While the Jaws franchise is not known for its accuracy, Jaws 2 features a surprisingly realistic depiction of one shark victim’s fate. While director Steven Spielberg’s 1975 movie Jaws might be a masterpiece, the blockbuster is not a realistic depiction of sharks or their behavior. Peter Benchley, the author of the novel Jaws is adapted from, even said that he regretted depicting a great white shark as a human-eating predator in the book. A ionate conservationist, Benchley feared that his book’s depiction of sharks could have led to increased fear-mongering about the unique, misunderstood animals.
However, while the explosive ending of Jaws would be a lot more subdued in reality, that does not mean the franchise is without its realistic elements. Almost by accident, one of the Jaws sequels features a scarily realistic depiction of a shark attack’s aftermath. This is particularly notable since later Jaws sequels effectively abandoned any attempted fealty to realism. By the time that 1987's final franchise installment, Jaws: The Revenge, was released, the Brody family was dealing with a vengeance-fueled shark that traveled along the American coast to hunt down Chief Martin Brody’s surviving family .
Jaws 2's Diver Jump Scare Is Surprisingly Realistic
In Jaws 2, a diver is accosted by the killer shark and immediately swims to the surface as fast as possible. When he is propelled to the surface, the diver ends up seriously injuring himself. On the boat, he is seen with a dazed expression and a nose that is pumping blood even though he steered clear of the shark itself. While this isn’t Jaws 2’s most terrifying scene, it is a gruesome and surprisingly realistic fate. The diver is suffering from a severe case of decompression sickness, colloquially known as “the bends.” This condition can prove fatal and is depicted with unerring accuracy in the Jaws 2 scene.
Ascending from a deep dive too quickly causes the bends, meaning this scene depicts what would happen to the diver in real life. With the bends, nitrogen gas in the bloodstream is released too quickly, which causes bubbles to form in the blood. This can lead to complications like paralysis, muscle pain, and even death. In a franchise not noted for its fidelity to reality, Jaws 2’s diver attack is a rare moment of realism. Notably, the scene doesn’t rely on the shark’s teeth or strength to scare viewers away from the ocean, which makes sense since great white sharks aren’t as aggressive as the Jaws movies imply.
Jaws' Underwater Scenes (And Sharks) Aren't Usually Accurate
While Jaws 2 does depict the bends responsibly, this sequence is an exception to the rule of the franchise. For the most part, the Jaws movies are laughably unrealistic in their depiction of sharks. As marine scientist Apryl Boyle informed Vanity Fair, the shark in Jaws frequently attacks its victims more like a dog than a great white shark. Sharks don’t use their massive maws like mammal mouths, but this translates better to film and looks scarier. As a result, most of the Jaws movies feature wildly inaccurate depictions of sharks that prioritize aesthetics over realism. However, Jaws 2’s diver attack is a notable exception for the Jaws franchise.
Source: Vanity Fair (via YouTube)
