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PaperclipPerfector  13hr ago (text post)   636 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for May 1, 2026

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Finished watching Jaws on Netflix before it went off the air. I found it disappointing, which is surprising considering its reputation (the first summer blockbuster, recommended by both Roger Ebert and Critical Drinker, etc.)

I think the problem is that I couldn't connect to the characters. Chief is too much of a coward, both morally (fails to stand up to the Mayor) and physically (afraid of water). Quint has potential, but in the end he comes across more as a greedy asshole than as a truly passionate shark hunter. And the research dude is just there. I don't care what happens to these people; none of them are awesome enough to keep my interest. Combine that with the slow pacing (the shark is famously not shown until the final act to build suspense) and I was left looking at my watch wondering how much longer the movie would be.

It only really gets good in the last twenty minutes when they are directly battling the shark, and by then it is too late.

Chief is too much of a coward, both morally (fails to stand up to the Mayor) and physically (afraid of water).

Being afraid of water but working in a coastal town is funny, though. And the kind of tough choices you might have to make in the real world: if the best (or only) job you can get is a tourist town by the sea, then that's the one you take. Same with standing up to the mayor: how does he do that and not blow up his career? If the shark isn't a real danger, he looks like a fool who created a panic for nothing. If he scares everyone off, then the summer business that the town relies on dries up and people are still going to blame him when their businesses go bust because now, not only did they lose out on this year's revenue, the town has a reputation that scares off people next year and the year after. If nobody dies, then everyone is going to go "see, there was no danger in the first place".

It's not realism, but it's realistic: the shark hunter is an asshole, but that's why he's the only guy willing to take on the job. The marine researcher can only do so much, and his main contribution is "well research says sharks do X and not Y". The chief is trying to meet the demands of the job, the town, and the danger, and juggle it all so he can come out at the end with some career left.

Being afraid of water but working in a coastal town is funny, though. And the kind of tough choices you might have to make in the real world: if the best (or only) job you can get is a tourist town by the sea, then that's the one you take.

I wonder sometimes about all the people who got impressed into service aboard naval vessels who couldn't even swim, and what that must have been like. But also, why would you not, at that point, learn to swim‽

If you went over the side it'd only delay the inevitable.

Would being able to swim even save a sailor if he were washed overboard in a storm? I feel doubtful.

I expect naval vessels didn't have swimming pools in those days.

Yeah, but I imagine they spent a significant amount of time in ports or around beaches. When the ship is anchored for a foreseeable amount of time, they would have had a chance to learn it.

I know that since most didn't learn it that it probably somehow made sense to them not to learn it anyway, but it's hard to explain from my perspective too. I learned as a kid and it felt pretty much effortless, but maybe it's harder for an adult to learn it. And it's not like it's very likely to save your life; from their point of view, it's likely if you fell in the drink it was in a situation where swimming wouldn't help much (ship just got sank, big storm). Maybe it'd mean additional dangerous tasks might be asked of you if your superiors find out you can swim.

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