Alright, welcome to a little series, Beer in Film, that we are kicking off here at I Love Cheap Beer. The premise of the series is that we watch a movie, drink some beer, and focus in on a few scenes involving beer. Pretty simple.
We are going to start off with an absolute classic, Steven Spielberg’s 1975 – the movie that invented the very term – summer blockbuster, none other than Jaws. Who doesn’t have memories of seeing the film the first time, being terrified at the drive-in or on VHS your first night during a beach rental. More than a few people still won’t go into the ocean because they saw Jaws. And the rest of us can’t completely keep sharks from entering our mind when we are in the ocean.
The very first scene of Jaws terrifies. It also sets up all the edge-of-your-seat anxiety around the water throughout the rest of the film. And, it gives us our first glimpse of beer. In fact, you could say that beer plays a fundamental role in the scene.
A beach party is still in full swing on Amity Island as dawn nears. A bunch of teenage summer people are playing guitar and harmonica, passing joints, making out, and drinking beer around a campfire. Chrissie, sans beer, and Tommy, a beer in hand, make eyes at each other off to the edge of the gathering. Chrissie suddenly gets up and runs off, leading Tommy to the surf. She strips off her clothes, and Tommy tries to do the same. But, drunk, he struggles with his clothes. Before he can join Chrissie, a shark attacks her.
Had Tommy not had a few extra beers, presumably he would have suffered the same fate as Chrissie. Let that be a lesson.
It is also important to point out that there seems to be a keg at the party. We must compliment the organizers on a good choice. A keg should last a small party like that for a whole night. And, it seems the keg did hold out as Tommy still has a beer near morning.
Tommy’s cup has a Falstaff logo on it. Falstaff had purchased Narragansett in 1965 (a long story in itself), giving it a presence in the Northeast. So, Falstaff would have been a staple on this fictitious Amity Island in 1975, as it was on Martha’s Vineyard, where Spielberg filmed Jaws.
Don’t miss the second and third installments of our beer in film series on Jaws.
