“I'm a friendly shark, not a mindless eating machine. If I have to change this image, I must first change myself. Fish are friends, not food (Finding Nemo).” This kid's movie has a certain accuracy in the sense that the image of a shark has to be changed for the "mindless eating machine" label to be removed. There is one movie that deserves all the blame for this inaccurate labeling of sharks, and that movie is "Jaws." Released in 1975, Steven Spielberg directed a film that changed the minds of ocean swimmers forever. A menacing great white shark decides that Amity, a small beach town, was ideal for his new feeding ground. Consuming everything on the spot, 3 men decided to kill this beast; a police chief, a scientist and an old fisherman. As the film takes the audience on the journey to find the creature, this animal is portrayed as a terrifying monster. Watching “Jaws” petrified me when I was young. I know a lot of people my age who are still afraid of sharks because of this movie. The movie “Jaws” defined the way people think about sharks, without the ability to defend themselves, they were portrayed as the monsters of the ocean. Sharks have the epitome of a bad reputation, with only a mouth full of teeth to apologize for. It is this prejudice against them that attracts me to sharks. I understand that not everything in life is equal and fair, but the consequences that sharks have to endure because of a movie are devastating and heartbreaking. The main reason behind all this fear is unawareness. When you know little about a topic, it is human nature to instinctively dislike that topic. Unfortunately, the topic is sharks, and for centuries people have considered these creatures a bleak and unforgiving category. The assumptions...... half of the document ......ional Geographic 480(2009): 240-270. Print.Charleston, Richard. “The reputation of sharks is a case of overkill.” Sharks in the News 01 January 2009 1. 9 April 2009. .John, Leymen. "Sharks in the wild." National Geographic 324(1989): 25-67. Print.See PE Pope, A Dictionary of Sharks (1973); TH Lineaweaker and RH Backus, The Natural History of Sharks (1970, reprint 1986); JA Musick and B. McMillan, The Shark Chronicles (2002). The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright© 2004, Columbia University Press. Licensed by Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products NV All rights reserved.Finn, Robyn. "Don't worry about the teeth, sharks still need hugs." New York Times September 13, 2008: Print.Lemke, Donald. “Sharks' reputations are ruining their lives.” Sharks in the news 01 Jan 2009 1. 9 Apr 2009.