I think the only reason he flipped the table, slapped Rose and shot at her and Jack was because otherwise the audience would've thought "Wait a minute, how is he a villain?"
We don't have to agree with Cameron's take on this, but as he created the characters, his opinion is of interest.
Cameron himself does not consider Cal the villain, he considers Ruth to be the villain. Cal is Ruth's "victim" (if that's the right word) as much as Rose is. Ruth's machinations were to promote her own self-interest, and not those of Cal or Rose, except possibly secondarily and by accident.
He was a massive snob, but most rich people were back then.
Cal's problem was not snobbishness, but inflated egocentrism, which is a characteristic of people of many social classes. He was not typical of his class in fact, because graciousness and good manners were drummed into the aristocrats of the day (and to a lesser extent, since) and the script reveals in several places that Cal was not regarded highly by others of his class. Cal's father wouldn't let him have his own money because he didn't consider him responsible, and he hired Lovejoy to keep his son out of the trouble that would have ensued when he patrolled the less attractive sides of foreign towns.
He genuinely loved Rose and treated her like a princess
Cameron does say that Cal genuinely loved Rose "in his own way," but also that Cal was a "borderline psychopath" (meaning a narcissist) and considered Rose to be a "trophy wife," like owning a prize race horse. Cal was polite to Rose in public, it's true, but he didn't treat her "like a princess," either. A royal would not be yanking a cigarette out of his fiancees mouth, talk about censuring her reading, or order her meals without consulting her, though he might be just as bossy in private; "keeping up appearances" is numero uno in high society, and Cal hadn't learned this because he wasn't from high society himself. His family was "new money," like Margaret Brown, and he had not mastered the social graces that would be needed in his new station.
So, while I don't think Cameron's portrayal of Cal is very flattering it's not as a villain either. It's Ruth who's the object of his scorn and her fate, while left ambiguous, is clearly not enviable. I think it's fair to consider Cal one of Ruth's victims.
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lrdcharlton
7 years ago
Two questions palisde pertaining to the two instances that you peg Cal as behaving poorly towards Rose in public. I used to think the same thing, however you must consider both circumstances. The cigarette incident occurred after Rose pulled one out and her mother leans.in and quietly tells her that Rose knew that Ruth didn't like that. In response she turns to Ruth and blows smoke in her face at which point Cal snatches the cigarette. When he made the comment about "minding what she reads" again, it was in response to an unwarranted phallic jab at Ismay. I highly doubt that she would be lauded as a pistol or a spitfire by those present, even a real life Margaret Brown would have found her off putting. It seemed more like she was intentionally trying to provoke. I always thought there conversation of art was more playful banter, Cal seemed to be high spirited and Rose just brushed him off. It almost seems like she didn't like him because she was pressured to marry him. I never saw those two incidents as evidence of future abuse.
Even when he made the remark about the better half surviving, it was more to upset Rose. In all honesty he probably didn't care, but he wasn't wishing it. When he saw the crying little girl and initially left her there, that was my point of seeing him as bad, however I can't really translate the expression on his face when he looked at her. Was he considering bringing her along out of sympathy?
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Wilsonandrewc (534)
5 years ago
Well, James Cameron is an idiot for not considering Cal a victim and saying that he genuinely loved Rose "in his own way" and that he was a "borderline psychopath" because love and abuse don't go together and if your partner is hurting you physically or emotionally, he or she doesn't love you.
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