Spielberg regrets 'Jaws' impact on shark population

by AFP

Spielberg says he truly regrets the decimation of the shark population following his film 'Jaws' . Daniel LEAL / AFP

Film-maker Steven Spielberg has said he truly regrets the "decimation of the shark population" following the success of his 1975 film "Jaws".

Spielberg's Oscar-winning thriller told the story of a man-eating great white shark that attacked a US seaside town, prompting a rise in sports fishing across America.

"I truly and to this day regret the decimation of the shark population because of the book and the film. I really, truly regret that," Spielberg, 75, told BBC Radio's Desert Island Discs programme.

According to a study in Nature last year, the world's population of oceanic sharks has fallen by 71 percent since the 1970s due to overfishing.

The Shark Conservation Fund, meanwhile, says 36 percent of the world's 1,250 shark and ray species are currently threatened with extinction.

Researchers have blamed films such as "Jaws" for playing a role in the public's perception of sharks, driving support for killing them.

Others, however, argue that this attributes too much significance to the influence of Hollywood.

Spielberg, who is also known for Hollywood blockbusters including ET, Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park, chose the 10 records he would take if he was stranded on a desert island in the Sunday broadcast.

- 'It was a tightrope' -

Asked by presenter Lauren Laverne how he felt about having real sharks circling his desert island, he said: "That’s one of the things I still fear.

"Not to get eaten by a shark, but that sharks are somehow mad at me for the feeding frenzy of crazy sports fishermen that happened after 1975."

지난해 네이처지의 연구에 따르면, 세계 해양 상어의 개체수는 1970년대 이후 71% 감소했다. MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP메나헴 카하나 / AFP 통신

스필버그는 또한 그의 최근 프로젝트인 반자전 영화 "파벨만"을 포함하여 그의 성공적인 감독 경력에 대해 이야기했다.

스필버그의 최근 영화는 대부분 자신의 어린 시절과 전후 미국에서의 영화 제작 입문 이야기를 담고 있다.

폴 다노와 미셸 윌리엄스가 주연한 이 영화는 이미 2023년 골든글로브와 크리틱스 초이스 어워드에서 모두 상위권을 차지하며 폭넓은 비평가들의 찬사를 받았다.

영화 제작에 대해 논의하면서, 스필버그는 처음에 이 프로젝트가 "내가 사람들에게 나와 함께 해 달라고 부탁한 것 중 가장 이기적인 것"이라고 생각했다고 시인했다.

Describing it as "$40 million of therapy", he said: "I didn't know really what I was doing, except I was answering a need I had.

"Being an orphan, or recently orphaned by the loss of both parents, to recapture some of those memories in some way that wouldn't seem too indulgent to actors I really respected.

"So it was a tightrope for a while."

har/gw

Reference
Provided by AFP

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