Recently, I had the privilege to watch Steven Spielberg's classic blockbuster Jaws on the big screen in glorious 4k. It was beautiful, but it the clarify of image wasn't the only thing I saw. On top of that, I noticed copious amounts of foreshadowing (the machete, the scuba tank, the picture of the shark destroying the boat, the life vests, Quint checking Hooper's hands but not Brody's - and I'm pretty sure Hooper was originally supposed to get eaten like in the book, which would explain Mrs. Brody's poorly worded, "I hear you're in sharks?" comment way earlier). And I also noticed something that caused the entire way I looked at the movie to change, or at least, opened up a new interpretation of the film I'd never considered before.
To start off, I should say that I'm no film critic, nor am I a particularly intelligent or creative person. As such, all of these thoughts should be taken with a grain of salt. I'm probably stretching on most of things, reading too deeply into some things, and probably just wrong about everything. It should also be noted that this isn't the only thing I think Jaws is really about. It's just one layer.
The theory I put forth is simple: Jaws is actually all about the USS Indianapolis and Quint finally dying the death he should have in the war.
Yes, despite being largely absent from the first half of the movie, Quint's story might very well just be the emotional core of the film. It's all very subtle, and because he isn't in the entire thing, can seem like just a back burner type of story.
Here's what we know about Quint. He was a sailor during World War II and was a crew member of the USS Indianapolis. This was the ship that transported key components of the atomic bomb to the Pacific, which allowed for the first bomb on Hiroshima to be dropped effectively and as quickly as possible. On its return voyage, it was sunk by a Japanese submarine. The mission was so top secret that no one knew that ship was out there, and it wasn't even reported missing for over a week after it should have returned.
Most of the men were killed during the attack or drowned. Many of the initial survivors, however, were methodically taken out by sharks. Quint was one of the lucky ones to be rescued, but he didn't escape unscathed.
We learn this from the scene wherein Quint and Hooper are comparing physical wounds. It's all fun and games - a friendly competition - until Brody asks about one scar on Quint's arm. Turns out, it was from a tattoo removal. That tattoo in question was from his time in the Navy; more specifically, it was related to the Indianapolis. Of all the scars, this was the one that wasn't a laughing matter. Sure, the story was inherently grave and serious, but it wasn't ultimately about the Indianapolis. The story highlights that Quint left the experience (understandably) scarred mentally.
He tried to remove the memories when he had the tattoo removed, and perhaps his career choice was also an effort to exercise his demons. His profession? Shark hunter. Having survived but witnessed a huge number of shark attacks, he spent his life killing sharks himself. Rather than staying as far away from the ocean as possible, he went on some sort of revenge motif. Or maybe he hunts sharks because he knows it can be dangerous and he might finally suffer the fate he feels he should have suffered during the war. He seems to know right away how dangerous the shark in Jaws actually is, as evident by his asking price.
When Quint tells his horrible tale, he makes mention of the fact that he was most scared "waitin' for (his) turn." Basically, he had accepted his death back when he was stranded in the water with all those sharks. At one point, he talks about a friend of his he bumped into after the Indianapolis sunk. Thinking his friend was asleep, he went over to him, only to find he had been bitten in half below the waist. It's not much of a stretch to assume Quint suffered from PTSD. He also probably has a case of survivor's guilt, and he probably felt like he should have been one of the sharks' victims during the Indianapolis incident.
After it's clear this shark means business and the ship is going to sink, Quint accepts his fate. He grabs a couple of life jackets and throws them to Hooper and Brody, but he refuses to wear one himself. This was also alluded to in his story. "I'll never put on a life jacket again," he says near the end.
Quint was most scared waiting to be killed by the sharks. He won't wear the life jacket because it's either they kill the shark here, or he dies. He refuses to be subjected to death toying with him. If the ship goes down, he'll finally meet the fate he thought he should have met in 1945. And yet, the situation is quite similar.
They all felt in control for quite some time, but by the end it's clear the shark was messing with them. It was teasing them with their deaths. It eventually got to the point where Quint lost his cool. He started driving toward shore in a moment of desperation, and despite warnings to slow down, he pushed the throttle and killed the engine. Basically, he started getting panicky and scared after he realized they were going to die, killed by the shark, and he was now just "waitin' his turn."
His fate also parallels his friend's from the story. The person he saw dead in the water back in 1945 was bitten in half at the waist. The last time we see Quint - before he's pulled down into the water and devoured - the entire lower half of his body is in the shark's mouth. He is effectively bitten in half at the waist. This was the exact death he should have suffered in 1945, but somehow escaped.
Plus, Quint's theme was "Spanish Ladies," a traditional sailor's song. "Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies," he'd sing frequently. "Farewell and adieu to you ladies of Spain. For we've received orders for to sail back to Boston. And so nevermore shall we see you again."
Though Quint is a fisherman who makes money killing sharks, it often seems as though he does it on his own. It's his job because he makes it his. He does it because he wants to. Brody approaches him and contracts him to do a specific job. In some ways, Brody represents the government/Navy during World War II, and killing the shark represents delivering the bomb. He's "received orders" to sail again, basically. His story about the Indianapolis is all about the people who were eaten by sharks, but he ends in with, "anyway, we delivered the bomb." They did the job.
So if he received his orders, nevermore shall we see him again. His death is pretty well telegraphed in the film.
One might even consider earlier events in the film to parallel the events of the Indianapolis story too. One by one, people start getting attacked. And yet the mayor of Amity doesn't do anything for quite some time. People get attacked and killed in the span of about a week, about the time it took before the mayor finally allowed Brody to act. "They didn't even list us as overdue for a week!" Quint explains regarding the Indianapolis. One of the victims was even attacked on June 29th, as evident by the reward notice. (June 29th was - incorrectly - listed as the date in which the Indianapolis went down, although it was only off by a day.)
Overall, the entire film is ultimately about events that vaguely parallel the Indianapolis story, only this time resulting in Quint's death. Quint maybe even wanted the gig because he knew he might finally meet that fate he narrowly avoided thirty years prior. He might have actively wanted to die by the shark, given that he blew the engines which caused them to sink, and he smashed the radio as Brody was attempting to call the Coast Guard ("our bomb mission had been so secret, no distress signal had been sent.")
In fact, Quint had probably even set off with all intentions of dying. I know this is a bit contradicted by the fact he demanded $10,000 for his services, but I'd just argue that he's an erratic man suffering from post-traumatic stress and feelings of guilt having survived. We never really see him with the general public outside his introduction. Perhaps he's just putting on a face he thinks is relatively normal. Expecting to die might explain why he was insistent on going out alone to try and catch a deadly great white shark.
Or, it's all just about trying to hunt down a shark that's been methodically killing swimmers. (Although to be fair, this "monstrous shark" also might have gone away - as theorized by Hooper with his territorial theory - so perhaps everything could have been avoided if the mayor had just closed the beaches for a week or two and the shark lost its food supply. By and large, the shark doesn't really do anything "evil" or "monstrous" up until it weirdly starts stalking the Orca. Before that though, it's just being a shark.)
But what fun is it to not try and read too deeply into a movie?
No comments:
Post a Comment