JAWS Binge or Bust?
“Jaws” as one of my college professors said, “is Moby Dick with attitude.” The first time I saw Jaws it forever changed my life. No longer would I be able to swim in any body of water without the dread of thinking about a creature underneath me. This movie has traumatized me for life. As I watched it with my kids the other night, I saw the same enjoyable trauma in their eyes.
In reality the mechanical shark of Jaws, named Bruce, wasn’t scary at all. In fact there were several sharks. Some sunk to the bottom of the ocean, others wouldn’t cooperate when the cameras were rolling, and then others ended up in junkyards in LA. What made the shark scary? The power of cinema. Stephen Spielberg said that the editor Verna Fields saved this movie. If anything it’s a testament to the power of movie magic! We love to be fooled.
There are really only two objects we fear: fear of the natural and fear of the supernatural. These two objects make their way into many movies, such as The Birds and Jaws. There’s also the fear of the unknown, the “super” natural—the things above the natural world and of course many movies are built on this fear like the shining and the exorcist.
All throughout the movie my boys begged for answers, “Dad is he going to die? Will the shark get him? Where is the shark now?” That’s because almost all fears can be reduced to a fear of the unknown, the fear of not knowing what will happen next. Uncertainty is dreadful and this drives the greatest moments of suspense and terror in movies.
Oddly enough we find fear pleasurable. That’s why the horror industry makes millions of dollars! So fear is dreadful yet we crave it. How does this make sense?
Well there’s one more kind of fear: this is the fear of God. We were created to fear God. That is the idea that God is infinite, He’s much greater than us and when we recognize that we are ready to listen to Him. The fear of God is a recognition of His greatness that demands our attention. Proverbs 1:7 says that’s the beginning of wisdom as does the oldest book of the Bible, Job 28:28. What we fear we pay attention to. My kids eyes were glued to jaws, they couldn’t look away. They didn’t miss a detail. If a bear ran into your house right now you’d drop your phone and give your full attention to the bear. When you stand on the edge of a cliff your body begins to tremble and feel a rush. Fear takes over you. It’s overpowering yet satisfying. We get glimpses of this effect in movies. But the full effect comes from knowing God!
Binge! 5 Stars