Shark Attacked - Jaws 1975 - Movie Review

A Shark Attacked

The movie Jaws (1975), directed by Steven Spielberg, permanently altered the perception of sharks and instilled a fear that still remains in the United States thirty-four years later. This fear can be classified scientifically as ‘selachophobia' and has become a problem for many would be swimmers and ocean explorers. Businesses have popped up with the pharmaceutical demand for phobia medication along with therapeutic treatment, the merchandizing of the shark, and for the recent demand for shark fin for soups. Commercial fishing, pharmaceutical companies, and merchandizing companies have capitalized on the movie Jaws. The misconception of sharks has been accepted as part of pop-culture and there have been very little efforts to stop its mischaracterization except by sorrowful movie writer Peter Benchley. Jaws has been indirectly responsible for the wide-scale and irresponsible slaughter of sharks all over the world since 1975 and has contributed to the decline of the worldwide shark population.

In the movie Jaws, Spielberg portrays the shark as a killing machine and shows the shark's power and aggression in its frequent shark attacks to small town beaches. The number of shark attacks that take place along with the likelihood of constant feeding of humans rather than other prey is extremely unrealistic. The frequency of the shark attacks in this movie has people thinking that at any moment while their swimming at the beach they could be the next victim of a flesh eating shark. The fear of not knowing when the shark might attack is the most key part to the phobia. In Jaws, they made the sharks out to be smart sophisticated hunters when in reality, the only hunting moves they actually put on their potential preys are the angles they go about in their attack. A shark's brain is not large enough to think things through and use logic. The functions that their brain can perform are simply based on their own and survival instincts which they have evolved for millions of years. The misconception of the shark to become a vicious, vengeful, killing machine towards humans has become the common characterization in American culture.

Spielberg in his production stages of the movie Jaws, had mechanical difficulties with the shark and had to resort to a different method of illustrating its killer mentality. Spielberg turned to representing the shark with floating yellow barrels and frightening music creating a great suspense. The sheer fact that the shark could not be seen but could strike at any time provoked this same belief for many coastal beach dwellers in American culture. When Jaws did arise from the sea the size of the shark was not comparable to a great white: Spielberg intended for the shark to be comparable to the prehistoric megaladon, which was almost 49 feet long. Even after the movie was released U.S. beaches reported a downturn in tourism. Jaws

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