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Original poster

To think this cake is inappropriate

181 replies

Shitfuckcommaetc · 13/05/2022 07:41

I don't understand, in what world, it's appropriate to make a cake (for a child's birthday!) showing the death of over 1500 people.

In 100 years time will we be making cakes of Grenfell tower?

To think this cake is inappropriate
OP posts:
Strugglingtodomybest · 13/05/2022 08:09

I got obsessed by the Titanic as a child, I'd have loved this cake!

Sparklingbrook · 13/05/2022 08:09

Weird choice for a child's cake, possibly their favourite film? I also don't think it's comparable to recent events.

A8888 · 13/05/2022 08:10

Adele had a whole party themed around it. Very weird.

Oscarthedog · 13/05/2022 08:11

Shitfuckcommaetc · 13/05/2022 07:49

Why is it tactless? It was a tragedy on the same scale as the Titanic, no one would dream of making cakes about that

I agree it's a bad cake idea (if a really well made cake). It wasn't on the same scale as the Titanic though 72 died in Grenfell over 1500 in the Titanic sinking.

Sparklingbrook · 13/05/2022 08:13

I don't see the comparison, but I don't believe in 100 year's time there will have been a huge blockbuster film about Grenfell, where people could declare it their favourite film etc.

queenMab99 · 13/05/2022 08:14

My son did a project on the Titanic at primary school, and he did get a bit obsessed by it, if my cake making skills had been good enough, I might have unthinkingly made something like this, as it was, he got my usual chocolate cake clock, with smarty numbers and chocolate fingers pointing to his age, he got a replica newspaper with the headlines from the time. However as you say it was a tragedy and not something to celebrate.

Alliswells · 13/05/2022 08:16

NightmareSlashDelightful · 13/05/2022 07:45

I don't disagree but your remark about Grenfell is really tactless OP (I'm a friend of someone who died there)

I think that's exactly the point the OP is making

Yutes · 13/05/2022 08:16

i think we need more context on the cake - how old is the child, is the Titanic something they are really interested in?

I don’t find the cake offensive. There was a film about it and it is not modern history (unlike Grenfell). I just feel this is just something to be offended about to be offended. And adding Grenfell to the mix is next level whataboutery

ILoveYoga · 13/05/2022 08:17

just looking at it in your OP, yes, seems tactless. However, it is such a bizarre thing for a child’s birthday cake that there must be a reason they chose this cake. So out of context, appears tactless but context is most definitely needed.

WhatNoRaisins · 13/05/2022 08:19

Also is the child old enough to really get the Titanic film?

inappropriateraspberry · 13/05/2022 08:19

Unusual, but I would presume the birthday child is really interested in the Titanic and what happened. Lots of children go through phases of things, it just happens to be the Titanic and not dinosaurs or similar.
Out of context it is an odd choice, but probably made perfect sense to the birthday child and their family.

SecretVictoria · 13/05/2022 08:20

There are two hotels (Liverpool and Belfast) named and themed after the Titanic, no one objected to those AFAIK. It is a strange (to me) choice of cake but people do WW2 re-enactments, though as pp said, usually focusing on the ‘romantic’ element.

PrivateHall · 13/05/2022 08:21

I just showed the picture to my 8 year old and she said 'that is really inappropriate, at least don't have it sinking'. Even she can see the issue here!

Phos · 13/05/2022 08:21

I can see why people think it's tactless or whatever but a lot of kids probably like the film and don't quite have the EQ yet to kind of make the connection to it being a real life tragedy.

sweeneytoddsrazor · 13/05/2022 08:21

@Sparklingbrook I would hope not, although years ago there was the blockbuster film Towering Inferno, which was similar in so much as a greedy developer, skimped on a safety issue causing a huge fire. That may well have been fictional but it is entirely possible someone would want to do a remake based more on Grenfell

NightmareSlashDelightful · 13/05/2022 08:22

OK. Maybe I'm being oversensitive about the OP's example. I get the point that she's making; it's the remark I find distasteful. There was no need to bring Grenfell into it and it just feels a bit raw, you know? It sort of felt like you were making a joke about it.

But I'm also aware I've got a direct perspective on this, which not everyone will have, and it's risking derailing the thread. So I'll bow out now.

MissyB1 · 13/05/2022 08:27

NightmareSlashDelightful · 13/05/2022 07:45

I don't disagree but your remark about Grenfell is really tactless OP (I'm a friend of someone who died there)

Yes but that’s OP’s point! Cakes about disasters are tactless.

MuchuseasaChocolateTeapot · 13/05/2022 08:32

My children learned about the Titanic at school at around the same age, dressed up as passengers etc. They were fascinated for ages and honestly would have loved that cake. I suspect it’s following on from something like that. I suppose it has been romanticised in film and over time. If you visit the Titanic museum you are issued a passenger ticket and you find out what class you would have been allocated to and whether or not you survive at the end. Pretty mawkish but I don’t think meant to offend.

Sparklingbrook · 13/05/2022 08:35

sweeneytoddsrazor · 13/05/2022 08:21

@Sparklingbrook I would hope not, although years ago there was the blockbuster film Towering Inferno, which was similar in so much as a greedy developer, skimped on a safety issue causing a huge fire. That may well have been fictional but it is entirely possible someone would want to do a remake based more on Grenfell

I can't see it happening myself.

R0ca75 · 13/05/2022 08:37

My child is autistic and completely obsessed with the Titanic. They know everything about the ship's specs and have researched the lives of the passengers and crew. They begged for a Titanic birthday cake, so that's what they had. I didn't depict her sinking though - that would've been too much! Things that seem weird and inappropriate to neurotypical people can often make perfect sense to a neurodivergent family.

CockleburIck · 13/05/2022 08:39

This exact picture is from a baking site, posted about 3 years ago online. Not sure why you're posting about it on here now.

It also doesn't say anything about it being for a child.

hellrabbitishere · 13/05/2022 08:40

its just upto the parents of the child its been made for really , obviously the kid has a thing about the titanic , it could be and is a bit tasteless considering how many died . but i guess cake makers are pretty much going to make what they are requested to make really unless they have really strong morals

Sparklingbrook · 13/05/2022 08:44

CockleburIck · 13/05/2022 08:39

This exact picture is from a baking site, posted about 3 years ago online. Not sure why you're posting about it on here now.

It also doesn't say anything about it being for a child.

Oh dear. That changes things a bit.

SpidersAreShitheads · 13/05/2022 08:46

I wouldn't even raise an eyebrow at this cake.

There's a lot of romance and glamour associated with the Titanic, and its story. The fact that so many people died tragically has almost become a side issue. I'm not suggesting that is OK, but it's a fact. The Titanic film is a Hollywood blockbuster but focuses on the romance, and the story of Kate Winslet and Leonardo di Caprio is what everyone talks about. It's a "romantic" film, not a horror movie - which really it should be bearing in mind the number of deaths!

**disclaimer - I've not seen Titanic film and don't ever intend to.

If anyone has sit and enjoyed the Titanic film then it's a bit hypocritical to criticise a cake which depicts the same theme.

And yes, at school it's taught as a subject which is fascinating rather than tragic. I can recall it very clearly. There was lots about the ship and how amazing it was, and how a series of unfortunate events led to the sinking. The deaths are very much glossed over, or only touched upon lightly so I can see why lots of children become fascinated by it. Doubly so if they've seen the film.

If in 100 years time they can conjure up the same glamour, intrigue and romance about the Grenfell incident then yes it would be comparable, but somehow I don't quite see it. Sympathies to the PP who knew someone who died in Grenfell, I'm sorry for your loss x

LoveSpringDaffs · 13/05/2022 08:46

Scabbyknackers · 13/05/2022 07:49

I agree it's in rotten taste. And does that say a 5th birthday?! Random thing for a 5 year old to be into

When it first came out on film my 4 year old god son was obsessed by it, wanted to go to see it, but was underage. His mum bought him the video the day it was released and he watched it SO many times for at least 2 years.

kids are weird!

if he's asked for a titanic birthday cake. I'd have made him one. I think I made Ninja Turtle cake for his 5th birthday, I can't really remember.

The film romanticised the actual tragedy and they're kids, they don't need to feel the enormity of it. He understood it 'really' happened, but they can't really make the connection as adults can

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