Blog by Finn Boyle
The American 1975 shark-centred horror film Jaws was released to the public proudly declaring; “Soon you’ll be afraid to go in the water”. The threat of an incident – one that could grievously injure or kill someone – committed by some hidden beast was enough to genuinely put some people off water and swimming. There is something profoundly theatrical and captivating about an anxiety and fear so strong it can make one fearful of an act as simple as swimming. After all, one would think, what could be scarier than that? Perhaps an environment where no one is afraid of going into the water. Quite the opposite, we live in a world where people are now fearful to go into the air.