Why do shark Films scare us so deeply?
Shark thrillers often appeal to people because they tap into primal fears of the unknown, the deep ocean, and predators lurking beneath the surface. They provide a thrilling adrenaline rush and suspenseful storytelling, keeping audiences on the edge of their seats. The combination of human vulnerability in the vastness of the ocean and the primal fear of being hunted by a powerful predator creates a compelling and intense viewing experience.
However, while they may evoke fear and excitement, many shark films tend to sacrifice scientific accuracy and factual knowledge for the sake of entertainment. They usually exaggerate the behavior and capabilities of sharks. In reality, shark attacks on humans are rare, and sharks typically do not target humans as prey. Furthermore, shark behavior and biology are often oversimplified or distorted in these movies, leading to misconceptions about these fascinating creatures.
ANAlysis of the Fear Factor
Stuart Hall: “Reality exists outside language, but it is constantly mediated by and through language: and what we can know and say has to be produced in and through discourse” (p.55, Encoding, Decoding (1973))
When Jaws was published, little was known about the sea creature, making it easier for the public to fear sharks. What helped was how frightening the book could be. Numerous passages focus on the point-of-view of what Benchley called the “great fish," the formidable shark with a voracious appetite. Chrissie’s death, the first death that kicks off the plot, is far more grisly and disturbing in the book than in the movie. After she feels the violent impact of something, the author writes, “[s]he could not find her foot. She reached higher on her leg, and then she was overcome by a rush of nausea and dizziness. Her groping fingers had found a nub of bone and tattered flesh. She knew that the warm, pulsing flow over her fingers in the chill water was her own blood” (p.5). Furthermore, the novelist paints a disturbing image of Alex Kinter’s death. Benchley describes how the “great fish” narrows in on Alex on his inflatable, and while the movie includes plenty of blood, the camera, and the blocking keep the audience at a distance. Benchley vividly portrays the scene, detailing how “[t]he fish’s head drove the raft out of the water. The jaws smashed together, engulfing head, arms, shoulders, trunk, pelvis, and most of the raft” (p.48). He finishes the attack by writing, “[t]he boy’s legs were severed at the hips, and they sank, spinning slowly, to the bottom.” For his readers, it was a frightening image; the notion that a great white shark could be a real-life sea monster seemed entirely plausible.
By portraying sharks as vicious monsters capable of inflicting horrific injuries, Benchley's language aligns with dominant cultural narratives that characterize sharks as constant threats to human safety. As a result, readers were influenced to view sharks through a lens of fear and suspicion, reinforcing existing stereotypes and attitudes towards these apex predators.
Stuart Hall's theories in his influential essay “Encoding, Decoding” (1973), which is part of his broader theory of cultural studies, provide a framework for understanding how media messages are constructed, transmitted, and interpreted by audiences. In the context of mainstream entertainment media depiction of sharks, we can apply Hall's model to analyze how these depictions are created, conveyed, and interpreted by audiences.
In the first stage of media messaging, encoding/production, media producers such as writers, directors, editors, and other creators encode suggestive messages about sharks through various means, such as menacing narratives, ominous lighting, suspenseful music, fear-mongering dialogue, and savage shark behavior, to construct a stereotypical image of sharks that fits the media product’s genre conventions. Depictions of sharks in mainstream entertainment media involve sensationalized portrayals, emphasizing their predatory nature and danger to humans.
In the next stage, transmission/circulation, these negative portrayals of sharks are broadcast through mainstream entertainment media channels such as movies, documentaries, and television shows and specials. These channels offer filmmakers different formats and lengths to present their content, allowing for diverse approaches to storytelling and portrayal. Filmmakers leverage marketing strategies and distribution networks to reach a broad audience, including teaser trailers, posters, social media campaigns, press releases, and interviews, often emphasizing the fear-inducing aspects of the content, highlighting the inescapable danger posed by sharks to humans. Through aggressive promotion and strategic placement, media producers ensure that their portrayals of sharks as menacing predators are widely circulated and consumed by audiences.
Decoding is the process by which audiences interpret and make meaning of the messages encoded by media producers. During the decoding/use stage, audiences decode media messages about sharks based on their cultural backgrounds, experiences, and social contexts. Different viewers may interpret the same portrayal of sharks in diverse ways, influenced by factors such as personal beliefs, knowledge about marine life, previous exposure to shark-related media, and emotional responses. For example, some viewers may perceive sharks as inherently dangerous and menacing creatures, while others may question the accuracy and fairness of the portrayal. Additionally, audience members position themselves in relation to the encoded messages and the dominant ideologies reflected in the media content.
According to Stuart Hall's model, there are three primary positions from which audiences may decode media texts:
Dominant Reading: Most audiences interpret the portrayal of sharks in mainstream entertainment media as intended by the creators, accepting the dominant narrative of sharks as bloodthirsty killers and perceiving the content as an accurate reflection of reality or probability. The dominant reading may also be shaped by societal attitudes and collective fears surrounding sharks, perpetuated by sensationalist media coverage of shark attacks and popular culture portrayals. Despite potential inconsistencies or inaccuracies in the portrayal of sharks, audiences who embrace the dominant reading mostly prioritize entertainment value and emotional impact over factual correctness, engaging with media content for its suspenseful and thrilling qualities. Many people develop an irrational fear of sharks due to these exaggerated portrayals, leading to negative attitudes and a lack of empathy towards these animals. [QUOTE/PAGE #]
Negotiated Reading: Other audiences negotiate their interpretation of shark depictions, “buying into” elements of the media product while recognizing the work’s sensationalized nature. In this reading, audiences give credibility to some aspects of the media product but recognize the distortion of these animals' behavior. These viewers appreciate the suspense and thrill offered by media content featuring sharks while remaining critical of exaggerated or inaccurate representations.
Oppositional Reading: A minority of viewers may adopt an oppositional reading, rejecting the dominant narrative and critically analyzing the portrayal of sharks in mainstream entertainment media. These viewers actively challenge stereotypes, question the underlying assumptions, and deconstruct media producers’ fear-inducing tactics. They argue that the sensationalized depictions of sharks lack scientific accuracy and fail to reflect these animals’ complex behavior and ecological significance. By challenging the sensationalism of mainstream media, they seek to shift public perceptions away from fear and towards a greater appreciation for the natural world and its inhabitants.
