selfishly hogged that driftwood, thereby allowing her lover to die, Cameron responded with a very straightforward response: “The answer is very simple because it says on page 147 (of the script) that Jack dies,” said Cameron. “Very simple. . . . Obviously it was an artistic choice, the thing was just big enough to hold her, and not big enough to hold him . . . I think it’s all kind of silly, really, that we’re having this discussion 20 years later.” Cameron went on to add that the film is about “death and separation” and that “had he lived, the ending of the film would have been meaningless.”

But what about the physics of the door? If you look closely, it appears that the piece of wood Rose survived on could have, in fact, been big enough for the both of them. Cameron had a rebuttal for that suggestion, though. “I was in the water with the piece of wood putting people on it for about two days getting it exactly buoyant enough so that it would support one person with full free-board,” he said. “Meaning that she wasn’t immersed at all in the 28 degree water so that she could survive the three hours it took until the rescue ship got there.”

So, there you go, Titanic fans. There was no way Jack could have survived, and hopefully this will put a wrap on the discussion once and for all. For those who still can’t find a sense of closure though, perhaps there’s some solace to be had by the fact that Winslet and DiCaprio remain good friends?