A Ruined Reputation
People can act irrationally during times of distress. For instance, we see Cal grabbing a child that isn’t his in the hopes of earning a spot in a lifeboat. Yeah, what a scumbag, but if it works and he survives, who cares? It’s not like anyone’s going to make a movie about it.
But there’s another character in Titanic whose reputation was almost ruined. In the movie, Bruce Ismay, a White Star Line chairman, cross-dresses in order to make it to safety on a lifeboat. In reality, he showed real heroism by saving as many women and children as possible before thinking about his own safety.