From the Jaws of Extinction

The summer of 1975 proved to be the beginning of a critical time for sharks, great whites in particular. In June of that year, Hollywood released a horror movie that eventually became an international phenomenon, a movie so enormously popular and commercially successful that it forever changed the landscape of summertime box-office fare. Equally powerful was the response of the audience to the film's central character, a reaction that was so strong so visceral that it has taken the general public almost thirty years to start reconciling the true nature of the character with its movie persona.