Jaws American cinema of the decade broke many of the conventions asso-
ciated with classical Hollywood filmmaking and can be exemplified by the
following traits (and films):
driven by character rather than plot (Five Easy Pieces, 1970)
critical of American society (The Godfather, 1972)
revisionist rather than derivative genre constructions (McCabe and Mrs.
Miller, 1971)
dominated by anti-heroes and social outcasts (Klute, 1971)
exploring the dark side of human nature (Chinatown, 1974)
distrustful of political institutions (The Parallax View, 1974)
hostile toward authority figures (M*A*S*H, 1970)
more sexually explicit (Last Tango in Paris, 1972)
showcasing palpable violence (A Clockwork Orange, 1971)
dealing overtly with race (Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, 1971) and
ethnicity (Hester Street, 1975)
aesthetically innovative (Husbands, 1970)
engaged with popular music (American Graffiti, 1973)
cynical in their worldview (Carnal Knowledge, 1971)
challenging traditional narrative expectations (Shampoo, 1975)
The post-Jaws American cinema, conversely, was far more reminiscent
of the traditional studio product, an era exemplified by genre pictures (Rocky,
1976), sequels of popular movies (Dirty Harry, 1971, Magnum Force, 1973,
The Enforcer, 1976), remakes (A Star Is Born, 1976), and Roman numerals
(The French Connection II, 1975). In addition, the cinema of the second half
of the seventies increasingly evolved into a series of high-tech, special
effects films, such as King Kong (1976), Superman (1978), and of course Star
Wars (1977), the beginning of the most lucrative franchise in film history.
If one looks at the characters who populate the pre-Jaws seventies and
those in the films following its wake, the broad shift from iconoclastic,
scruffy outsiders to more conventional characters immediately emerges. Fig-
ures such as Bobby Dupea (Five Easy Pieces, 1970), Popeye Doyle (The French
Connection, 1971), Frank Serpico (Serpico, 1973), Badass Buddusky (The Last
Detail, 1973), Swan (Phantom of the Paradise, 1974), Harry Caul (The Conver-
sation, 1974), and Patrick McMurphy (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, 1975)
are far less conventional Hollywood figures than Max Schumacher (Network,
1976), Tony Manero (Saturday Night Fever, 1977), Joe Pendleton (
Heaven
Can Wait, 1978), Erica Benton (An Unmarried Woman, 1978), or Ted Kramer
(Kramer vs. Kramer, 1979). It is not so much that the later group does not
rebel in their own ways, but they are essentially clean-cut, middle-class
INTRODUCTION 21