Carl Gottlieb - The Jaws Log: Expanded Edition

I began writing this foreword during a recent visit to South Africa, where I spent a few days in the bush near Kruger National Park and had a near-death experience with an angry elephant. Having helped popularize the notion that anyone could be taken by a deep-sea predator, it occurred to me that my obituary might feature the fact that I was killed by a wild animal. Friends were quick to comment: How ironic.

Fortunately, the elephant decided not to overturn the Land Rover in which I was riding, no one was gored or trampled, and I survived to tell the tale. Peter Benchleys genius in telling us the story of Jaws was to give us the sharks point of view, and the films main titles capture the restless predators underwater search, while the subsequent reveal of a beach party in progress reminds us that up on dry land, were safe to pursue beer and sex and song. Its when we shed our clothes and enter the creatures domain that we risk sudden and terrible death.

If theres anything to make of this, its the simple truth that life is far less structured than narrative fiction, and nothing like the movies. How doubly ironic it is that more people are hit by lightning than are bitten by sharks, although it took an angry elephant to remind me were not particularly safe anywhere when we venture into the world of wild animals. And I wasnt drinking or naked, like poor Chrissy in the movie, who ran out of the firelight and headlong into the dark waters of our collective subconscious fear.

Ever since the film was released, fans have been telling me that they didnt go swimming for a year after they saw the movie. Some have insisted that they were even hesitant about going into swimming pools. How triply ironic, considering that man-eating sharks have never inhabited swimming pools. Its a tribute to the enduring mythology of the movies that Jaws had this universal effect on audiences who saw it in theaters, where the darkness and the big screen conspire with our imagination to create enduring impressions.

Like most people whove earned a living in the popular arts, I wish I knew what the formula is to create an iconic (or ironic) work. The process remains mysterious and unknowable. Its a tribute to the unique genius of Steven Spielberg that he was able to tap into the worlds collective movie sense often enough to create a series of popular successes (beginning with Jaws ) that will probably last for generations. The collaborators who served his vision, myself included, never knew that our simple commercial entertainments would become a part of the worlds common popular culture, although we certainly hope for that most elusive victory every time we enter the lists.