Dear Sharks, Steven Spielberg is sorry for what Jaws did to you

Shark, sorry Steven Spielberg. The director of the 1975 summer blockbuster Jaws said he felt responsible for the deadly effect the film may have had on the shark population.

Spielberg, who was just 27 when he made Jaws, said he was afraid: “The sharks are mad at me because of the feeding frenzy of crazy sports fishermen that happened after 1975, which I really regret to this day. … The director said on Desert Island Discs: Shark population because of the book and movie (Peter Benchley), I’m really sorry. Interview with BBC Radio Published on Sunday.

It appears that there has been something of a giant take from the shark population since the 1970s. According to A A 2021 study published in the journal NaturePopulations of sharks and rays worldwide declined by more than 71 percent between 1970 and 2018. The Washington Post (He believes that people would fish for sharks without film.)

While Spielberg may have felt bad about the impact his film had, he actually didn’t feature the shark much in the famous film. Three mechanical sharks were made for it, but They were unreliable And their bottoms were made of soaked water and swelled them. Because of this, he says, the director chose not to show the shark too much, which created suspense and improved the film.

Spielberg said in the interview, “It’s a much better movie that the shark keeps breaking, because I had to be creative in figuring out how to create suspense and terror without seeing the shark itself.” He noted that famed director Alfred Hitchcock followed a similar philosophy in his films, finding ways to scare the audience “without actually seeing anything.

“It was lucky for me that the shark kept breaking,” Spielberg said. “That was my luck, and I think it was the audience’s luck as well… It’s a scarier movie without seeing too much shark.”