For ‘Jaws’ fans, there is no other island

MEGAN Wright stood on “Jaws Bridge” as people around her leaped through the air and splashed in the water below. She peered over the railing, watching them swim safely to shore. Her partner cajoled her to jump. She shook her head, an emphatic no.

- ANDREA SACHS

Fifty years ago, the summer blockbuster about a homicidal shark warned millions of moviegoers, “You'll never go in the water again.” For Universal Studios, it was a provocative tagline. For Jaws fans like Wright, a barber from Pittsburgh, it was a prophecy.

“Jaws changed my life forever. It made me afraid of the ocean, afraid of sharks,” said Wright, 47, who holds the permissive uncle who took her to see the movie responsible for her childhood phobia. “I watch these people go out swimming, and I just can’t.”

But their galeophobia (fear of sharks) doesn’t hinder them from pursuing Jaws by land. Many fans will cross waters crawling with apex predators to visit the island where, in 1974, a young, inexperienced Steven Spielberg filmed a surprise hit that broke records and won awards. For the movie's 50th anniversary over the weekend of June 20, hundreds of people travelled to reminisce about their first screening, tour the film locations, hobnob with some of the actors and extras, and dare themselves to go in the water.

“The shark did not scare me,” said Cape Cod resident Rose-Emily Calo, who watched the movie with girlfriends when she was 12 years old. “We now have a boat, and we know there are sharks in the water. But it doesn’t matter. I lived in Colombia. There are other things to be afraid of.”

Eleven kilometres off the Massachusetts coast, Martha’s Vineyard is one of the purest examples of set-jetting, the travel trend based on visiting movie or TV show sites. Since Spielberg landed on Martha’s Vineyard’s shores, little has changed, at least aesthetically. The timeless island and its fictional counterpart, Amity Island, are almost twinsies, despite the age gap.