DAN'S PAPERS, February 15, 2008 Page 31 www.danshamptons.com
Twentysomething…By David Lion Rattiner Our Chief While swimming in the ocean, there is rarely a moment when I don’t think about a great white shark. For me, quite possibly the most psychologically intense movie of all time is Jaws. After seeing it over and over again, convincing myself equally as many times that the shark in the movie is an animatronics robot and is not real, I still find myself swimming to shore, confident that I had just dodged a gruesome death. Then I’ll head back in, because I’ll remember that Roy Scheider, who passed away on Sunday, took care of that shark a long time ago with a scuba tank explosion. We all love that movie and absolutely love the people that were involved in making it because every second is pure imagination and expression of art. Each character is as colorful as the next and it is easy to relate them to people you know, such as the hard nosed fishermen in Montauk, or a caring Hamptons policeman with a family and local friends. Police Chief Martin Brody, the main character in Jaws, is one of the greatest heroes to have ever been written for cinema. His fear of the ocean, as a man in charge of a town with an economy that runs because of the ocean, captures the spirit of facing your fear, through think and thin, and doing the right thing. Every single one of us has a mental imprint of the three seconds when Police Chief Martin Brody is chumming the water to attract the great white shark and, in a flash, a gaping shark the size of a bus comes out of the water.
There is a flash of memory when Police Chief Martin Brody has a face of shock and terror as he jumps up in front of the camera and then says one of best lines of all time in movie history — “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” Roy Scheider, who played the hero and is also one of the greatest actors of all time, played the role of Chief Brody so seamlessly that when you would see the actor having his coffee at Candy Kitchen in Bridgehampton, you almost wanted to ask him how his beat was going. He was that believable in Jaws and was the true American hero that we all need in our lives, and he lived and hung out right down the street. You might have caught him playing softball at the Artists vs. Writers softball game in East Hampton, where on more then one occasion he would lob a grapefruit to a batter. As the batter swung and connected, the grapefruit would surprise us all as it is smashed to pieces. With a tip of the cap, the crowd would cheer at the top of their lungs as Roy would smile and wave. His place in the community was a place
of utmost respect and love. And as I swim in the ocean this summer, maybe at Atlantic Beach, Main Beach, Coopers Beach, Ditch Plains or Indian Wells, just like I have since I was a kid, and I think about a great white sneaking up on me, I’ll keep in mind that Police Chief Martin Brody has things under control. I’ll keep in mind that Police Chief Martin Brody took care of all of those sharks a long time ago, and there is nothing to worry about. This is exactly what my Dad would tell me when I was ten, and in the middle of the night I had a nightmare about a great white shark swimming under my bed. So while I’m out there in the ocean, I’ll be sure to thank our Police Chief. Thank you Roy Scheider, who, lucky for us, lived here in the Hamptons for so many years, was our police chief and always looked out for the great white shark off of our coastline. Thanks for being a hero for all of us and taking care of those great white sharks that are swimming underneath our beds and off our coasts. I’m sure without any doubt that he still is.