Jaws (Movie Review)

Steven Spielberg's breakout film, Jaws is the quintessential summer blockbuster, generating all the horror, thrills, suspense, and special effects you would expect from such a film. Not excessively violent or gruesome like traditional horror films, Jaws nonetheless manages to create an icy frost in every viewer's veins. Based on the true story of a great white shark which terrorized the shores of New Jersey in the summer of 1916, Jaws is an ingenious adaptation of Peter Benchley's best-selling novel inspired by the incident. Jaws tells the story of man's eternal struggle against nature, a story so compelling it captures the imagination of every generation who hears it - from 1916 to 1975 to the present day...

Jaws takes place in the small New England beach resort of Amity Island, the perfect summer getaway for Northeastern tourists. But this Normal Rockwell community paradise is about to be turned upside down. Late one night, a young couple decides to go swimming. But when the woman's mangled body is washed ashore the next morning, it's clear to local authorities that she isn't a typical drowning victim. The medical examiner informs Police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) that the woman could have been the victim of a shark attack, but Amity Mayor Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) refuses to speculate, fearing that public knowledge of a shark attack would kill the local economy.

When another shark attacks occurs, this time is broad daylight, the incident draws shark expert Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) to the area. Working with Chief Brody, Hooper postulates that a great white shark is responsible for the attacks, and the swimming population is in great danger. Meanwhile, a shark hunter named Quint offers to find and kill the shark for $10,000, but Mayor Vaughn believes that price is too high. More and more beach combers will have to be slaughtered before he'll agree to acknowledge the seriousness of the problem, and when the authorities finally decide to go after the great white, the really danger is only beginning...

With brilliant direction and state-of-the-art special effects (satisfactory even by today's standards), Jaws is a true edge-of-your-seat thriller wrought with suspense. The unknown is masterfully woven throughout the movie with a crescendo effect that keeps the audience guessing until the end. Like any good story, the shark is never shown in the opening scenes. Instead, the movie begins with an attack in near darkness. The shark is alluded to... Even when someone is attacked in daylight, the audience is only privy to an exposed fin and the blood of the victim as it spreads across the water. This approach effectively combines fear of the unknown with the already present fear of the shark to create a chilling atmosphere for movie goers. Is it any wonder then that Jaws was a blockbuster hit?

It's this high level of suspense that I like most about Jaws. Like a fine murder novel, the scenes draw the audience into the setting, forcing you to identify with the characters. In due time, you begin to fear for your own life. After watching Jaws, you may not swim at the beach ever again... And any movie that can have that type of effect must be good! That's why Jaws ranks as a definite must-see film...

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Avatar - Just a Movie, Or a Turning Point?

Occasionally a great film captures the undercurrent of our collective human psyche. When we historically look back at the movie, it becomes apparent that the film called attention to something that was stirring inside of us, yet unexpressed, and either the movie deliberately was produced to capture this subconscious undercurrent, or the undercurrent was so ripe that the first movie that touched on these subconscious urgings became an instant hit. Either way, Avatar is that kind of movie.

Beyond the cutting edge animation and state of the art 3D cinema lies a truth that has been ignored for a long time now, a truth that has just begun to touch the hearts of mainstream America revealing the essence of the human spirit; that goodness eventually prevails, and evil is dispelled. For decades, it's been the other way around.

A great shift in human values is happening before our eyes. People are becoming tired of the old way of doing business, which is by selfishness, contention and hatred. The tipping point is very near for this shift, and this movie could be the straw that breaks the camel's back regarding the illusions we have been living under for a long time - that our happiness lies in the cynical promise of advantages over others, and the promise of selfish opportunity to acquire and possess personal fortunes without harming others.

My experience as a meditation teacher indicates that the kids of this new generation are different. They observe the struggle and stress that their parents are putting themselves through, which many times results in divorce, to make unreasonable amounts of money to buy things and amass the fortunes now required for college tuitions and retirement. And the kids want no part of it. It's just too much for the average kid to comprehend.

Young adults of the new generation email me;

"I started to analyze this life I have been living, going through the motions. I saw that the knowledge I am receiving in college is filtered through society's ways of life- get a career, work hard, get money, promote yourself and your status. I started to realize that so many humans are living based on false notions...this way of life isn't right. Going about doing this and doing that, back and forth, going through the societal system, harming others for personal pleasure...there has to be something deeper.

And,

"Through seeing that the desires of this world are not true happiness but the continuation of suffering by the attachment of worldly goods and pleasures..... As a wise man once wrote " I close my eyes in order to see"... will be able to help others through an unclouded mind unaffected by the desires of this world."

And finally,

"I want to face the spiritual experiences... really understand this journey we find ourselves on. I want to find true meaning in my life and escape this man made rat race where people always, always seem to fight for material and personal gain. My view of life has changed quite a bit recently...now I want my life itself to change, for the better."

These young adults express human values that lead to true happiness, and actually they are already very wise because they understand where true happiness lies, but are confused by the signals our society sends them.

Avatar the movie might just be that voice that defines this new generation's heart. If this is true, the tipping point of virtue, over selfishness and profits, may be closer than we think.

That's when our lives and focus will change dramatically.

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