10 Best Picture Winners Everyone Is Far Too Harsh On

Titanic, one of the most famous, popular - and most hated - films of all times, was the winner of Best Picture at the 70th Academy Awards. It's been endlessly derided for its flat characters, cartoonish script, trivialization of the real-life tragedy and robbing L.A. Confidential of the big prize. Here's the problem with this view: Titanic is a masterpiece and every award was deserved.

The dialogue and stereotypical characters are somewhat flat and the love story is cliched, but that's the point. James Cameron used a melodramatic, old Hollywood-style love story- complete with their two-dimensional writing- to show the tragedy of the disaster. The powerful love story and melodramatic material is part of what makes the disaster feel so tragic.

As for L.A. Confidential, it's very good but it's a more a triumph of writing, while Titanic is a huge triumph of film-making. Titanic edges it out overall and was the rightful winner. The most infuriating criticism of Titanic is that it trivializes the disaster. It really doesn't. The scenes of the disaster are harrowing beyond belief and the sense of loss, pathos and avoidable tragedy is enough to leave one a sobbing wreck.

James Cameron's film is the rare time when the disaster was portrayed as what it was: one of the most heart-breaking man-made disasters in human history instead of being romanticized and trivialized.

Like it or not, Titanic is one of the best blockbusters ever and a fully deserving Best Picture winner.