10 Hated Movie Scenes Directors REGRET Not Cutting
5. James Cameron Took Some Liberties With William McMaster Murdoch's Death In Titanic
Movies based on historical events have always taken some license with altering the facts to ensure the final product is enjoyable. After all, the importance of something as devastating as the sinking of the Titanic was perfect for James Cameron to make into a movie, but parts of the story had to be embellished.
There are plenty of records of the sinking, and many of the survivors spoke about what they experienced, but not every story has been told. The story of Jack and Rose, for instance, could have been one of the untold stories of the Titanic, and that's one of the reasons it was such an amazing film.
Despite creating those characters for the movie, Cameron used numerous historical figures who were aboard the Titanic. One such person was William McMaster Murdoch, whose death was depicted as a suicide following his shooting of two young men trying to board a lifeboat.
There's conflicting evidence surrounding his death, with nothing concrete suggesting suicide. Cameron regretted filming the scene, and he ended up getting a lot of flack for it from historians and the man's family:
"In the case of First Officer William McMaster Murdoch, I took the liberty of showing him shoot somebody and then shoot himself, he continued, "We don't know that he did that... But I was being a screenwriter. I wasn't thinking about being a historian, and I think I wasn't as sensitive about the fact that his family, his survivors might feel offended by that, and they were."