Why people are flocking to experience the Titanic disaster

The immersive show, which recreates the ocean liner’s fateful voyage, captivates audiences around the world. But are they valuable historical experiences, or are they cynically turning tragedy into entertainment?

The Titanic’s magnificent interior is slowly filling with water. Video projected onto the floor, ceiling and walls of a south London warehouse shows fixtures and fittings disappearing beneath the waves. This is one of the highlights of The Legend of the Titanic: An Immersive Exhibition, which combines video projections with a virtual reality (VR) section where visitors don headsets and is designed to make ticket holders feel as if they are aboard the fateful ocean liner.

The exhibit’s gift shop features attention-grabbing memorabilia whistles and postcards of a ship sinking surrounded by icebergs. Couples line up to pose against a green screen to recreate Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet’s famous pose on the prow of the 1997 James Cameron film. Some people play the “Iceberg Avoidance” computer game on their computers, which involves maneuvering a ship between icy obstacles, or drink Prosecco at a bar. Multiple VR segments allow you to walk along the deck in the sunlight, explore the interior of a luxurious ship, or even venture aboard a sunken ship to a shipwreck, making it a veritable means of transportation. But the aforementioned section, framed by a 360-degree video projection of a ship filling with water, feels more jarring and voyeuristic than educational or emotional.

FKP Scorpio Entertainment

There were quite positive opinions about this exhibition. Score 4.2 on TripAdvisorticket holders praise the VR technology, information boards, and story. Julie Akhtar, a visitor from Virginia Water in Surrey, UK, said her mood changed “from the moment I walked through the door” and the VR elements made her “feel part of” life on board. Her only criticisms were that the tickets were expensive and that “the photo opportunity with Kate Winslet and Leonard DiCaprio posing was a bit commercial.” Brighton resident Sarah Mattock was equally impressed. “It was a good initiative,” she says. “I went into it knowing it was a little sleazy, but I’ve always been interested in ‘Titanic’ ever since I was little.”