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I understand the sentiment of wanting to respect the resting place of the victims, but I think we should try to keep in mind that many people have different ways of respecting the resting place. For some people, leaving plaques IS a way of respecting the resting place of the victims. For others, visiting the site and perhaps even bringing back relics for museum displays is yet another way of showing respect.
It is indicative of our Anglo-Saxon heritage that we view respect for the dead as not visiting the places where they died. I remember watching a documentary about the "Day of the Dead" in Mexico. This is a day where relatives of the dead will decorate the graves of their loved ones. The relatives of the dead will sometimes even sit on the graves and have a picnic. It is a community event, and even often a tourist event. The narrator of the documentary commented on seeing tourists film - with video cameras - some of the displays. The narrator told a man whose father's grave was being filmed, that he thought it was very rude that tourists were filming the grave. The man said that he thought it was a way for the tourists to pay their respects to his father and the dead.
So, it's a cultural attitude that we have. We view death as wrong and we don't even say "dead" anymore. It's as thought it is wrong to die in this culture. I can't help but think that this cultural perspective has to do with many people's attitudes about visiting Titanic, bringing back relics, etc.
Now, if people were bringing back bodies, etc., then I'd have problems with that. But there are no bodies left.
Unfortunately, this is all a heated topic that I doubt will ever be resolved. I doubt that all parties involved will come to an agreement on this issue. But I myself have now changed my mind. I don't think I'd want to ever visit Titanic. I was in the midst of an obsession with Titanic when I started this discussion. I'm not so obsessed anymore now. I don't think the risk involved is worth seeing what, as so many have pointed out, can better be seen in footage already taken by filmmakers.
