Hands down, my favorite book is Peter Benchley’s Jaws. I read it before I saw Stephen Spielberg’s 1975 film. The book is fast-paced, mysterious, and complex. Loving the ocean growing up, it was the first story that immersed me in an ocean world through storytelling (other than Jonah and the whale). I have yet to tackle Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. I love Jaws because it introduced me to science fiction with Benchley’s mysterious creature of the deep. The story is grounded in the characters grappling with the age-old literary tradition of human vs nature. I love all the characters especially the Captain of the Orca, Captain Quint who won my heart as a teenage boy. His surliness, confidence, and his home/office by the sea, described as an artist studio of the ocean, was locked into my memory. 

There is a direct contrast from the original first edition book cover to the movie poster. Though thought of as low art, I love poster design. There are various posters series that have I have come to love including the National Park Series, World War One bonds, and other various WPA campaigns. Jaws’ poster design is iconic: a bold, witty typeface, overall coloring, and shark accuracy. Roger spent time at a natural history museum looking at preserved shark carcasses to bring the Great White to life.

Jaws changed the movie industry forever pioneering the summer blockbuster. I think the poster had a lot to do with it. First, I love the red typeface with the letter J doubling as a hook. Red is a bold choice always because it is such a direct color telling us to stop and be aware of what lies ahead of us (or below). Here, the coloring is a foreshadowing tool. All elements in poster design must serve in communicating key themes to the audience. The poster design is ultimately a tool for communication. The thin line between commercialization and fine art often get blurred. The naked woman (the first victim in the book and film) is naked, vulnerable, and in open water. Here, the shark is accurate, dominate, and vertical. I love the dominance of our main character. The enemy and the victim are shown together - again, human vs. nature. The shark, our villain, doesn't even appear on screen until one hour and 21 minutes into the two-hour movie. Spielberg had us falling over our seats in anticipation, hook, line and sinker. I recently watched Jaws for the umpteenth time and something about it makes it so re-watchable. It is a great story. The characters pull us in and make us care like any good stories. Ultimately, this film was bad for sharks and bad for our collective understanding of the ocean. Yet, the book does a much better job of placing our limited humanity in relationship to the shark - as the Scientist says to the Sheriff: “Look, Chief, you can't go off half-cocked looking for vengeance against a fish. That shark isn't evil. It's not a murderer. It's just obeying its own instincts. Trying to get retribution against a fish is crazy.” (Peter Benchley, Jaws)

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