Why Steven Spielberg Regrets Making This Classic Horror Movie and How to Stream it
Last year, I reviewed Stephen Scarlata’s Sharksploitation, a Shudder documentary on the history of sharksploitation horror—basically, horror movies about killer sharks (or adjacent aquatic creatures). While Scarlata’s work is principally interested in the genre’s development, less so in the real-world impact sharksploitation has had, it does, thankfully, broadly gesture toward shark extinction due to overfishing, slaughter, and a general public perception of fear.
Basically, Jaws not only made audiences afraid of the water, it made them afraid of sharks. And when the public fears something, they’re less inclined to notice when that population is in dire straits. Steven Spielberg has those same regrets.
In a BBC Radio 4 interview in 2022, Steven Spielberg shared, “I truly and to this day regret the decimation of the shark population because of the book and the film. I really, truly regret that.” At the time, the popular press treated his regrets as kind of dumb. In a way, they are. Jaws certainly cultivated plenty of sharksploitation fear, but overfishing remains one the greatest threats shark populations face. Jaws might have kept kids and adults alike off the beach for a while, but I’m not sure it encouraged them to establish commercial fishing ventures, by extension, harming shark populations irreparably.
Interestingly, Wendy Benchley, wife of Jaws author Peter Benchley, has been a staunch environmental advocate in recent years, prioritizing ocean conservation and the protection of endangered shark species. Her work is sensational (and featured in Scarlata’s documentary), indicative of the real work those affiliated with Jaws are putting into righting a perceived wrong.
Was Jaws responsible for a contemporary fear of sharks? Undoubtedly. Shark attacks had happened before, and they’ve happened since, though it would be myopic to suggest Jaws isn’t, in some capacity, responsible for the broader public perception of sharks as killing machines. Still, despite Steven Spielberg’s regrets, I’m not convinced he bears that much responsibility. He made a scary movie—one of the greatest scary movies—and shouldn’t bear the brunt of the burden.
You can stream Jaws right via Starz or its Prime Video add-on.
What do you think? Are you a fan of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws? Do you think the movie is responsible for the present decimation of shark populations? Let me know over on Twitter @Chadiscollins.
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