Big Tech can’t save you: modern lessons we can take from the Titanic disaster

What can the sinking of the Titanic tell us about COVID-19 and other modern threats?

I got into a debate recently, via Titanic-related Facebook groups, about whether the 1997 movie would be a blockbuster hit if it were released today. My opinion was no, it would not. Why? Because we’re living through an age of wokeness run riot. I’m pretty progressive on race and equality issues, and I take pride in being self-educated on these issues; I’m also determined to remain teachable. But I also respect historical accuracy. James Cameron’s movie portrays the end of the Gilded Age in all its honor and glory (Titanic nerds: do you see what I did there?) as well as its dark underbelly of indifference and inequality. The movie shows, in painstaking detail, the era’s veneer of elegance and sophistication combined with rampant hypocrisy and greed. Titanic is historically accurate, and history is out with the woke folks. The market for historical movies and novels is shrinking, and not because of lack of audience interest — books like Flags of Our Fathers went on to become smash hits after being turned down by every publishing house in New York. It’s the movie studios and publishing conglomerates that have decided history is, literally, so last century.

As for Titanic, it would be hard to sell the SJWs on a plot where the female lead is repeatedly rescued — both physically and psychologically — by a working-class white guy, until she builds the courage to rescue herself. Audiences might still love these stories, but our cultural gatekeepers do not. They demand “strong female leads” who run roughshod over the male leads — if they have a male lead at all. James Cameron’s Titanic just wouldn’t go over with the Woke Folks.

But there’s another reason: the sinking of the Titanic was not a natural disaster. For the most part, it was a massive failure of Big Tech. Big Tech existed 100 years ago, but instead of creating Google and iPhones, the industry was focused on conquering nature — eliminating threats from earth, water, wind, and fire. They were obsessed with increasing speed and efficiency, as well as comfort — at least for the important people. (Everyone else…