It’s been that kind of week. Disappointing with an extra dollop of depressing.
Political drama still taking centre stage as this Government’s longevity continue to dominate conversations; SST literally became a comparative exercise of apples and orange as the contents of one’s wallet keep getting smaller.
It all culminated with the brutal killing of a university student.
Understandably I lost my mojo for commentaries this week.
So the Mrs told me (emphasis on “told”) to write something different this time. Light hearted, entertaining and totally out of topic.
Her suggestion: commemorate the 50th anniversary of one of my favourite films – Jaws.
I was watching it for the umpteenth time the other day and while she has seen it more than a few times, is fascinated by my fascination with the tale of a 7.6m great white shark terrorising the resort town of Amity Island.
Jaws was released in the United States on June 18, 1975.
It introduced the world to this young director – one Steven Spielberg; and marked the start of the summer blockbuster – a worldwide release of big budget action-adventure films in June.
And Spielberg would prove to be the King of the summer blockbuster, following up Jaws with Raiders of the Lost Ark which introduced us to Indiana Jones; E.T. The Extra Terrestrial: and of course Jurassic Park billed by Spielberg himself as “Jaws on Land”.
Incidentally, Jaws was banned in Malaysia for its extreme violence but I remember going to Medo theatre in Kuala Krai with my parents and young uncles to watch it.
It was cleared for release later in the year but a resourceful cinema operator managed to get the early reels and show it uncut.
How he managed it one would not really know as one would’ve been about five years old when he first saw Jaws.
What is a five-year-old doing watching Jaws? Ask my parents. Perhaps it was the era before film classification and ratings. Perhaps it was the way parents of that time toughened their kids. I don’t really remember and parents have selective memories.
Spoilers ahead…
What I do remember is being afraid to take a bath and the scene of shark hunter Quint sliding into the jaws of err…jaws in the final scenes have been etched in my disturbed brain for 50 years.
When I was a little older, I learnt that Jaws was in fact an adaptation of Peter Benchley’s 1974 book of the same title.
It is unnerving to know that the book in turn was inspired by a 1916 incident in New Jersey where a tiger shark got trapped in an estuary frequented by local swimmers. It attacked six people – killing five!
No film perhaps has entrenched itself into our daily lexicon and culture like Jaws.
In Kelantan at least it is common to see shark at the fish market being referred to as “ike jaws” not “ikan yu”.
The menacing Oscar-winning theme by John Williams with just two bars – E and F played in a low register have become the soundtrack of our lives depicting impending danger or something sinister.
Adults playing catch with children would hum the tune in pursuit of the little ones.
They start with a slow “jeng jeng” and quickly followed by an extended “jeeeng jeng”. Then the chase begins “jeng jeng jeng jeng jeng jeng jeng jeng…”
Speaking of kids, my 10 year old nephew was bugging me to let him watch it. So I asked his mum, my sister in law. And in true Chinese dragon mama style told him: “watch at your own peril”.
Apart from turning away from the screen during the scary parts I’m happy to report there’s no permanent damage to Brayden. (so far)
There are many teaching moments in the film including behind the scenes drama that changed the direction the movie took.
The mechanical shark nicknamed Bruce was malfunctioning most of the time that Spielberg decided to show just bits of it until the final half hour of the movie.
The suggestion of a shark and views from the perspective of the shark succeeded in adding to the suspense proving that less is more.
The oft-quoted “you’re gonna need a bigger boat” was not in the original script but ad-libbed by star Roy Scheider – a testament to how improvisation skills and artistic freedom can give you an iconic line that fishermen and anglers till today use when reeling in a big one.
My favourite line however was never in the movie but is used as a cautionary tale of politicians and bureaucratic types who put profit over safety.
As in the case of the character of Mayor Larry Vaughan who insisted on keeping the beaches open for the sake of tourists dollars despite pleas from Sheriff Brody.
“Don’t be like that mayor in Jaws” has found its way into the vocabulary of those championing good governance.
He is exemplified as a person who puts monetary benefits over public safety; dismisses expert advice; and even covers up the danger (in the film, the Mayor forced the coroner to change his findings from a shark attack to a boat accident).
Don’t we come across those types ever so often?
But at the moment I’m just trying to wrap my head around “swimming with bow legged women”.
Well what do you know? Fifty years on Jaws still intrigues and offers new lessons. – June 29, 2025
Terence Fernandez Is Group Editor in Chief of Big Boom Media which publishes Scoop. He’s going to watch Jaws again this weekend