31 Days of Horror 2018: Jaws

Directed by Steven Spielberg.

1975. Rated PG, 124 minutes.

Cast:

Roy Scheider

Robert Shaw

Richard Dreyfuss

Lorraine Gary

Murray Hamilton

Carl Gottlieb

Jeffrey Kramer

Jonathan Filley

Susan Backlinie

I saw Jaws way too young in life. I can’t remember the exact circumstances, but I know for sure that I saw this in a movie theater despite being either four or five years old. I can’t say which because back then, hit movies stayed in theaters much longer than they do now. After all, there was no other for people to see it until some television network was granted the rights to air it. That was usually around five years after its initial release. So, there I was with the rest of the country, becoming terrified of the ocean. When it finally came on TV, it aired once a year like a lot of other popular movies. I watched it that way, with whatever cuts the FCC imposed on it, for a couple of years. By that time, the VCR and HBO had gained traction. Therefore, I was able to see Jaws and its sequels uncut. I watched them all, periodically, since they never seemed to be truly out of the cable rotation.

From the time I left home at 18, and throughout my adult life, Jaws grew further away from me. Every now and again, I caught them in the middle on some network or another and watched a bit before it either ended or I was compelled to move on to some other activity. When I started my movie collection, back when DVDs were just coming into vogue, this was one of the first one-or-two hundred purchases I made. I never watched it because I had become a movie snob. By that, I mean I realized far too late that I had mistakenly picked up the fullscreen option. No way I was going to watch that “junk.” After a few years, I sold it to a pawn shop and picked up the widescreen version. That sat on my shelf undisturbed, too. A few more years passed, and I happened to come across a blu ray copy of the movie for a couple bucks. I scooped that up and gave the DVD to a friend. Another year or two went by and I finally said, “Screw it,” and popped it in.

Right away, much of what I had forgotten came rushing back to me as the film’s brilliant opening scene played out. In case you don’t know, this is the iconic scene where a woman is swimming at night and Jaws snatches her from beneath. We never see the shark. Most of what I remembered had to do with just that: either seeing or not seeing the shark and how director Steven Spielberg made both highly effective. Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, and Richard Dreyfuss were as brilliant as I remembered. I had forgotten, or perhaps never truly understood, that this movie is not really about a predator from the deep, but about the predators on land.

Don’t get it twisted, the eponymous shark is clearly the source of the visceral thrills this movie contains. Being hunted by an insatiable, man-eating beast is a fear many reasonable people have. Spielberg gloriously exploits this. He is so adept at it, he made our society both horrified and intrigued by sharks. Most of us get the reference when someone says, “We’re gonna need a bigger ____.” It’s no coincidence that “Shark Week” butters The Discovery Channel’s bread. We all know that a real or proverbial shark is near when we hear the movie’s iconic, yet dread-inducing score, whether it’s actually being played, or some idiot is standing next to you saying, “Du-dun…du-dun…,” and yeah, I’ve been that idiot. Then, there are the hundreds (thousands?) of rip-offs that followed in its cinematic footsteps.

All of that is just window-dressing. As great a monster as the shark is, he can only impact humans directly when we enter his home. There may be far more ocean than land on the Earth, but it’s not our natural habitat. We’re only in danger when we venture into it. Roy Scheider wonderfully plays the local police chief who wants to close the beach until the shark problem is handled. Therefore, the real villain is Mayor Vaughn who orders him not to do so because it’s the highly lucrative July 4th holiday. He is the real insatiable beast. He willingly risks the lives of others in the name of profit. Time and again, he puts the bottom line ahead of the best interest of the people and behaves indignantly when anyone suggests that this is the case. It’s an outstanding portrayal by Murray Hamilton. He is so good, some might say he outperforms his character’s office. Some forty-plus years on, his performance is downright presidential.

The fact that so much human arrogance moves the plot forward has helped Jaws hold up wonderfully. Note that I said arrogance, not error. To call what happens here an error would be to suggest that no one knew the potential consequences of their actions. That clearly isn’t the case. This is someone flat out ignoring those consequences for financial gain. This is someone purposely putting people in the path of danger. If it were only hapless humans getting eaten by a shark, it would be no different than any number of slasher movies: fun, maybe a bit scary in the moment, but ultimately weightless. Instead, this calls into question the competence and trustworthiness of the people we put in place to protect us. Our lives are in the hands of people who may not care one thing about them. Now that I’ve experienced the weight of capitalism crushing my innards as it bears down on me and felt empowered by it when it’s occasionally been on my side, it’s the economic politics of Jaws that threatens to keep me up at night. Sure, the idea that it’s possible I can be eaten by a shark comes barreling to the front of my brain whenever I get anywhere near the ocean, but I’m far more afraid of the sharks in suits and ties, and with pockets to line.