This would have been mine had you not posted first. I performed this monologue for a theater project in college to fulfill my film minor. The professor tasked all of us on the first day of class with naming our favorite film and, while everyone else named classics such as Citizen Kane, Casablanca, various Kubrick movies, and other more "artsy" films, I named Jaws.
My prof was immediately taken by my response, wondering why — when everyone else was talking about movies that were "true art" — I chose a popcorn film. I explained that, for one thing, it was THE popcorn film. It not only defined the blockbuster film, it literally scared people out of the water. But, aside from that and the technical prowess of Spielberg (the Brody dolly/zoom shot, for instance), it was the interactions between Brody, Quint and Hooper that really made the movie for me. The personalities and class differences between them (and even, to a lesser extent, Mayor Vaughn) were compelling, as was the way they came together in the face of danger.
Don't get me wrong, I put in the work in the class throughout the semester to earn an A, but to this day, I'm convinced I aced that class the first day because I didn't give him some bullshirt answer that I thought would impress him like 90 percent of the other students did.
He and I remain friends to this day and share movie recommendations whenever we see something worthwhile (or not).
