More than 40 years later, “Jaws” still stands as one of the most terrifying movies in history.
Of course, some of you may be scoffing at the thought now while you sit calmly on your couches reading this through your mobile device. Perhaps then you wouldn’t mind sitting through the film and then taking a midnight dip into the Atlantic by yourself.
No? Didn’t think so.
Simply put, we’re still to this day feeling the aftershock of the earthquake that was the summer of “Jaws.”
In all honesty, there’s not much more merit in these fears than fears of demon possession, vampires or dream-dwelling serial killers.
In fact, according to National Geographic, there is an average of fewer than 20 shark attacks per year in the United States. You have a one in 63 chance of dying from the flu and a one in 3,700,000 chance of dying from a shark attack in your lifetime, yet the former is far less nerve-wracking than the latter.
Why is this? Simple – flu isn’t nearly as exciting as a shark attack.
Until “Star Wars” came out two years later, “Jaws” was the highest grossing film of all time. Shark attacks, despite occurring for centuries, had become more frequently covered by the media.
If audiences approached the deep sea with trepidation before, they canceled any plans to go to the beach altogether after seeing the Spielberg film.
This was an incredible feat on Spielberg’s part, something he probably would have never expected based on his experience making the film. Bruce, one of the mechanical sharks, kept breaking down during production, thus granting him a total four minutes of screen-time.
That’s right. One of the most iconic movie monsters in cinematic history wasn’t even on-screen for five minutes. That’s damn good filmmaking.
Everyone else recognized it too. This spawned a myriad of sequels and rip-offs and ultimately created the “killer fish” horror genre. “Piranha,” “The Deep” and “Open Water” all owe their success to “Jaws.”
Personally, my favorite rip-off is “Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus.” But I digress.
Unfortunately, with every great success comes an equally repulsive failure. And no, I don’t mean “Jaws: The Revenge.”
The fear of sharks instilled by “Jaws” has led to the rise of shark hunting, which has decimated the animal, some species reduced between 50 and 90 percent in the subsequent four decades. For every human killed by a shark, about two million sharks are killed by humans.
Somehow, the act of hunting sharks has been glorified as heroic and courageous, despite it being even crueler than bullfighting. While also vicious and almost unredeemable, at least the bull has a fighting chance against his matador. Sharks are defenseless.
Because of the looming danger surrounding these creatures of the ocean, scientists became more determined to study them and think of ways to keep them protected. Therefore, there has been a drastic increase in funding for shark research.
Television specials like Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week,” will be premiering its 28th annual broadcast this Sunday, also helps to advocate the education of shark lives.
However, the problem with “Shark Week” is that it tends to overweigh thrilling shark attacks over the endangerment of the species as a whole. It has gotten better throughout the years, but there is still much room for improvement.
“The Shallows,” a horror film much in the vain of the “Jaws” franchise, will be opening in theaters this weekend.
Though it might seem tempting to allow the thrilling experience of a, hopefully, good movie overcrowd your opinion of sharks, remember that in the battle between humans and sharks, it is the former that is the cruel alpha.
afaulds@indiana.edu | @a_fauls9615
