I remember where I was and the events surrounding the very first time that I ever saw the movie 鈥楯AWS鈥�.
I know I bring it up a lot, especially in the summer, but for this quintessential and landmark life moment, I was indeed up at Candle Lake with my family.聽 The exact year escapes me, but I don鈥檛 believe we鈥檇 entered the new millennium yet, so we鈥檙e talking at least 20 years ago.
The general store up at Candle rented movies at the time, and even though we鈥檙e only talking the late 90鈥檚 here, it鈥檚 one of those places that always seemed to be a few years behind everywhere else as far as advancements in home video technology was concerned.聽 To be honest though, those stores and other places of business that are 鈥減aused in time鈥� are some of my favorite places to walk into sometimes.聽 Old school is still cool, if you ask me.
No, we鈥檙e not talking the latest in hi-def Bluray and we鈥檙e not even talking basic DVD tech 鈥� we鈥檙e talking VHS, baby.聽 For anyone born after 1995, VHS tapes are those black and rectangular plastic shapes that probably take up space on your parents鈥� bookshelf at home.聽 We rented them by the handful when we were kids and we cursed the previous renters with a vicious blue streak if they were unkind and didn鈥檛 rewind.
So, as we were strolling around the general store up at Candle that one summer day back in the 90鈥檚, my parents rented 鈥楯AWS鈥� for us three boys.聽 It was one of those movies I鈥檇 always wanted to see and just never got around to it.聽 We loaded up on junk food and enough pop to drown a small rhinoceros and went back to the cabin to watch this 1975 classic blockbuster.
In a word?聽 I was floored.聽 I suppose that鈥檚 the best word to use when a movie 鈥榤oves you鈥� like that.聽 Sure, in hindsight, the giant shark was kinda clunky looking, but it didn鈥檛 matter to me as a kid watching all of this for the first time.聽 That music (Duh dun, duh dun鈥�) got into my bones and I was just along for the ride.
By the time the movie was over, there was still daylight left and my brothers and I went swimming in the lake.聽 I鈥檓 not too proud to admit that even at a 鈥渕aturing鈥� age in my teens and knowing full well that I was swimming in a lake and not the ocean, I still had a teeny, tiny bit of apprehension over being in the water.
Alas, there was no great white shark coming at me from the murky depths, nor did I see that old salty dog Quint motoring by on his vessel, The Orca.聽 The only thing that managed to swim underneath me was probably some Northern pike, and the only old salty dog nearby would have been my dad Jack, who we could only convince to get in the water once in all of our times up at the lake 鈥� and all he did was roll up his jeans (Jeans!聽 In the dead of summer heat!) and walk around in the foot-high shore.
Flash forward all these years later, and 鈥楯AWS鈥� has long been on my personal list of favorite films of all time.聽 It鈥檚 required viewing every summer, sometimes twice.聽 In fact, during my recent summer break from work, I watched it at a drive-in movie theatre.聽 鈥楯AWS鈥� at the drive-in 鈥� imagine that!聽 Just the way it was watched back in 1975 by scores of people who were inevitably too freaked out that they forgot to fog up the glass and play tonsil hockey with the person seated across the vehicle from them.
Before the movie, the drive-in I was at even played some classic Warner Bros. cartoons featuring Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd.聽 And yes, Elmer had his trusty gun with him 鈥� no repackaged and sanitized version of Mr. Fudd for the thin-skinned generation here.
Sharks have fascinated me ever since I saw 鈥楯AWS鈥� when I was a kid.聽 So much so that every summer I look forward to the best week of the summer 鈥� Shark Week on the Discovery Channel.聽 Well, these days it鈥檚 almost the best week of the summer.聽 You see, Shark Week has become something different from its heyday.聽 These days, TV producers have seemed to trade in education and real-life stories of shark encounters or all-out attacks for celebrity involvement, designed to boost ratings.
Don鈥檛 get me wrong, the educational stuff about sharks is still there, but it鈥檚 basically been shoved to the back to make room for specials such as Mike Tyson vs JAWS, where it鈥檚 promoted as some kind of boxing match or whatever 鈥� the 鈥楽laughter in the Water鈥� has a nice ring to it, but it鈥檚 all kind of cheesy and eye-rolling.
Just give me sharks.聽 Lots of them.聽 Leave the celebs at home.
Oh well.聽 At the end of the day, I鈥檒l always have 鈥楯AWS鈥�.
For this week, that鈥檚 been the Ruttle Report.
