Sunday, April 25, 2010

Jaws (AFI #48)

I credit Jaws and Steven Spielberg with the following:
  • Ruining my family beach weeks in North Carolina. While swimming one time, I saw a large(ish) gray object out of the corner of my eye. After my heart started beating again and I finished peeing myself, I swam out of that water faster than Michael Phelps. Turns out it was just a piece of paper.
  • Inspiring me to learn more about sharks. This led to me finding out that it's true that sharks can attack you in 3 feet of water, which momentarily reinforced my fear of the ocean. Oddly enough, it also led me to want to become a marine biologist. This dream was dashed when my mom pointed out to me that I would be required to spend time in the sun. Given my red hair and fair skin, this didn't seem like a wise idea. Instead, I have spent the last 15ish years floundering from career to career, never finding anything I really want to do. Thanks, mom. ;)
  • Leading me to believe that any animal is just a step away from wanting to relentlessly stalk and kill me.
Issues I have with this movie:
  • The fake shark, but that's a given.
  • On a couple of occasions while they're out on the boat, the music reminded me of The Goonies, which Spielberg also worked on.
  • SPOILER!!! After he blows up the shark, the guts go everywhere, which would just draw in any other sharks in the area and create a feeding frenzy.
  • As Chief Brody and Hooper swim towards shore, they're swimming right into where all the seagulls are, which would seem to indicate that they are swimming right towards the shark guts. Please refer to the above comment.
That being said, I love this movie. Nothing can make me tense up quite like those first couple notes of the Jaws music. I also think the way they filmed a lot of it from the shark's point of view makes it scarier. You just see the fear on the face of the actors and can better imagine yourself in their position. Or at least I can. My imagination tends to run wild, so I picture the cold, black eyes; the razor sharp, bloody teeth,; and the stench of rotting flesh coming from its gaping mouth. I don't think I would be able to see that if I had the actual visual of an obviously fake shark lunging towards me. Um . . . I don't know what to say to wrap this up after that visual. Go rent the movie. It's worth watching again. See it before you go swimming.


3 comments:

Traci said...

Jaws is AWESOME. I LOVE JAWS. This movie freaked me out so bad when I was a kid. I watched it on a couch, and I was scared to put my feet off the couch. Freaky.

affinity said...

What a fun idea to go through the AFI list. I hope your keeping good track since your not going in order anymore. :) Jaws is the best one so far!

Kim said...

Traci-I had the same experience with The Princess Bride. I saw it in the theater and was too scared to put my feet down because I was afraid the shrieking eels were going to get me.

Em-Jaws is the best movie or the best AFI blog post so far?