Jaws situation Steven Spielberg on the map. But the director laments the film’s environmental impact.
In a new interview with BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs, Spielberg, 76, has spoken of feeling guilty about dwindling shark populations after the astronomical popularity of his 1975 blockbuster, in which a sleepy New England coastal town tries to save itself from a great white shark that kills beachgoers. Spielberg was only 27 years old at the time the film was made.
“I really, to this day, regret the sharks that died because of the book and the movie,” said the director. “That’s one of the things I’m still afraid of. Don’t get eaten by a shark, but those sharks are kind of mad at me for the crazy sport fishermen rampage that happened after 1975.”
Spielberg is not alone in his regrets. Peter Benchley, author of the book Jaws He was based on, spent most of the rest of his life campaigning to protect sharks, and BBC reported previously.
“Knowing what I know now, I could never have written this book today,” said Benchley. “Sharks don’t target humans, and they certainly don’t hold grudges.”
Despite Spielberg’s assurances, experts are mixed about the film’s impact on the existence of sharks. While it is a statistical fact that the number of sharks is shrinking (2021 Global study Posted in nature found that the number of oceanic sharks and rays in the world has decreased by 71%) Some experts say that this is not due to the book or the movie. To blame, said Paul Cox, CEO of Shark Trust Jaws is “giving the film a lot of credit”.
“It’s very clear that shark population declines are overfishing of fisheries,” he explained. Watchman mentioned.
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