I visit the cinema about once or twice a year, when my adult daughters tell me I’ve ‘gotta see it’. So last week we saw Titanic. I don’t want to spoil it for those of you who plan to go, but I wondered…

What are the necessary ingredients for a ‘blockbuster’ movie besides zillions of dollars and whiz-bang ‘special effects’? Well, the formula has to include ‘love’ (romantic, not the real kind :-), preferably involving a triangle/jealous lover, plus of course furtive sex. A bit of nudity won’t hurt, so make the reason somewhat legit – like stripping for an artist.

The plot has to involve dread/disaster through battling against impossible odds. Add some salvation-through-luck so that the hero and/or heroine can escape a succession of perils at the last moment.

Then toss in some class war (steerage passengers, particularly if they’re non-English-speaking are treated worse than cattle), greed (like: insufficient lifeboats if the aesthetics don’t look right), a few stupid/overbearing/scheming authority figures… And much more…

So the morals of the story are… Oh, I’ll let you all provide those…