Steven Spielberg "Regrets" Sharks Were "Decimated" Because of Jaws

Steven Spielberg is convinced that it’s his fault that sharks are in danger.

According to Steven Spielberg, the success of the film Jaws i would have both concrete and catastrophic effects on sharks. Presented as bloodthirsty monstersgreat white sharks would have been victims of a massive hunt after the film’s release cult released in 1975.

Spielberg is afraid the sharks will “resent” him

One of the passions of filmmakers who love movies at sea is traumatize generations of swimmers. But for Steven Spielberg it doesn’t pass. The director is convinced that his film is the cause of the disappearance and suffering of many sharks. “I’m really sorry that the shark population has been decimated because of the book and the movie. I’m really sorry »he confided into the microphone of the show Desert Island Discsaired this Sunday at BBC Radio 4.

According to his words, the director seems to cultivate remorse towards the sharks, almost 50 years after the release of his film. When asked how he would react a desert island surrounded by sharksSpielberg replied:

“It’s one of the things I always fear. Not to be eaten by a shark, but that the sharks are mad at me somehow for mad feeding frenzy of the sports fisherman happened after 1975. »

An overrated influence… but a major question mark

Where does fiction end, where does reality begin? Done, global shark population decreased by 71% from the beginning of the years 1970.

This decline is related to the overfishingas indicated by the researchers behind this study published in 2021. Asked by The GuardianPaux Cox, chief executive of a shark advocacy association, confirmed that the decline in shark numbers preceded the release of the Teeth of the sea. According to him, think so Jaws is at the origin of this disaster, it is “give too much credit to the film. »

Even if the correlation does not seem to be established, the fact remains that it is beneficial to see directors (in particular superstar directors), questioning the impact of their images on the world.