Sun Tzu and Entertainment: Jaws’[i] Mayor Vaughn’s Folly
By: Andrew Nickerson
In military history, one name has stood above the rest for literally millennia: Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War. This incredible text takes tactics/strategy and reduces both to a common-sense set of universally applicable principles, all geared toward a singular goal—winning. Its approach is so effective experts galore have all said the same thing: if you listen to Sun Tzu, you’ll win; if you ignore him, you’ll lose. Moreover, his words have proven universally applicable, so much so everyone from athletes to businessmen and even politicians have used them and succeeded.
But there’s one medium it hasn’t truly tapped: pop culture plotlines. If he’s universally effective, why not here too? To prove this, we’re going to examine an infamous plot arc: Mayor Vaughn’s folly in Jaws. More specifically, we’ll be examining it through the following Sun Tzu principles: morality, terrain, leadership, preparation, foreknowledge, recklessness, cowardice, delicacy of honor, seizing an opening, and underestimation.
On the shore of Amity Island, several young people are having a nighttime bonfire. Within moments, two of them, a young man and a woman named Chrissy, head towards the water, intending to swim. It’s a sad failing of one of Sun Tzu’s Five Fatal Failings of Leadership, recklessness[i], because it’s night, they’re alone, and the guy is drunk. Chrissy goes into the water alone as the guy passes out in the surf, unaware of the presence of a great white shark (Jaws from now on). Ironically, Jaws ends up following Sun Tzu here, namely using one of his Five Essential Victory Factors, terrain[ii], and if an opening comes to seize victory, take it”[iii], to kill Chrissy.
The next day, Amity’s Police Chief Martin Brody (Brody from now on), a New York cop who moved to Amity with his wife and kids, learns of Chrissy going missing and meets the young man from the previous night about the matter. Tragically, Brody’s deputy finds her remains on the beach, and she’s brought to the medical examiner’s (ME from now on) office, leaving him to go back to the station to wait on the cause of death. He soon gets his answer: “Shark attack.” Promptly, Brody displays two more Essential Victory Factors, morality and leadership[iv], along with the principle, “what enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men is foreknowledge”[v] by going to a nearby store to buy supplies for his deputy to make signs, closing the beaches; he then uses the same principles again by heading out to a nearby inlet, where he’s learned Boy Scouts are swimming. However, the deputy tells Amity Mayor Larry Vaughn (Vaughn from now on) of the attack and Brody’s order, and the latter promptly goes with the city councilors and the ME to meet Brody. Upon meeting, Vaughn immediately violates another Sun Tzu Fatal Failing, delicacy of honor[vi] (DOH from now on), by scolding Brody for trying to close the beaches without following proper procedure, and then arrogantly lecturing him about how Amity needs summer money to survive. When Brody explains he was reacting to what he was told, Vaughn, the councilors, and the ME all then violate recklessness, morality, and leadership by suggesting it was a boating accident. Vaughn even comes up with a fake story, saying Chrissy was alone, got tired, and was hit by a boat, which the ME claims he’ll swear to, further violating those same principles, along with the leadership caveat, “Choose moral leaders and able generals.”[vii] Worse, Vaughn goes on to say he’d rather avoid a panic than warn the island, given how July 4th is approaching up. This violates both foreknowledge and another rule, never underestimate an opponent[viii], and he’ll soon regret it.
Soon after, Brody is on the beach with his family, where he’s teased by a local about not going in the water, and even panics over what turn out to be shadows in the waves. Part of this is his conscience, but the other is his being privately afflicted by another Fatal Failing, cowardice[ix], although we never learn why. He’s about to relax when a group of kids goes into the water, including a boy named Alex Kintner, and a dog who’s swimming after a stick. It’s a perfect setup, and Jaws, again using terrain and seizing an opening, attacks, first killing the dog and then poor Alex, his only remains being the shredded remains of his inflatable raft. In the aftermath, Alex’s mom offers a $3,000 reward to whoever can kill the shark, but Vaughn, again violating recklessness, DOH, leadership, and morality, buries it in the local papers. Yet, he also violates underestimation again, since Mrs. Kintner advertised in outside publications, where his influence means nothing.
A town meeting is called, and Brody shows great leadership, foreknowledge, along with another Essential Victory Factor, preparation[x], by saying extra deputies will be on duty and shark spotters will be placed on the coast. Yet, astonishingly, many of the residents are in denial about the incident being a shark attack, a sad violation of foreknowledge that only worsens when Brody announces they’re closing the beaches. He’s tries to assuage the people by adding he’s bringing in experts from an oceanographic institute, another nice use of prep and leadership, but Vaughn undermines everything when, in a horrifying violation of leadership, recklessness, and cowardice, he impulsively panders to the crowd by changing his mind and only closing them for 24 hours. This is when local shark hunter Quint, in a great use of seizing an opening and the leadership caveat enforcing discipline[xi], silences the crowd via nails on a chalkboard. He then makes his own announcement: he’ll kill the shark, but wants $10,000 for it, assuring them he’ll do it alone since he doesn’t need help. Larry promises to take his offer under advisement, ending the meeting.
Brody promptly goes home to do some deep research on sharks, another great use of prep and foreknowledge, plus the leadership caveat “if you know your enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of 100 battles”[xii]. Meanwhile, two locals use the incentive of the Kintner bounty to try and catch Jaws with a trap made of a roast, a gaffing hook, and a chain wrapped around a pier. It’s a near fatal violation of terrain, recklessness, and underestimation, since Jaws grabs the meat and runs, pulling the pier and one of the men into the water. Suddenly, no doubt sensing the man in the water, the pier turns and charges the local; thankfully, he makes it out of the water, and the pier is left floating onto the shore.
Soon, shark hunters appear from all over, leaving poor Brody and his deputy stuck with handling the crowd. Brody exercises remarkable leadership by stopping different fisherman and boaters from squabbling as the promised oceanographic institute expert, Matt Hooper (Hooper from now on), arrives. Hooper tries vainly to help Brody, but when they’re introduced, the latter gratefully accedes to his wish to examine Chrissy’s remains. Upon doing so, Hooper chews out the ME, saying it was definitely a shark attack and not a boat accident, a great showing of morality, foreknowledge, and the prep caveat better training[xiii]. The hunters then return, having just killed a shark, which is hoisted up before a crowd. Everyone is overjoyed, but then Hooper, in another great use of foreknowledge, IDs it as a tiger shark, then reveals the animal’s bite radius (the width of the mouth) is different from Chrissy’s wounds. He wants to confirm it by cutting it open, another great use of foreknowledge and leadership, but Vaughn shuts it down, saying this isn’t the place to do it, which is a fair point. Unfortunately, all talk halts when Mrs. Kintner shows up and slaps Brody, lambasting him for not warning anybody about Chrissy’s death, a harsh but valid use of morality which he absorbs because he knows she’s right. Worse, Vaughn, again violating recklessness, leadership, foreknowledge, and DOH, tells some locals to hang the shark in a warehouse overnight and then throw it in the ocean afterwards, all without cutting it open.
At his home, Brody’s in pieces, but then Hooper shows up with some wine as a consolation, a nice display of morality. They then discuss a theory about Jaws, which the latter calls a rogue: territoriality. Basically, it means Jaws has staked a claim to the waters and won’t leave as long as food is available, meaning the best way to stop more killing is keep people out of the water. an ideal application of leadership, foreknowledge, and terrain. Bolstered by wine, Brody decides to follow Hooper’s advice to go and cut open the tiger shark, showcasing the leadership caveat “some commands of the sovereign must not be obeyed.”[xiv] Thus, they go to the warehouse, do the autopsy, and find no human remains, leaving Brody anxious to call the mayor and close the beaches again, another solid leadership display; Hooper also warns him they’re still facing a huge threat, adding prep in too.
At that moment, Hooper decides to go look for Jaws, relying on foreknowledge via his knowledge of territoriality and the animal’s movements to track him to a point off the coast; knowing he’s also a night feeder helps too, a wonderful example of prep. He talks Brody into coming with him, despite the latter still violating cowardice, and they head out on the former’s boat. As they reach the predicted point, they find the wrecked hulk of local fisherman Ben Gardner’s boat, ID’d by Brody via foreknowledge. Here, Hooper violates recklessness and DOH by going down alone to investigate; he pays for it when he locates one of Jaws’ teeth, only to encounter Ben’s remains, which scare him so badly he drops the tooth.
The pair try to warn Vaughn, using foreknowledge and prep in explaining territoriality and the proven fact that the sound of people splashing in the water will draw Jaws. However, when the tooth’s loss is mentioned, Vaughn violates recklessness, DOH, and morality by going into denial mode again, even proclaiming how neither man is aware of any of their problems. Hooper, in turn, counters with morality and leadership by throwing those words back at him by saying he’s aware Larry has every intention of ignoring Jaws. Sadly, Vaughn violates leadership and DOH again by revealing he’s more concerned with catching the perpetrators who vandalized Amity’s welcome sign. Hooper nearly leaves when hearing this, but Brody uses leadership by talking him down, then uses morality by trying one last time to reason with Vaughn, saying they might be able to save August if they move now. Unfortunately, Vaughn is adamant that the beaches will be open on July 4th, and they’re to do what it takes to make them safe, another violation of recklessness, leadership, and morality…as well as the final nail in the coffin of Amity’s summer.
Thus, Brody and Hooper hurriedly use prep and foreknowledge by organizing numerous boats and armed guards, but the task (and Vaughn’s request) are a hopelessly naïve violation of terrain and DOH: Hooper’s boat is the only one on Amity with sonar, and they can’t watch everywhere at once. Thus, the 4th comes, along with the crowds, and soon the beaches are packed…but, understandably, no one’s going in the water. Therefore, continuing to violate morality, recklessness, foreknowledge, and leadership, Vaughn encourages a family to go in the water, knowing others will follow suit; worse, he further violates those principles by going on camera and telling a reporter that locals killed an animal “that supposedly injured some swimmers”. Soon, the waters are full, but Brody asks his eldest son Michael to bring his sailboat to a nearby estuary, known as “the Pond”, for safety, a good use of prep, terrain, and foreknowledge.
Unfortunately, all those violations bear fruit when a shark fin appears, causing everyone to panic, trampling each other in their desperation to flee. The boats roll in, only to find two kids with a cardboard fin, a cruel violation of morality and recklessness; one boy then adds cowardice by ratting out his friend. Worse, everyone present has violated underestimation, thinking Jaws would stick to deep water. Instead, relying on terrain and seizing an opening like always, it sneaks into the Pond by swimming under a bridge. But it’s spotted by a young woman on the nearby shore, and she immediately sounds the alarm…but none can respond in time due to the pranksters. Michael and his friends are approached by a man in a rowboat, but then all said parties are knocked into the water by Jaws, who kills the latter before swimming away, a nice use of another caveat of leadership, know when not to fight[xv]. In the process, he passes close to Michael, leaving him in shock.
Michael is brought to the hospital, where he’s shown to be fine. Meanwhile Brody meets Vaughn, who’s in shock as well, plus violating cowardice and leadership by offering flimsy apologies and excuses. Quickly using foreknowledge, leadership, seizing an opening, and morality, Brody drags Vaughn into a nearby space to get him to sign a voucher allowing them to hire Quint. At first, Vaughn’s barely responsive, muttering about “saving August”, but Brody quickly stifles that via more leadership when he says, “Larry, summer’s over. They think you’re the mayor of Shark Town.” It’s the absolute right decision, and it finally gets through to Vaughn, whereupon he signs the voucher…and the rest is history.
This was a horrible ordeal for an island that simply wanted to enjoy its own summer, only to be demonized by a violent beast and brazenly incompetent leadership. Sadly, four lives were been lost, and one more (Quint) that’ll end soon, but that just proves what’s been said from the beginning: follow Sun Tzu, and you’ll win; ignore him, and you’ll lose.
[i] Giles, The Art of War, 28.
[ii] Giles, The Art of War, 3.
[iii] Giles, The Art of War, 46.
[iv] Giles, The Art of War, 3.
[v] Giles, The Art of War, 50.
[vi] Giles, The Art of War, 28.
[vii] Giles, The Art of War, 4.
[viii] Giles, The Art of War, 33.
[ix] Giles, The Art of War, 28.
[x] Giles, The Art of War, 3.
[xi] Giles, The Art of War, 4.
[xii] Giles, The Art of War, 11.
[xiii] Giles, The Art of War, 4.
[xiv] Giles, The Art of War, 27.
[xv] Giles, The Art of War, 11.
Bibliography
Spielberg, Steven, director. Jaws: Anniversary Collectors Edition. 1975; Universal Studios, 2000. 124 min. DVD.
Sun Tzu. The Art of War. Translated by Lionel Giles. New York: Fall River Press, 2011.
[i] Jaws: Anniversary Collectors Edition, dir. Steven Spielberg (2000)
