Looking at the Big Picture

Jaws

I saw Jaws at a Massachusetts drive-in when I was a kid – though I've seen the film so many times, growing up not far from its filming location, that it's actually become embedded, in itself a childhood memory. My grandparents had a boat in Gloucester, Mass., and my mom spent all of her weekends and summers on the ocean. When we watched Jaws together, albeit 20 years after its release date, there was no sudden fear of the beach. All potential nightmares diminished by the assuring words: "That would never happen."

What was frightening about Jaws was the dark parallel it presented to contrast my grandparents' storied party time lifestyle. The ominous claustrophobia of the "scar" scene, that gory mouth later crashing through the boat's window, the half-assed Moby Dick finally blown to bits – these fall flat in the living rooms and laptops of the modern age. The big screen is what creates the experience, which – grown old – becomes a memory.

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Sat., Aug. 6, 3:15pm & Sun., Aug. 7, 4:30pm (P)