It's the 50th Anniversary of Jaws!
On of my first memories was walking past a movie theater with members of my extended family and seeing this movie poster. My cousins who were older than me had seen the movie, but I was way too young to see it in the movie theaters. A couple years later, I was able to watch it on tv. Two things happened at that point: 1. I became obsessed with sharks and marine biology, and 2. I started taking showers instead of baths, because I was afraid that a shark would somehow swim up into the bathtub. (Give me a break on this one. I was six years old at the time, and it made perfect sense to me).
JAWS was released on June 20th 1975, and became the first summer blockbuster movie. It started the trend of the big movie releases during the Summer Season. It is now considered a classic and, if you are familiar with the amount of effort it took to make this film, you appreciate it on an entirely different level. The weather conditions and the animatronic shark caused the actual making of the film to be delayed many times. Richard Dreyfuss in interviews about the making of this film recalled that they would (not so patiently) wait for the message "The shark is working" in order to be able to film those much-needed segments. Obviously by today's standards, the shark does not move well. But, for the Summer of 1975 (and for several summers since), it worked well enough for the audiences. And the characters were unique, with some classic lines that are still quoted in our household. (Fairly certain that most of us have sung "Show Me the Way to Go Home" in homage to Hooper, Quint, and Chief Brody, especially if you're of a certain age)
The downside of this epic movie was that sharks became the ultimate underwater villain. And this negatively affected the overall population of sharks in the world's oceans. Once they were demonized in the popular media, sharks were hunted down and killed, leading to the decline. Peter Benchley himself, the author of the novel JAWS, became a voice of the conservation movement, advocating for a better understanding of sharks and an end to overfishing.
Our scientific knowledge of sharks comes directly from the works of Eugenie Clark and the husband-and-wife team of Ron and Valerie Taylor. The Taylor's served as consultants on the first JAWS movie, and Valerie was photographed for National Geographic magazine wearing chainmail underwater while a shark attempted to bite her arm. This is an iconic cover photo, and I'm fairly certain that I have a copy of that particular issue stashed away somewhere.
Here at San Jose Public Library, we have copies of the film, as well as many books about sharks. While the movies are good popcorn flicks, it's also important to educate yourself about actual sharks and their behavior. And, if you're planning on surfing or kayaking in the waters off the Coast, pay attention to any weather and wildlife advisories. There's still a surfboard stealing otter at large near Steamer Lane. (We love you Otter 841!)
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