about the "Jaws" - 生態環境討論

http://www.wretch.cc/blog/Mares&article_id=6691714

"Jaws"

1975年Steven Spielberg 所導的鉅作
one of the greatest hits of all-time
讓大白鯊和深不見底的藍海 成為人類最深層的恐懼

船隻失事 水手落難 總是伴隨著鯊魚鰭環繞 伺機吃人的畫面
連卡通影片都常拿來當題材發揮
我想要是教科書想解釋什麼叫"刻板印象" 這大概會是史上最好的例子



這也要歸功於Jaws的大成功 這一定是電影對於形象塑造影響力的最佳展現
雖然實際上 以鯊魚的天性 是根本不會輕易靠近人類的

" Sharks are inherently SHY! "

這是我自己在巴哈馬當鯊魚義工期間 親身去體驗過的
我曾被十數隻4~5米長的加勒比海礁鯊所環繞
這種鯊魚是具有攻擊性的種類 所以在鯊魚裡面算是相當不怕生的
而且那時他們因水裡高濃度的魚血而陷入了 feeding frenzy
正瘋狂地追逐著我們下水前拋入水中的梭魚肉塊
有幾次我甚至可以感受到他們在我面前急轉身時帶來的強勁水流

但是不論他們再靠近 也僅止於1~2米左右
我曾嘗試著更接近他們 但馬上就被拉開距離 不可能再越雷池一步了

基本上 他們對人類是相當畏懼的 就像我們懼怕他們一樣
試想 假如有一天你家門口降下了一輛飛碟 裡面跳出來一隻你從沒看過的外星生物
你會躲得遠遠的 偷看他們到底想幹嘛? 還是衝上去給他一頓飽拳?
Do you think the latter makes any sense?

人類之於鯊魚 其實就像是外星生物一樣
他們從來沒看過 或是很少看過我們
害怕都來不及了 怎麼會一見面就想咬一口 試試味道如何?

Actually, we are just not on the menu of sharks.



來看看 "Jaws" 小說原作 Peter Benchley 在他的新書 "Shark Trouble" 裡寫了什麼吧
他坦白地承認這本書 乃至於後來的電影 為鯊魚帶來太多不實的指控:

"We knew so little back then, and have learned so much since, that I couldn't
possibly write the same story today. I know now that the mythic monster I
created was largely a fiction. I also know now, however, that the genuine
animal is just as —if not even more —fascinating."

節錄自國家地理雜誌對Benchley的專訪:

NGM: There is so much misinformation and fear about sharks in our society.
What are some of the most common and off-base misperceptions?

PB: The most common and off-base misperception is the theory that sharks
target humans, that they are man-eaters. Nothing could be further from the
truth. Every time you see on TV people surrounded by sharks, the chances
are 99 percent that [the sharks] have been baited, and it gives a false
impression because by nature sharks will stay away from people.

NGM: What do you make of the media coverage of shark attacks, such as in
the summer of 2001, when in fact attacks are infrequent and rarely fatal?

PB: The so-called Summer of the Shark, pronounced on the cover of Time
magazine in July 2001, only existed because Time proclaimed it so. The
statistics did not support that assertion, and in fact at the end of the year
the number of attacks and fatalities was actually down.

I believe it has to do with a change in how the media works, the volume
of coverage with cable television, the Internet, cell phones, and satellites.
So a local shark attack—a non-fatal attack that would normally have gotten
no coverage at all beyond maybe a mention in the local paper—is now all
over the world. Like one weekend last summer when perhaps six people
were bitten by sharks in a single weekend (in Volusia County, Florida). It
turned out that sharks were schooling and feeding right off the beach, in
plain sight, and that these people were surfers so impatient to catch waves
that they waded out across the top of the sharks, stepping over feeding sharks.

After a while, perception becomes reality. After you see so many reports of
attacks, you begin to think it extraordinary, because you've never seen so
many reports of attacks. It's because the changing media is reporting them
differently, not because there are an extraordinary amount of attacks.

NGM: In your new book you discuss how to speak with kids about sharks and
the sea. Can you share some of those thoughts about a common-sense approach
to the ocean?

To me the best thing is to educate kids to grow up respecting the ocean and
knowing about it. If they grow up ignorant of it they will never learn the kind
of respect that will preserve the ocean, and also themselves. They've got to be
taught that it's the greatest wilderness on the planet, and that 80 percent
of all the living things on the planet live there, and that they've got to eat.
We have no entitlement to swim safely there. We're the alien there, and we
have to play by their rules. It's similar to driving a car —you don't license
people to drive until they know the basics.

There should be some way to educate kids to understand what they're doing
when they swim in the ocean, and to understand how to take precautions against
ocean conditions like tides, currents, and the like. Also to heed the hungry
animals who live there. People tend to place themselves at the top of the
marine food chain, as well as the terrestrial, but they're not.

若是有機會 我相信Peter Benchley不會希望Jaws成為史上最出名的恐怖片
因為這部片子將大白鯊徹底汙名化 自此被打入十八層地獄永不翻身
只有真的跟鯊魚有過實際接觸的人們 潛水客 科學家
才知道Jaws描述的情形 並不符合實際的情況
人類太過自大 才會潛意識認為任何在水裡的東西都會想攻擊我們

不少人在這30年內 付出很多的努力 想為人類對於鯊魚的"歧視"做出平反
但 Sharks = Insane man-eating killing machine的印象
已因一部電影 深深地刻印在全球人類的文化記憶裡 而難以消除了

How sad it is.

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