How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Jaws.
Quote #1
BLONDE KID PARTYING ON THE BEACH: Wait, slow up! I can swim… just can't walk. Or undress myself.
The first dude we meet in the film kind of stinks at the whole masculinity thing. First, he doesn't go skinny-dipping with the hot babe, and then he lets his damsel in distress get eaten. He's too drunk to do anything. Does this opening scene set us up to see the men in the film as generally helpless and ineffective?
Quote #2
BRODY: You guys were playing on those swings. […] Stay off them, I haven't fixed them yet!
Within seconds of his very first appearance, we see Chief Brody in the main role he'll fill for the entire film: the protector—especially of his family. Doesn't get much manlier than that, even if broken swingsets aren't exactly giant killer sharks. But wait—he hasn't fixed those swings. Hmmm…
Quote #3
MRS. KINTER: I just found out that a girl got killed here last week and you knew it. You knew there was a shark out there. You knew it was dangerous! But you let people go swimming anyway? You knew all those things. But still my boy is dead now. And there's nothing you can do about it. My boy is dead. I wanted you to know that.
VAUGH: I'm sorry, Martin. She's wrong.
BRODY: No, she's not.
Let's all say it together: "A real man isn't afraid to admit he's wrong." Brody's admission is a much stronger move than his previous one, which was caving in to Mayor Vaughn's demand to keep the beaches open.