There are some ideas that seem fine when you are warm, dry and
surrounded by the bolstering of youthful bravado that seem rather ill
advised come morning. The first night on the boat someone suggested
we watch 'Jaws' as a goof. It is the ultimate ghost story for a camp
out on the sea and when everyone was excited by the prospect it
seemed harmless. We were all boys from 15 to 18 and no one could
realistically express reservations without the fear of something
worse than a giant man-eating fish, getting teased. No one wants to
risk that so willing or not we all faked enthusiasm and the ships
captain told us how to fire up the VCR and TV and we settled in for a
fish story. At first everyone laughed and joked when the shark music
would come on. Duh-duh Duh-duh, ha ha ha ha, I can't believe some
people thought this movie was scary. Ever so slowly the night got
darker and the lights of Los Angeles descended below the horizon and
the only sound was the engine and the lapping of the waves. The mood
settled into a rather intense concentration on the small glowing
rectangle that was telling us about the desperate struggle that the
grizzled old captain found himself locked into as he matched wits and
wills with an exceptional shark. I wish we were lucky like Fred
Savage and there was a kindly old grandpa who could tell us that the
hero didn’t get eaten by the shark at this time because we did look
concerned, even worried. The movie ends and that was going to be that
but the nights are long below decks and the next morning we all had
to get into the self-same water that sharks, real non-animatronic
sharks, lived in and peer pressure couldn't save you under the sea.
The next morning there was some definite hesitation to be the first
into the water. When the boys were called out about their timidity
being related to the previous night's movie they all laughed and
denied it but I think it just may have been true. It was for me.
Unfortunately for the narrative punch of this little vignette
everyone eventually got in the water and dove and no one was eaten by
a shark, not even a little bit.
