MovieChat Forums > Jaws (1975) Discussion > Scene that always bothers me

Scene that always bothers me

posted 5 years ago by Bigcat (259)
16 replies | jump to latest

Brody reading up on sharks like hes not familiar with them and what they are all about, ha. Like what are these man eaters in the ocean my beach house sits near ive never heard of them. They attack people? Interesting. They can sense movement in the water from miles away? Didn't know that. Brody you're an East coast guy with an ocean beach house. Im sure you know at least the basics of Shark behavior. But Scheider could have also overacted on that scene and Spielberg could have just said screw it keep it in we dont have time or money to reshoot.

[–] Sandman81 (1501) 5 years ago

1) Most people didn't know that much about sharks in the early 70's. Of course they knew of them, and just basic stuff, but no where near what we know now. This movie caused a dramatic increase in our interest and knowledge of sharks.

2) Brody was actually learning useful things about sharks that most people probably didn't know. Like territoriality, or sharks sensing a fish in distress, and most shark attacks happen in 3 feet of water, which was very relevant at that moment, since he had just witnessed one the day before.

[–] R_Kane (15828) 5 years ago

I agree with almost all that you say, but, if you check statistics, MOST shark attacks (meaning bites) occur out of the water, on boats, when fishermen hook and reel in a shark.

Most sharks don’t want to eat people. Martha’s Vinyard, called Amity in the movie, has a VERY low incidence of maneating sharks. Your man eaters are Tigers, Bulls, Great Whites and, rarely, Hammerheads. Sandman, you’re right: Brody had no compelling practical reason to educate himself; and his education was really a narrative device for the film to educate the audience. The OP is whining about a real-world nonissue—in a movie that the director made into a horror movie! When have real-world issues ever pertained to horror movies?

On The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson, shortly after Jaws debuted, no less an authority of Jacques-Yves Cousteau, one of THE preeminent oceanographers of the 20th century and the co-inventor of SCUBA gear, called Jaws “a monster movie,” having no relation to reality. Police chiefs deal in reality.

[–] Otter (24464) 5 years ago

He's from New York, and has only recently arrived on Amity Island!

I don't know if there are still New Yorkers who've never seen a cow or a deer or any wild animals except pigeons and rats, but they certainly existed at the time. So yeah, because this was long before Shark Week, it's entirely plausible that a New York cop of that era would know diddly-squat about sharks.

[–] Martoto (4162) 5 years ago

Love that scene in Ghostbusters after the Terror dog crashes Louis's party tha people think is a "bear" and the New Yorker doorman complains that some moron brought a "cougar".

I seem to remember it used to be a trend for NYC folk in movies to wrongly identify strange or unusual animals. I can't think of any other examples right now though. lol

[–] Otter (24464) 5 years ago

I forget where I read this, but it was about the same time period, but someone or another told a story about the time he dragged a friend out of New York for the first time. The guy had literally never left New York City, because like many New Yorkers of the era, he assumed that everything outside of New York was boring and inferior, so he'd never been in any environment except city streets. The narrator dragged him out to a hiking trail in upstate New York, and tried to convince him that nature was wonderful, and hoped that some wildlife would come along because the guy had never seen a wild animal except a cockroach or pigeon. Finally a squirrel hopped onto the path, and the narrator said "Look, it's a wild animal! Isn't it beautiful?", and the New Yorker replied... "It looks like a cat.". [sting!]

So yeah, New Yorkers of that time period could be extremely out of touch with nature, and would absolutely have to get a few library books if they ever had to deal with a dangerous wild animal. The scene works both as exposition, and character development.

[–] Underdog_73 (756) 5 years ago

The story doesn't work, since New York City has an abundance of squirrels.

[–] Costumer (1786) 5 years ago

Definitely. We live in the Great Plains. My Grandmother visited relatives in New York in the 60's and people were asking her how she dealt with Indian attacks and having to use a wood stove. And wasn't she pleased to get to use a modern stove.

She took great pleasure telling them her stove at home was 10 years newer than theirs and had far more features.

[–] [email protected] (1631) 4 years ago

An American asked me if supermarkets existed in my country, I didn't respond but our malls and supermarkets make American malls and supermarkets look like convenience stores.

[–] Martoto (4162) 5 years ago

Rubbish. People didn't generally know as much about sharks as you seem to assume. Especially not city folk like Brody.

Incidentally. With the score for this and the adjacent scene of the two bozos on the jetty, this is one my favourite sequences in the movie.

[–] grhqofb5 (327) 5 years ago

So back then, you didn't have the internet. People had to actually go to a library if they were interested in learning about a particular animal, unless they knew someone that owned a book. Imagine how much our world has changed.... I can't imagine what I'd do if my only option to find out what an eastern hognose was to visit the local library and research the card catalog.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

In other words you have no clue what the general public knew about sharks in 1975.

Lemme clue you in: the idiot studio went looking for a “shark wrangler” to hire...because the idiots thought that sharks can be trained like bleepin’ dolphins.

Now imagine what a sheriff fresh from New York City would know about sharks.

♞🖤👹🖤♞

[–] Mrmojo4700 (20441) 5 years ago

They didn’t have Shark Week on cable back in 1975.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

"Brody reading up on sharks like hes not familiar with them "

You should follow Brodys example , and next time your in charge of a life or death situation think before you act!

I guess you'd just be all like "Sharks? yeah i shit 'em. Get quint on phone and tell him bring his boat over here , Imma gonna fuck that shark up! close the beach till lunchtime I'll be back by then."

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Yeah it’s as if he didn’t see Jaws. 🙄

You missed the two big premises of this film- that Brody was a city cop who only recently moved to the island, and that the shark was not native to those waters.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 5 years ago

It is not unbelievable in the least that a cop wouldn't know the facts about great white sharks. Hardly an error, by
any stretch.

The only fantasy element of the story (and it's a huge one, but who cares, when it's such a great movie...) is the
silly notion that a great white shark (who attack to eat, not terrorize) would chomp down, what, about 6 people
in four days, and still be HUNGRY?? And after the gluttonous creature climbs on board the Orca (!) to swallow
Quint whole, he apparently is STILL hungry when Brody resorts to shoving the tanks down the shark's mouth!

[–] Lampedusean (498) 5 years ago

I dunno, chief... he's very smart or very dumb.