S.M. Douglas

Welcome to the home of author S.M. Douglas.

Category: The 70’s (page 1 of 2)

Mayor Larry Vaughn Award of the Month

Jaws is my favorite movie.  Lessons taught from Jaws are frequently applicable to today’s world. For instance, let’s consider the decision-making of the Mayor of Amity Island himself: Mr. Larry Vaughn.

What might prompt me to think of our favorite sleazy mayor? In answering that question I could easily start higher up the political food chain. However, what really prompted me to come off the bench (sorry about the lack of posts of late – life has been hectic) was something that happened last week. That being Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his decision to re-open Florida’s beaches. Let’s go to the Governor himself, who explained his justification by stating:

“I’m only trying to say that Amity is a summer town. We need summer dollars. Now, if the people can’t swim here, they’ll be glad to swim at the beaches of Cape Cod, the Hamptons, Long Island…I’m pleased and happy to repeat the news that we have in fact caught and killed a large predator that supposedly injured some bathers. But as you can see, it’s a beautiful day, the beaches are opened, and people are having a wonderful time.”

Mayor Larry Vaughn

Whoops, wait a minute!

DeSantis was actually quoted as stating it was important for people to have outlets for getting exercise, sunshine and fresh air. “Do it in a good way. Do it in a safe way,” DeSantis said.

Chief Brody stated in response, “That doesn’t mean we have to serve them up as smörgåsbord!”

Whoops! There I go again.

Of course, this all leaves us with the real question on everyone’s mind: will the Florida Governor’s kids be on those beaches?

Beware of Concentrated Power Wherever It May Go

Earlier this year the recently disgraced Elon Musk sent a rocket into space. Readers of my werewolf horror novel Apex Predator know that I like to explore the ramifications posed by concentrated power running wild on Earth (no less in space).

Perhaps it is no surprise then that the launch of SpaceX’s latest reminds me of one of my favorite films. A film that influenced my fear of untrammeled power in a corporate context. A film that also happens to be in part about the dangers posed by the privatization of space by corporate entities.

Perhaps my fellow horror and science fiction friends know what movie I am talking about…

alien computer text

One of My Writing Influences

When we think of a genre of books or films that include a message about social and political issues science fiction often crops up. As well it should.

Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek (and its progeny) is widely praised for this reason. However, it is of course far from alone in this regard. Nevertheless, many people frequently dismiss horror. This is in spite of the reality that horror offers a great way of exploring contemporary issues within our society.

Leveraging horror in such a manner is something I very much tried to do with my werewolf novel Apex Predator (https://www.amazon.com/Apex-Predator-S-M-Doug…/…/ref=sr_1_1…). In that regard I am far from the first. Among my influences is Whitley Strieber – the author of one of the all-time great “werewolf” books:

Wolfen Book Cover

The Wolfen: http://smdouglas.com/…/the-horror-genres-often-overlooked…/…

Sir Ghastly Graves

I’d like to give a hat tip to Sir Graves Ghastly and provide some Detroit horror history for readers of my werewolf book Apex Predator.

In the book one of my characters mentions growing up with an eerie Led Zeppelin themed TV show featuring a horror movie of the week. Readers who are not from Detroit often ask if there really was such a thing – and there was!

From 1967 to November 1982 the horror show Sir Graves Ghastly ran virtually every Saturday afternoon on WJBK Channel 2 in Detroit. By the way, the show’s host (pictured here) was none other than Sir Graves Ghastly himself! Played by actor Lawson Deming (R.I.P. 1913-2007) Sir Graves may be Detroit’s all-time favorite vampire – a man known for hamming it up like no other.

SirGravesGhastly

Though Sir Graves Ghastly also ran in Cleveland and Washington D.C. the Detroit market provided it’s strongest ratings. That is until College Football proved to be the vampire’s undoing. When the chance arose to write my novel I couldn’t resist sprinkling it with references to my favorite horror influences – including Sir Graves Ghastly.

Jaws on the Big Screen

I’m still working my way through this year’s edition of shark week. Other than the Phelps fiasco (why must you start each season of Shark Week with such schlock, Discovery Channel), most of the episodes are quite good. I loved the early attention given to the Great Hammerhead, Mako, and Porbeagle Sharks. As I have commented before, recent seasons of Shark Week overall have been trending toward educational over sensationalism. That’s good – keep it up.

From there, and with sharks on the brain, I had no problem saying ‘yes’ when one of my friends asked me if I wanted to see Jaws at the local small-town theater. Of course I loved it (my all time favorite movie) but I also loved the experience. This fifty-plus-year old theater not only put actual butter on the popcorn but the ticket cost only three bucks – you can’t beat that! It was heartening to see quite a few teenagers and millennials in the packed theater. It’s great to know there’s a new generation of fans. Needless to say, Jaws was a huge influence on my life and my writing (with a certain police chief providing much of the inspiration for one of the leading characters from my werewolf book Apex Predator).

ARD DER WEISSE HAI (jaws), USA 1974, Regie Steven Spielberg, am Samstag (02.12.06) um 23:10 Uhr im Ersten. Brody (Roy Scheider) ist der Polizeichef des Badeortes Amity. © ARD Degeto - honorarfrei, Verwendung nur im Zusammenhang mit o. g. Sendung bei Nennung Bild: "ARD Degeto" (S2), Programmplanung und Presse (069) 1509-334 oder -335

What’s amazing is that even though I’ve seen the movie probably a hundred times on TV – it makes such a huge difference seeing it on the big screen. For instance, I just noticed that it was Old Spice Brody was dabbing on his handkerchief when he was chumming off the stern of the Orca. Or that Charlie’s ferry charges extra if you use it between 7pm and midnight – according to the sign in the background you can’t really read on TV and as seen in the film (when Brody is asking Charlie to take him over to the boy scouts and get them out of the water).

What a great movie. What a great experience. And yes, I saw Dunkirk at the IMAX big chain theater the week before (a solid effort with almost no CGI, real WWII aircraft and equipment, and some fantastic dog-fights between Spitfires and Me-109s). However, just like I support local used and new bookstores I also try and support the small town theaters that add so much to a community. I’m sure there’s quite a few of you who would agree.

BTW – if there’s anything in Jaws that didn’t catch your eye until recently please let me know. Otherwise, enjoy the behind the scenes movie pics I included with this post (and if you have any good one’s then please share).

Jaws Behind the Scenes 1 Jaws Behind the Scenes 2

Jaws Behind the Scenes Pic Jaws Cast Jaws_Behind the Scenes Pic

Older posts

© 2024 S.M. Douglas

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑