How The Movie Jaws Predicted The US Pandemic Response

In the United States, it is the second month of quarantines and shutdowns. Technically it’s only been three weeks for my day job and me but it has gone from March to April.

Despite our state and local governments taking action, the federal one is, as expected, less than impressive. It reminds one of the movie Jaws. The 1975 movie got a lot of facts wrong about sharks, but it seems more relevant to how governments handle a crisis.

Deaths Are Ignored Or Denied

It’s pretty obvious that Mayor Vaughn in the movie is concerned about keeping tourists happy. Chrissie dies and the medical examiner rules it as a shark death. The mayor overrides him because he says if a shark is in the town of Amity, then the tourists won’t come in the summer.

Let’s note that we never meet Chrissie’s family. The mayor treats her as a statistic, a hazard of swimming at night. As a result, victim-blaming is implied here.

Chrissie shouldn’t have been swimming with a drunk date at night. Even if the shark weren’t there, she could have easily drowned by a rip current, been attacked by barracudas, or injured by sea urchins. Because she’s a woman, and a “girl” really, the mayor just wants to attribute her death to recklessness. Which, it was reckless but that’s beside…