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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.
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.
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‽
Even crazier, I believe many old-timey sailors considered it bad luck to know how to swim. I suppose because you were acknowledging the possibility of going over.
My mum told me she'd heard that, if you end up in the north Atlantic, you're pretty much guaranteed to freeze to death in a matter of minutes. Being able to swim would just prolong your agony.
Depends a lot on latitude and season. I've swum in the Atlantic and it's not pleasant but felt like I could sustain it for a long time, and that was a lot colder than I assume the water in Rio de Janeiro is. But yeah much of the Atlantic will kill you very quickly.
Sorry, I should have specified that I was talking about Irish fishermen. Even going a few miles off the west coast, if you fall in the drink you will probably freeze very quickly.
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