Jaws turns 50: reading Peter Benchley's novel, you barely mind if its self-loathing characters are eaten by a 'genius' shark
Jaws turns 50: reading Peter Benchley's novel, you barely mind if its self-loathing characters are eaten by a 'genius' shark
Peter Benchley’s classic 1974 ‘man versus beast’ blockbuster novel doubled as a scathing critique of 1970s America. Spielberg’s film made its characters likeable – and its tone into a ‘grand adventure’.
I’m pretty sure this attitude spawned the video game Maneater and it’s amazing.
I read the book back in 08, and I hated it. The article discusses the reasons why pretty well, but puts things pretty succinctly in saying that it's because you kinda want the shark to eat the characters. They're not compelling, interesting people. The whole thing feels nihilistic to me.
Jaws is one of my very favorite movies, and probably the first one I think of when I imagine a perfect film.
He's a terrible writer, that's why.