Titanic Scenes That Make No Sense

While "Titanic" is best remembered as a tender love story, it starts with more materialistic goals. Bill Paxton plays Brock Lovett, an underwater explorer and treasure hunter whose main purpose in investigating the ruins of the Titanic is to find the mythical "Heart of the Ocean," a giant diamond worth a lot of money. 

Brock listens so patiently to Rose's story about her time aboard the doomed ship chiefly because he's hoping to get clues from the narrative that will help him find the diamond. That hope turns out to be in vain, as Rose tells them nothing to aid his search. At the end of the film, not only is Rose revealed to have been in possession of the diamond the whole time, but she chooses to toss it into the ocean. And to that we say... what the hell? 

Rose has many painful memories connected to the diamond, but they clearly weren't painful enough to make her throw it away for the many decades she had it in her possession since the Titanic sank. But now, with only a short amount of time left in the world, Rose decides to toss the diamond. How about giving it to her granddaughter Lizzy (Suzy Amis), who takes such good care of Rose, and who surely wouldn't mind owning a diamond worth millions? Or to the explorers who searched for the diamond for so many years? Or to one of the multiple Titanic museums around the world? Any charitable organization would have happily accepted the donation. 

We get that the action symbolizes Rose finally letting go of the terrible past. We also get that it's a choice consistent with her disdain for money in favor of what really matters in life: love. Still, that's a pretty freakin' expensive symbol. Maybe the selfishness we often see the younger Rose exhibit is still a major part of her personality in her final days. At least this final gesture isn't as jarring as the alternate ending for "Titanic" that we almost got.