10 Insane Ways Movies Have Influenced Real Life

2. Jaws Hurts Beach Tourism The World Over

Jaws

The Movie: Steven Spielberg's immeasurably popular blockbuster has a large shark terrorising a small resort town, causing the local police chief to team with a marine biologist and shark hunter to take it down. The Reality: Though shark attacks are hugely infrequent in real life, Spielberg's film blew away that fact and struck fear deep into beach-loving folks' hearts, causing widespread panic that a shark could strike at any time. The movie's sheer terror factor was nothing like audiences had seen before, and the result was that, for a while, beach tourism took a notable hit from coast to coast as punters feared they would be munched to pieces.
Contributor
Contributor

Frequently sleep-deprived film addict and video game obsessive who spends more time than is healthy in darkened London screening rooms. Follow his twitter on @ShaunMunroFilm or e-mail him at shaneo632 [at] gmail.com.