When a filmmaker creates a world for a viewer and invites them in, it isn’t surprising that the visitor might see this world in a different light. After all, most movies only last a couple of hours, and there is little time to create a fully-detailed backstory. This leaves room for imagination and interpretation.
Often, these fan theories are simply flights of fancy that add nothing to the basic plot. Sometimes, however, fans have come up with ideas that make the film more interesting and allow us to watch it again with a different perspective. Let’s look at ten fan theories that are better than the actual movies.
Titanic
The perhaps unlikely relationship between Jack and Rose, passengers on the Titanic, begins when Rose considers throwing herself into the Atlantic. Tortured by the pressures of her social class, her loveless engagement, and the demands of her mother, Rose sees suicide as the only way out.
Never short of a word or two, Jack tries to persuade her not to do it—if only because the water would be cold. Jack tells her he knows what he is talking about because he once went ice-fishing with his dad and fell in. Sufficient information, you might think, but Jack adds an unnecessary detail—the ice-fishing took place on Lake Wissota. All is well and good, but a dam created Lake Wissota in 1917. Five years after the Titanic sank.
As their relationship deepens during the four days, they chat about their future. Jack suggests riding the roller coaster on Santa Monica Pier. Lovely, but they would have to wait—there was no roller coaster there until 1916. There are other anachronisms. Jack smokes filtered cigarettes that hadn’t come onto the market, his rucksack is a future model, and his hairstyle is more New-Romantic than the pre-WWI era.
Some fans believe that a director as meticulous as James Cameron would not have let these errors creep into his movie. So, what is the fan theory? Jack is a time traveler who goes back to save Rose.
As the film stands, there is no obvious sequel, but add time travel, and anything is possible.