By Ethan Gough
WKTV Community Contributor
I’ve been writing about movies that got me through my high school experience for five weeks. Every movie I’ve delved into can be found on my personal favorite movies list, but Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” is special because it just so happens to be at the very top. Are you wondering why that is? If you are, just keep reading and you’ll find out soon enough.
My first experience with this movie is one I will never forget. I was 10-years-old and had suddenly decided that I had to see that old shark movie that I’d heard so much about during my family’s trips to Ocean Isle Beach. Just a few short months ago I would’ve been too afraid of the poster to even go near the film, but now I’d reached that age in life where the things that scared me were becoming more intriguing than they were deterring. The movie dated PG rating (the MPAA had only G, PG, and R ratings for films then) convinced my father that I would be fine seeing the movie as long as he sat down and watched it with me. My father was and always has been a busy man. He would often get home from work too late for him and my 10-year-old self to do anything together; so, the fact that he was going to take some time away from his computer screen to experience this old summer blockbuster with me, transformed this first viewing of a classic into what my young mind perceived as an event. We rented the movie on demand for $4.99, dimmed the lights, and I braced myself for the thrill ride that I knew I was in for. The next two hours that followed changed my life.
Before I saw “Jaws” I had never seen a movie in which I felt the director’s presence. I knew what a director was (at least vaguely) but I didn’t think of them as the author of the movie they made. The notion that a director would utilize certain shots and framing methods – much like how a novelist utilizes certain words and sentence structures – in order to evoke a specific emotional reaction from the audience hadn’t occurred to me. But when the film reached its end and I saw the words, Directed By Stephen Spielberg, a switch was flipped and the lightbulb above my head lit up. That bulb has been burning brightly ever since.
The greatest thing about “Jaws” is that the story is so simple and straightforward that you can apply any meaning or metaphor that comes to your mind. For my own amusement, I tend to use this movie as a metaphor for Covid 19. I know that sounds ridiculous, but hear me out. A man-eating shark moves into the shores of Amity Island and begins terrorizing the locals. The police chief implores everyone to stay out of the water, and us rational audience members naturally accept that that’s the obvious precaution to take; but, inevitably some citizens – including the mayor, and other individuals in power – just have to make life a little more complicated (and in this case blood-filled) for everyone. That is so similar to what we experienced when the Corona Virus entered the USA that it’s not even funny. First, everyone in the nation panicked and stocked up on toilet paper because the end times were upon us; then, mandates meant to keep people safe were passed, and what seemed to be the most obvious precaution for people to take turned into a political debate that divided the nation. The parallels are even more uncanny when you watch the movie with people who’ve never even seen it pre-pandemic. A friend of mine with whom I was showing the movie actually said out loud, “This is literally Covid.”
Regardless of whatever different metaphors and meanings you manifest in your head for “Jaws,” I think we can all agree that it’s a wildly entertaining movie. In my case, it is responsible for a lot of unfinished homework, and not one fiber of my being has any regret over that.
Cinema is my number one source of therapy. For me, there is not a single negative emotion that a good movie can’t remedy for at least two wonderful hours. High School had its high moments, but there were many days when I walked out of that building feeling completely defeated, like everything inside of me had been drained out, and I was just an empty vessel going through the motions. The movies I listed have only one through-line that connects them, they filled me back up and eliminated that empty feeling. I hope that there is at least one movie out there that does the same for you, and if there isn’t then maybe going through this short list will help you find it.
