Jaws (1975), The Shallows (2016) and The Meg (2018)

The other day when I mentioned to someone that The Meg (2018) has more to offer female viewers than any other shark movie I have seen the response I got was, “But Jaws is a classic!” That may be, but that does not mean it has anything to offer female viewers. I am not saying that I did not find Jaws entertaining and enjoyable. I did. However, Jaws only has one significant named female character—Lorraine Gary as Ellen Brody—and no two named female characters ever speak. Moreover, women get less than five minutes of speaking time in this two-hour movie. So it scores poorly for women’s presence and voice. Also, two women are sexualized. The Shallows (2016) scores better, but that is not saying much. Again, there is only one significant named female character—Blake Lively as Nancy (the protagonist). In fact, she is the only character that appears throughout, but she is relentlessly hunted by a shark. At least in Jaws the scene about a shark killing a woman was short. Other characters make brief appearances: six men and one woman, not including a dead mother who graces the screen for a few seconds. Here, too, two women are sexualized. The Meg boasts several named female characters that appear throughout, congenial relationships between women, an affectionate mother/daughter relationship, assertive females, women in STEM, praise for female characters and a woman who gets to be heroic. Furthermore, there is next to no sexualization of women. So female viewers interested in a shark vs. humans movie should go with The Meg; it has more to offer them.

© 2019 Alline Cormier