TitanicI never thought this day would actually come.

Back in 1998, $1.843 billion seemed like an astronomical number to me -- a number that I would never see in my own lifetime, financially, and certainly one that would never be topped by a bunch of giant blue creatures from the future.

But here we are. As of yesterday, James Cameron's 'Avatar' became the world's highest-grossing film of all-time, topping a 13-year record held by one of Cameron's previous films, 'Titanic.' And while I'm sure that many people are excited by the news, given the amount of hysteria that 'Avatar' has created worldwide, I can't help but feel a little disenchanted by it all.

It's not that 'Avatar' is necessarily a bad film. I appreciated the visual effects, admired the story and, yes, a lot of the 3D scenes were pretty awesome. And, to be fair, 'Titanic' is far from a great movie. It's cheesy, its dialogue is at times atrocious ("You jump, I jump, right?") and it didn't even deserve to win Best Picture in its year (hello, 'L.A. Confidential'!). TitanicI never thought this day would actually come.

Back in 1998, $1.843 billion seemed like an astronomical number to me -- a number that I would never see in my own lifetime, financially, and certainly one that would never be topped by a bunch of giant blue creatures from the future.

But here we are. As of yesterday, James Cameron's 'Avatar' became the world's highest-grossing film of all-time, topping a 13-year record held by one of Cameron's previous films, 'Titanic.' And while I'm sure that many people are excited by the news, given the amount of hysteria that 'Avatar' has created worldwide, I can't help but feel a little disenchanted by it all.

It's not that 'Avatar' is necessarily a bad film. I appreciated the visual effects, admired the story and, yes, a lot of the 3D scenes were pretty awesome. And, to be fair, 'Titanic' is far from a great movie. It's cheesy, its dialogue is at times atrocious ("You jump, I jump, right?") and it didn't even deserve to win Best Picture in its year (hello, 'L.A. Confidential'!).

But as the king of the box office, 'Titanic' always made sense to me. In a lot of ways, 'Titanic' represents why we all go to the movies in the first place. It has action, adventure, drama, romance and comedy, intentional or not -- all wrapped up in an epic, three-hour-plus package. And it was released at a time in which, at age 13, I was just starting to fall in love with the grand spectacle of the cinema -- so much that I went to watch that damn ship sink a whopping four times in the theater (yes, I cried every time). At the risk of sounding silly (too late?), it was a significant part of my youth, as it was, I'm sure, for the millions of other people who went to see it.

Meanwhile, 'Avatar,' while exciting, came nowhere near as close to James Horner's haunting score or the epic romance between Jack and Rose (sorry, 'Avatar' fans, but I prefer the real thing). In the battle of the blue, I'll take the Heart of the Ocean any day.



So, watching it sink down the box office charts has had an especially sobering effect on my childhood memories, like the time I realized that the man eating the carrots I left out on Christmas Eve wasn't Santa Claus, but my father; and, having aged one more year on Sunday, it's starting to make me feel like I'm getting that much older.

Of course, as the great Celine Dion sang, my heart will go on and I will eventually find some other film to obsess about. And at the very least, I still have a couple weeks to enjoy before 'Avatar' dethrones 'Titanic' domestically as well.

But just as Rose felt when Jack was lying there, freezing to death in the water, I'm finding it very difficult to let go.

R.I.P., 'Titanic.' You will be missed.



Tell me, readers: Are you also sad to see 'Titanic' lose its box office crown?