Three Interesting Films That Reveal A Lot About Water

Seventy-one percent of the Earth is covered with water, and according to scientists, the planet has approximately 326 million trillion gallons of it in total. It is no wonder that several movies include the unforgiving sea either as its protagonist or its villain. It is also interesting to note that many of the water-related films released in the past few decades incorporate it as a metaphor. Three films in particular offer several lessons that moviegoers can apply in their daily lives. These are Titanic, Cast Away, and Jaws.

Titanic And Swimming Lessons

Titanic is turning 24 this year and its age will likely be celebrated for years to come. Aside from lessons about love, greed and dedication, it also reminds people that knowing how to swim is a skill, and to keep calm during a crisis in a body of water is as important as not panicking during an emergency that takes place on land. Drowning is a leading cause of unintentional deaths around the world, making it a serious public health problem. Those who consider themselves to be good swimmers should remember that Titanic also dishes another important lesson – overconfidence can be dangerous. This is implied in the beginning of the film where they made it seem that the Titanic is unsinkable. Overconfidence makes it more difficult for people to make sound decisions, and in cases where water is involved, these decisions can be catastrophic. 

Cast Away And Water As The Villain

Cast Away is a story about an executive who is stuck on an uninhabited island. While it teaches lessons about survival in general, it also teaches movie-goers that nature is a force to be reckoned with. The film starts with Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) en route to Malaysia. The plane he is on crashes because of a storm over the Pacific, and Noland is the only survivor. He is swept ashore. While he tries to sail away to get help, he fails, and this makes the huge body of water the biggest villain in the film. There are things that people cannot control, and when these things happen, the only sensible thing to do is to ride it out and survive. 

Jaws And The Open Sea

In 2017, when Jaws turned 42, fans went online to share hilarious lessons they learned from the 1975 classic. Some of these lessons, according to Time, include “If you hear a cello while swimming, get the f**k out of the water” and “Kicking sharks is not an effective defense.” Jaws shows, however, that the open sea can be a dangerous place for those who do not know much about it. It also gives moviegoers a bit of rather obvious advice in the form of the scientist that no one ever listened to. 

Titanic, Jaws, and Cast Away offer a few nuggets of wisdom about the sea. They also remind moviegoers about conventional knowledge that most people tend to forget.