I'm talkin' 'bout sharkin'!

Jaws is one of my favorite movies because I’ve seen it so many times. I find it interesting that it isn’t the other way around. If anyone ever claims to have never seen Jaws, it is certainly not due to any fault of the networks because Jaws is on ALL THE TIME. If you have never seen it, you have never spent a Saturday morning channel-surfing in your jammies on your parents’ couch with a bowl of Pops—because Jaws was definitely on then.

I’ve loved Jaws since I was little, waiting with delight until the moment when I could chime in, “It’s just bluefish! It’s a school of bluefish!” But I’ve only more recently allowed myself to admit that it’s a favorite. After all, how many movies are there that you can watch with glee EVERY TIME they are on? Without even trying, or – now that I think of it – ever making it a point to watch Jaws all the way through, I know all the words. I absently read a magazine while my mom pages through a photo album, both of us intoning, “This is not a boat accident! And it wasn't any propeller, and it wasn't any coral reef, and it wasn't Jack the Ripper! It was a shark,” and “Michael, get out of the water!” [if you were expecting “We’re going to need a bigger boat”… please. Child’s play.]

Anyhow, as if TBS and TNT and AMC and USA needed an excuse, Jaws is on a bunch right now because it’s Shark Week, one of my favorite of all weeks [for reasons that go without saying, I presume.] I don’t really have a point to all this, other than to say that watching Jaws in the summer is a snapshot of contentment. And isn’t it strange that a movie can become a favorite simply because it’s good enough to be watchable every time it’s on?

Okay, FINE. I’ll say some things about why Shark Week is awesome. It’s been on since the 80’s and has been gaining momentum ever since. I can think of at least 5 Facebook status messages that have to do with the greatness of Shark Week. While I appreciate Discovery’s current efforts to integrate Shark Week with their now successful line of evening programming [did you see Mike Rowe rip open up that Greenland shark!? Wild.], I DO sense that Shark Week is losing a bit of its scientific integrity. Last night some guy was dressed up as a scuba clown trying to get a shark to bite him. Something tells me that isn’t a highly sophisticated experiment. Didn’t Shark Week used to be a little more, oh, I don’t know, modest? That being said, I won’t be happy until someone rides a whale shark.

oooh wooooooooooooo

p.s. is there anyone who doesn't secretly like Jaws 4? Even just a little?