Sketch o’the Week: You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat!

Here’s another of those famous moments in movie history that needs no preface, explanation, or context… it’s completely encapsulated in a single expression. The moment when Roy Scheider‘s “Chief Brody” first sees the shark in “Jaws” is part of movie history. In a rare departure from tradition, this original sketch is still available to buy!

Jaws was released in 1975. I was nine years old, and this movie had a profound effect on me that I still remember to this day. Did I somehow see the film at only 9? I actually do not remember if I did or not. I doubt it. My parents weren’t the types to take me to scary movies or ones with adult themes. The film saturated the media and sharks became a big topic all over the place with pictures and footage in magazines, newspapers and on TV, so maybe that’s where the imagery grabbed me. Regardless, the thought of sharks scared the crap out of me, and I started having nightmares where myself and my family were killed by sharks. These occurred nightly for weeks, and kept me awake sometimes all night.

I solved the problem by visualizing the dream right after climbing into bed, but at the moment the sharks attacked I imagined myself killing them instead with a knife. I did this for about a week and never had that nightmare again. I’m pretty sure that was self-hypnosis. I should have started imagining I was 6’6″ tall with a PHD in astrophysics right before bed… I ended up being 6′ 0″ and a cartoonist so opportunity lost.

But I’m not afraid of sharks.