Jack’s controversial death in Titanic is a point of contention for many fans of the film who often contend that there was plenty of room on the wooden door for both Rose and Jack to stay afloat. Now, science enthusiast and apparent hopeless romantic Neil deGrasse Tyson is sounding off on how Jack could have survived the freezing waters and survived his controversial death.
Contrary to what you might assume, deGrasse Tyson is less concerned with the technicality of Jack trying fit on the door than he is with Jack’s tenacity. According to The Huffington Post, deGrasse Tyson sounded off on the matter, sharing strong words about Jack’s survival instinct.
“Whether or not he could’ve been successful, I would’ve tried more than once,” he said. “You try once. ‘Oh, this is not gonna work. I will just freeze to death in the water.’ No, excuse me. No! The survival instinct is way stronger than that in everybody, especially in that character. He’s a survivor, right? He gets through. He gets by.”
DeGrasse Tyson even had another character that he felt had the skill set and vision to have changed the course of history in the situation, using science, of course.
“I’ll tell you this, if that character was Matt Damon from ‘The Martian,’ he would’ve made an outboard motor and saved everybody. This is how science can help you!”
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Write to Cady Lang at cady.lang@timemagazine.com