50 Years After Its Release, Can We Agree the Shark Was the Victim in ‘Jaws’?

Of all the recreational activities and skills I picked up as a kid, swimming was up at the top of my favorites. Something about being weightless and floating in a pool, making up random games with my friends, always brought me joy.

Never in all my years of swimming, though, did I ever think, “I want to do this in the ocean.” To me, if human beings were meant to be part of the aquatic world, we’d have gills and/or flippers. So, when people say Jaws ruined the ocean for them, I have a hard time relating because I genuinely don’t believe we even belong in still waters like lakes, let alone the ocean, with all its vastness.

Released in 1975, Jaws followed the small town of Amity Island as they dealt with a shark attack during the summer of 1974. The film opens with a young woman breaking away from her group of friends at a bonfire and heads into the ocean, where she promptly is thrashed around at the surface and dragged under the water, never to be seen again. The town coroner determines her cause of death to be a shark attack and all hell breaks loose. 

The first problem I have with the way the town handles this incident is the fact that they characterized it as an “attack.” Again, I may sound insensitive here, but sharks are not our friends.

They are ocean predators and any harm they cause while we’re in their territory is completely warranted, if you ask me. The girl in question chose to go for a swim by herself in the dead of night … not the smartest decision, shark or no shark.

The poor shark is immediately vilified as the beach is completely shut down and there’s a frenzied call to start a search party to find the animal and kill it.

This is when I began to see that people can sometimes be the worst: Because the beach is a source of income for the town during the summer months, the mayor is afraid that keeping it shut will tank the economy of Amity Island. He then forces the chief of police, Martin Brody (played by Roy Scheider) to reopen the beaches, which he does.

While at the beach, Mayor Vaughn personally walks around encouraging people to get in the water, spreading the misinformation that the shark is no longer a threat. The entire time, Chief Brody is apprehensive and clearly distressed by the decision, but he goes along with it anyway. A young boy is subsequently attacked and the hate for the shark escalates.

If we’re being objective, can we really blame the shark in this instance? You see it with every animal: When they know that a certain spot is a great source for food, they are likely to frequent that place more often because they know they’re guaranteed a good meal. I mean, how many times have you visited your favorite restaurant?

Brody, along with a shark expert named Matt Hooper (played by Richard Dreyfuss) and a shark hunter named Quint (Robert Shaw), decides to personally handle the matter and embark on an expedition to murder the shark.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free weekly newsletter to get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.

Their journey results in a face-off that sees Quint dead, and a mega explosion that only a master filmmaker like Spielberg could have executed in the ’70s. The defenseless shark is detonated to bits and everyone cheers. It’s a cathartic scene for most viewers, but a big bummer for those of us who were rooting for the shark.

It’s no question that Jaws was and remains a cinematic masterpiece. The film grossed $476 million worldwide and is considered the first summer blockbuster. Those who were impacted by it — for better or for worse — are still very much affected by it today.

But, as we rewatch and reevaluate the film, I urge you to root for the right protagonist. That shark didn’t stroll into the police precinct and start biting people. He was minding his business and several meals came his way. I too, enjoy a meal I don’t have to work hard for, so I can relate.