'Legacy' - The Words of Peter Benchley

[DevonDiver]

1) Did you think that the shark fin/meat in Hong Kong came from Hong Kong? They are imported to Hong Kong, from around the globe.. including US waters.

2) Google the words 'pelagic' and 'migratory'... of relevance to many shark species... especially the types favored for eating.

Stanford Report - Great white sharks migrate thousands of miles across the sea, new study finds



Even assuming that the shark meat eaten was somehow restricted to 'locally raised' sharks... mercury content is a factor of pollution in the food chain. Much pollution in the water around the USA (one of the most industrialized nations in the world) methinks...

 

[danvolker]

I may be wrong, but it seems to me that people give far too much credit to entertainers. As a general rule they don't create new fears or ideas - they exploit or at best represent the social gestalt. The idea that an author could make people fear sharks is an ego boost I'm sure but unless you are the author - or looking for an easy target for blame - it just isn't credible.

I can't say how many hundreds of "non-divers" I have chatted with in the last decade, who in conversation have said that when swimming out in the ocean, they begin to hear JAWS music in their heads, and they get freaked about being over their head. It was like a primal fear he put a name on, then magnified it a dozen times

I have even seen some new Open water dive students, that don't want to be the first to jump in the water, because they are afraid some huge shark jaws will open and swallow them just as they hit the water ....

 

[Them]

Great white sharks migrate thousands of miles across the sea, new study finds

Never eaten great white. Probably never will.

Even assuming that the shark meat eaten was somehow restricted to 'locally raised' sharks... mercury content is a factor of pollution in the food chain. Much pollution in the water around the USA (one of the most industrialized nations in the world) methinks...

Sure, and you must consider it whether you eat yellowtail, bonito, or any other fish. Still, on the whole they taste good and in terms of water quality no place in the us is as bad as most places in Asia.

I can't say how many hundreds of "non-divers" I have chatted with in the last decade, who in conversation have said that when swimming out in the ocean, they begin to hear JAWS music in their heads, and they get freaked about being over their head. It was like a primal fear he put a name on, then magnified it a dozen times

I have even seen some new Open water dive students, that don't want to be the first to jump in the water, because they are afraid some huge shark jaws will open and swallow them just as they hit the water ....

But is that because of jaws or is jaws just a focal point and convenient way of cataloging pre-existing fears?

When sailing on blue waters, especially in small boats, I have had a fear-of-heights type reaction looking down into that endless blue. Is that because I saw The Abyss?

 

[danvolker]

N
But is that because of jaws or is jaws just a focal point and convenient way of cataloging pre-existing fears?

When sailing on blue waters, especially in small boats, I have had a fear-of-heights type reaction looking down into that endless blue. Is that because I saw The Abyss?

Tell a bunch of really scary ghost and cemetery stories to a group of little kids...if the stories get a visceral enough reaction...if they are scary enough, "some" of these kids will be afraid of cemeteries from then on....

 

[SeaHorse81]

I can't say how many hundreds of "non-divers" I have chatted with in the last decade, who in conversation have said that when swimming out in the ocean, they begin to hear JAWS music in their heads, and they get freaked about being over their head. It was like a primal fear he put a name on, then magnified it a dozen times

I think the person you're really mad at is Steven Spielberg, not Peter Benchley. The Jaws music and imagery are certainly embedded in the consciousness of many millions of people. The book alone could never have had that effect. I'm sure Spielberg never imagined the impact it would have, either.

 

[Hawkwood]

Read the book. The book and movie are pretty different.

 

[supergaijin]

For some reason I'm reminded of Tom Cruise getting interviewed by someone (maybe Oprah?) when he appeared in Anne Rice's 'Interview with a Vampire'. He was asked if he thought the character's quasi homosexuality was potentially damaging for his career.

His answer was "It's a film about vampires".

Is JAWS responsible for the slaughter of thousands of 'mindless predators'? Yes- everyone, including Benchley agrees that is is. Is that his fault? Not in the slightest. He... wrote... a... story.

How many human deaths have been caused by Mr Smith and Mr Wesson?

 

[Them]

Tell a bunch of really scary ghost and cemetery stories to a group of little kids...if the stories get a visceral enough reaction...if they are scary enough, "some" of these kids will be afraid of cemeteries from then on....

I haven't observed that.

I have seen children go from excited by a thunderstorm to terrified because mom was scared and giving off signals without knowing or meaning to, and I've seen a lot of moms that were scared when their kids went to play in the surf. I think that path is far more likely to account for fear of the ocean and what swims unseen beneath the surface than any movie.

For some reason I'm reminded of Tom Cruise getting interviewed by someone (maybe Oprah?) when he appeared in Anne Rice's 'Interview with a Vampire'. He was asked if he thought the character's quasi homosexuality was potentially damaging for his career.

His answer was "It's a film about vampires".

Is JAWS responsible for the slaughter of thousands of 'mindless predators'? Yes- everyone, including Benchley agrees that is is. Is that his fault? Not in the slightest. He... wrote... a... story.

How many human deaths have been caused by Mr Smith and Mr Wesson?

Benchley may claim credit but think about why. Talk about an ego booster for any author! I think actually giving him that credit is exactly as fair as crediting Ian Fleming with fear of by the West of the Soviet Union. No. Fleming capitalized on a pre-existing fear. Benchley capitalized on a pre-existing fear. It wouldn't have been popular if it didn't resonate with feelings people already had before watching the movie. That's how movies (artworks in general) always work.

Oh, and zero for S&W.

 

[drrich2]

Considering the sheer majestic awesome predatory 'presence' of a large great white working its jaws, and I think you'll accept that 'killer shark' movies were going to come about period, and would have had Benchley never been born. He and Spielberg gave the cultural phenomenon a serious early jump start, but I think a lot of this was coming anyway.

There are movies about piranha, grizzly bears, wild dogs and crocodiles preying on people. Even killer bees, tarantulas and rattle snake swarms! Swimmers out in the water are in a fairly helpless state, and can't see through the water well. Plus there's that sense that we don't know what all is out in the ocean. Throw in 16 foot massive predator with a huge maw and rows of serrated teeth lunging from the depths and...

It was going to happen.

Richard.

 

[danvolker]

Read the book. The book and movie are pretty different.

I actually read the book in 1976, while flying to Tobago on a month long Marine Research /January Term Project, for New England college. This would be my first ocean diving in my life, is some very wild places, often being dropped with a buddy and being miles from anyone else or the boat, and miles from shore, for hours. I do recall "thinking about" the story, more than once in the first week

The book had power in 1976, because there had never been anything close to this powerful before, in the new genre it formed.
When the movie came out, it was exponentially more powerful than the book, in the suspense and terror it was able to convey.

When I responded to DD, it was not to slam Benchley. Benchley was a great writer.
I think that is the way he should be heralded in history...
I don't think his contributions to help sharks are worthy of a history mention, as few people on the planet were or ever will be aware of them.