James Cameron’s Titanic is coming back to Netflix on July 1, and some people think that’s too close to the recent tragedy of the Titan submersible. Last week, OceanGate’s sub imploded and killed five people on its way to observe the wreck of the iconic ship on the ocean floor.
As soon as news of Titanic‘s return to the streamer went public, people wasted no time suggesting that Netflix is being opportunistic. We understand the reaction, but some of these jokes are more shameless than anything we could accuse Netflix of — which isn’t much, according to sources who spoke with Variety. The publication reported that it’s unlikely Netflix is trying to capitalize on the Titan incident since sources say the streamer’s licensing deals are settled well in advance.
According to those sources, for Titanic to show up on Netflix on July 1, the licensing deal would have been reached several months before that date, and well before Titan went missing. However, a link definitely exists between Titan coverage and more people watching Titanic.
Some believe watching Titanic immediately after the Titan incident is in bad taste, but we’re not convinced. If there’s a terrible earthquake somewhere and we decide it’s finally time to watch San Andreas or The Core, that’s our prerogative. Maybe that’s how we cope with tragedy. Or maybe reading about the tragedy made us curious about how much real science ends up in these movies. Or maybe we don’t owe anyone an explanation at all. Can we live?
The only reprehensible act here would be forcing other people to watch the movie following a recent tragedy, but since we’re not opening a theater anytime soon, that seems unlikely. Here’s an idea: Watch whatever you want on Netflix this weekend. Considering how tragic the recent news cycle has been, we think you’ve earned it.