Featured Image Credit: Terry Goss
By Eva Gruber
Jaws was released 42 years ago this month, and regardless of what your personal opinion on the movie is, it has made a huge impact on cultures around the world. It was essentially the first “summer blockbuster” that set the trend other movies now follow – releasing action-packed films during the summer in order to cater to an energetic audience looking for excitement in the theater during hot summer months.
The film is based on a book of the same name authored by Peter Benchley. In the story, a small northeastern town has been terrorized by a massive white shark picking off swimmers. Local Police Chief asks for the help of a scientist and a shark fisherman to kill the man-eater. First they have to catch it – and to catch it, they have to outsmart it.
While the movie surely revolves around the terrifying shark attacks, and the white shark is the antagonist of the movie, Jaws itself is far from the most important element of the film. The relationship of each individual character to the white shark is what drives the plot.
Quint, the shark fisherman, feels that he has a spiritual connection to these animals and their primal nature. Hooper, the scientist, represents logic and reason, with his background conducting biological research. These two characters are constantly at odds with each other, and it represents the concept of faith versus science. Brody, the police chief, represents the average person who doesn’t know what to believe.
Where the antagonist an alien or some supernatural monster, the movie would have been pushed into the realm of science fiction. However, with the inclusion of the shark (albeit an unnaturally large one) makes the film grounded in reality. However, due to the emotional response of the audience to the movie’s villain, white sharks and sharks as a whole became vilified more than ever before. The irrational fear of shark attacks became deeply embedded in our culture, and there is not one person alive today that does not think of a shark attack when entering the ocean.
In addition to the subtle and metaphorical representations of characters in Jaws, the score by John Williams is a powerful driver of the story. It marked the first collaboration between composer and director, and set the precedent for movie scores. Peter Benchley, for his part, felt horrible about this cultural outcome and spent the rest of his life trying to correct the public’s fear of sharks that he felt responsible for.