Don't know about you but I am man enough now to admit it, but the summer that Steven Spielberg's released his future academy award winning blockbuster based on the best selling Peter Benchley novel, it ruined my summer in Southern California. Years previous to the release, I would spend my boy hood summers on the beaches and in the semi-warm pacific ocean of Southern California. But then that movie came out. What made it worse and embed the terror and horror into my future nightmares and phobias was the fact that it was such a hit that I saw it five times in two weeks. Not that I wanted to be terrified so often, but because first my older brother Floyd took me to see it, then my other older brother Randy, then my Mother, then my other older brother Fred, then finally I had to go see it with my friends (because I could not chicken out). To add saltwater to the wound, the next day we were off to Newport Beach. It was fourth of July weekend.
That summer, I would visit the beach several times, but each time was only wetting the ankles and if I did venture out with a boogie board, I was riding the first wave into the shore. What was the reason? Well not only did that movie insight the fear of the deep dark ocean into my conscience, but within days of the release of this mega hit, a mega Great White Shark, well 13 footer was caught off the southern California coast, then the next day, a surfer was attacked by a Great White Shark (Robert Rebstock). During the summer of 75, three or four large Great Whites were caught off the coast. I believe the final one was 17 feet long and two full grown seals were found in its belly. But also, two more shark attacks made the front page of the local papers.
For years, I had fears of the ocean, the great jaws coming from the bottom and dragging my body to a horrible bloody death. I even was afraid of swimming in a dark swimming pool for years. But as time has gone on, the fear became my quest to overcome it. Years later I would not only overcome the fear, but embrace the creatures and their home. I learned to scuba dive and would enjoy diving at night. My favorite place to dive was Sharks Cove, Hawaii and even swam with my first shark there.
While the movie may seem cheesy at this point in our cinema technology level, for those of us who lived through the Summer of Jaws, it was a classic and an thank you Steven and Peter for causing us all to get sunburned, rather than attacked by the sharks.
