The RMB 1 billion ($165 million) model will be one of the key attractions at the Romandisea Seven Star International Cultural Tourism Resort, which will also feature a museum dedicated to the 1912 maritime tragedy, a man-made beach, Turkish baths and what is being called a "6D cinema."
The park is slated to open in 2016.
12 comments:
This article is actually kind of disturbing to me. I feel like people sometimes forget that the sinking of the Titanic was a horrible tragedy where 1,500 people died, not just a James Cameron film. I feel like this really speaks to the effect that movies can have on our collective understanding of events. Because of this movie, the first thing people think of when they think of the Titanic is romance, not tragedy. They think of two people falling in love, not 1,500 dying in freezing water. This seems like a perfect example of this- the fact that someone thought this would be an appropriate theme park attraction seems incredibly disrespectful and disturbing. It would be like someone 100 years from now making a theme park attraction imitating 9/11- the event will no longer have the same terrible emotional connection to the people at that time, but that doesn't mean it will ever be appropriate to make light of those people's deaths.
So just to sum up, a Chinese amusement park wants to put in a replica of a boat that killed over a thousand people for fun? And not just that, but a boat famed for its sheer size? That sounds like a bad plan...and what are they going to do to reenact the sinking? Are they actually going to tip the replica over and make the "passengers" fall all over the place? This seems like a terrible idea, and not to mention disrespectful to the people who died. I find I am very interested to see how this pans out, and to see if there's any protesting and how popular it is!
At first I was confused why a Chinese would want to include a life-size replica of the titanic exciting amusement park, but I think they really are trying to due it out of respect. I do agree that its sounds like the article is make the titanic attraction something exciting for the Chinese to experience, but their intention is to make people more aware. The article did say that there is going to be a museum within the attraction which will allow people to get informed of the event. More people are doing to be familiar with this event after the park opens, but maybe its wasn't the best way to honor the devastating tragedy. I'm curios if this is ever going to be a success or not and how the Chinese audience will react differently from the American.
I think it would be a good idea if they were to simply build a replica of the ship and leave it for people to explore and have a "Titanic" experience as part of a park or other form of amusement, but to reenact the sinking seems a bit much. I would love to see the inside and be able to experience the grandeur of the ship, but I don't particularly want to know what it was like to fear for your life while the "unsinkable" ship fell apart below you as you were pulled to your death by sinking debris in the freezing cold Atlantic Ocean.
My initial reaction was the same as Sarah's: the Titanic is not a movie, it's a tragedy! I was gonna point out that we might as well start making genocide theme parks, and then I realized it's not quite the same. The tragedy was not caused by human hatred and violence, and it's a story of people struggling to survive and helping each other. Kind of. So I don't think it's offensive or anything like that. In theory, educating people is great, although I do believe it's more important for people to learn about worldwide injustices, warfare and persecution or environmental issues than a big boat sinking 100 years ago.
None of that really matters anyways, because the purpose of this is to make a lot of money, which it probably will. It's a bummer to see that rich Chinese companies are investing in theme parks rather than the future of their country, but I don't see that changing any time soon.
Although it seems like other people are bothered by the notion of a reenactment of the titanic, I don't quite see it that way. Maybe I just have a darker sense of humor, but I would argue that this falls into the same category that movies about tragic events fall. I don't think the same complaints were had over James Cameron's Titanic. Regardless, I am extremely impressed by the anticipated scope of this project, and I am excited to see it realized.
This is probably one of the strangest articles that I've ever seen, and is somewhat disturbing and crass. Yes, the Titanic is one of the most publicly well known disasters of the 20th century, but to reenact the event with a life size replica that will cost $165 million is utterly ridiculous. The Titanic has always been so fascinating to me since I was a child, but I had an almost reverent appreciation for the magnitude and irony of the disaster. This "spectacle" is too bold for such a terrible event. I am also not sure why people would want to relive it in such a realistic way.
I think that this is actually real. Let's throw out the horrific deaths for a second- you're letting people essentially go back and time experience history. I see this as kind of like a Speak No More kind of deal. The patrons can explore the ship as they please until that fateful accident. I think the Chinese are getting at a new wave of theater, one that could be hugely successful. I look forward to how and if they actually pull this off. And if it gets good reviews, I might have to make a trip to China to see it for myself. It might just be worth it.
In one way, I think that it would be really cool to relive the "Titanic experience," but then I started to think about it more and realized that making a theme part out of this tragedy is really insensitive to the people who were involved in it.
On another thought, how cool would it be if they actually managed to simulate like the rocking and rotations of the sinking instead of just sounds and lights. It'd be an interesting theatrical experience, especially if there were actors as ship workers that would start to freak out when it started to rock and go everywhere.
Perhaps I am misinformed but this sounds just like the massive ghost towns that China keeps building just to give their construction workers jobs. This sounds like China has a lot of money and a lot of workers so they are essentially paying to keep them busy. That being said, other than being in bad taste, this should really be something to see once its done. If they were just rebuilding the boat as a sort of monument, that would be one thing. But to reenact a tragedy seems a bit much.
I think this is cool and a great idea! However, I would like to see it taken further. I would like the titanic replica to not just be a boat docked, but to actually be a working attraction. I think it would be cool for the journey to be a short simulated one where guests can actually mechanically feel the boat sinking, along with lighting, sound, and atmospheric effects. Even taking this idea further, I think a Poseidon adventure ride would be awesome, where guests can actually feel the boat flip over, then explore it as its capsized and sinking. With the titanic thing though, I am confused as to why a Chinese company would be interesting in this? The Chinese weren't really involved in the titanic at all.
While I am intrigued by the technology that will have to go into this "ride" to make it work, I am not sure I am in favor of the sentiment. To commemorate the lives lost in great disasters, it makes much more sense to work on improving the issues that lead to the disasters instead of reenacting the disaster for pleasure.
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