The shoreline in the sea: liminal spaces in the films of James Cameron

Abstract

This article explores the role of the ocean in the films of James Cameron. In many films, the shoreline is a physical place that has long been associated with tropes of liminality with land a stable foundation and the ocean a fluid unknown. For Cameron, however, the ocean is not an expanse with no boundaries, but instead strongly resembles the shoreline. In his fiction films, The Abyss (1989) and Titanic (1997), and his documentary films, Expedition: Bismarck (2002) (co-directed), Ghosts of the Abyss (2003) and Aliens of the Deep (2005) (co-directed), Cameron presents the ocean in a way that draws upon tropes traditionally utilized to frame the shoreline. He does this by presenting avatars of dry land on and in the sea, most prominently the Russian research vessel Keldysh. The result is a metaphoric relocation of the traditional shoreline from the physical space between land and sea to the ocean itself. By studying this shift, this article suggests studying Cameron as both a film-maker and an explorer.

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Brady Hammond

Brady Hammond is an independent academic. His areas of study include Hollywood cinema and violence. He currently teaches English.