Jaws - The Movie

[2014gregpeck]

Wed 4-1-2020 9:12 a.m.

Note: This is not an April Fool's gag.

I was watching the movie Jaws (by Steven Spielberg) last night while I was rebuilding airtools.  

During the movie, the local sheriff of Amity Island wants to close the beaches due to the potential for a shark attack.  The local mayor, Larry, wants to keep the beaches open.  When the sheriff moves to close the beaches the mayor says that it will only be for 24 hours.  The business community is upset because of the potential for lost revenues.  The mayor asks the local coroner (Larry's supporter ?) to make a call about the whether a recent fatality was a swimming / boat propeller accident or a shark attack.  The coroner weighs in on the side of the a boating accident.   The mayor knows that the 4th of July is coming and says "those beaches will be open."  

At one point, a child on a rubber raft is attacked and killed by the shark.  The child's mother blames the sheriff for not closing the beaches prior to the shark attack.

Eventually, the shark makes it's appearance to other members of the community.  The sheriff's son falls in the "pond" and goes into shock after the shark attacks another boater in the pond.  

After a billboard is defaced which shows a shark on the trail of a woman on a surf board, a shark authority from "the institute" tries to convince the mayor that he is faced with a serious problem. 

The authority is making measurements and talking about "bite radius" when locals capture a Tiger shark.  The mayor is upset when there is discussion about dissecting the Tiger shark and fears that the remains of a recent shark attack may spill out in Public view.

When the 4th of July arrives, the Public flocks to Amity Island.  However, no wants to go in the water.  The mayor encourages a friend and his family to go into the water to swim and then others follow.   A hoax - kids in the water with a shark fin - prompts an evacuation of swimmers from the water.

Eventually, the sheriff confronts the mayor and tells him he is going to be the "mayor of shark city" and he needs to sign a voucher to hire a contractor in order to exterminate the shark.

If this sounds a little familiar, it should.  

I also remember seeing the movie the China Syndrome shortly before problems occurred at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Station.  There was also the movie, "The Andromeda Strain" about a microorganism which was captured in space and brought back to earth with devastating results.  

Of course, all three movies were fiction, but I found them to be interesting.

Live long and prosper.

Regards,

ag01

[myboardid]

As a resident of the island that was renamed "Amity" to film Jaws, I watched it being made for six months. Every day a pickup truck would park in front of the liquor store two doors down from my store and get filled up as much as would fit in it. Repeat the next day! The "coroner" was a local Doctor who really was a doctor - family practitioner, obstetrician, and the real coroner. Personally, I interrupted the filming of his segment by calling him in to deliver my first born son, who will be 46 next week. And all those beach scenes were filmed in early March, in 35 degree weather. As to the shark scenario, that is what happened last summer - for real - on Cape Cod. I get your point - just thought I could throw in some fun facts. Oh, the mechanical shark lived in our harbor, underwater, and the mechanic would work in it every night because the salt water really messed up the electronics. We locals named it "Bruce".

[evry1nositswindy]

My parents are older and live in Florida.  They are still going to the beach even though their county has a senior lockdown.  If the beaches weren't open, they wouldn't go.  They expose themselves to the virus unnecessarily due to poor leadership in the state.  Maybe a good shark scare would keep the beaches empty!  Jaws scared the cr** out of me when I was a teen.  Spring break was (and still is) never the same again!

[myboardid]

Actually, they expose themselves by the choices they are making. No government body ordered them to go to the beach. And if they keep their 6 foot distance from others they won't be exposed while there. If they go other places, they could be exposed.