Salon | Letters to the editor

_______________GLUB GLUB GLUB: A REVIEW OF "TITANIC" BY STEPHANIE ZACHAREK (12/17/97)

Loathe as I am to defend James Cameron and his obscenely long and expensive movie, I think your reviewer is wrong in saying that the opening shots of the Titanic are "faux." Cameron did actually have a crew shoot that footage on location, and according to one account I read, he participated in the dives himself.

-- Sarah Wenk
STEPHANIE ZACHAREK RESPONDS:
I stand corrected. Cameron did shoot his own undersea footage of the Titanic wreckage. I missed the New York Times article that reported this because I try to avoid reading too many articles or reviews that deal with movies I'm writing about. But even now that I know that Cameron spent cold, hard cash obtaining his own footage, it doesn't change my emotional response to those images. I had seen some of Robert Ballard's footage of the wreckage, and Cameron's just didn't move me in the same way. The fact that he shot his own footage is typical of his approach -- that the more money you throw at a picture, the better it will be -- but the resulting movie shows what $200 million can't buy.
A critic owes her readers factual accuracy. But she also owes them an honest emotional response based on what's in front of her, and I stand by my response to Cameron's movie.
SALON | Dec. 22, 1997
Editor's note: Zacharek has corrected the reference in her review of "Titanic."

R E C E N T L Y+| FIONA APPLE: LIVE AT THE WARFIELD BY NATASHA STOVALL

If you'd like to submit a letter to the editor for publication,
please e-mail us at salon@salonmagazine.com.
Letters may be edited for clarity and conciseness.
If you do not wish the letter to be published, please say so.

_______________GLUB GLUB GLUB: A REVIEW OF "TITANIC" BY STEPHANIE ZACHAREK (12/17/97)
	Loathe as I am to defend James Cameron and his obscenely long and expensive movie, I think your reviewer is wrong in saying that the opening shots of the Titanic are "faux." Cameron did actually have a crew shoot that footage on location, and according to one account I read, he participated in the dives himself. -- Sarah Wenk STEPHANIE ZACHAREK RESPONDS: I stand corrected. Cameron did shoot his own undersea footage of the Titanic wreckage. I missed the New York Times article that reported this because I try to avoid reading too many articles or reviews that deal with movies I'm writing about. But even now that I know that Cameron spent cold, hard cash obtaining his own footage, it doesn't change my emotional response to those images. I had seen some of Robert Ballard's footage of the wreckage, and Cameron's just didn't move me in the same way. The fact that he shot his own footage is typical of his approach -- that the more money you throw at a picture, the better it will be -- but the resulting movie shows what $200 million can't buy. A critic owes her readers factual accuracy. But she also owes them an honest emotional response based on what's in front of her, and I stand by my response to Cameron's movie. SALON \| Dec. 22, 1997 Editor's note: Zacharek has corrected the reference in her review of "Titanic."