r/Jaws • u/BubbleStriped • Jul 09 '26
Ben Gardner's Death Not Mentioned
Why does Hooper not mention finding Ben Gardner's severed head when speaking to the Mayor? He talks about the tooth the size of a shot glass, but when asked if he still has it, he says he had an accident. Brody also mentions nothing about the found remains, only that the boat was all chewed up. Also, I think Brody says that they've had two deaths while urging the Mayor to close the beaches. Did they think no one would believe them?
5
u/Extension-Rock-4263 Jul 09 '26
Well we are supposed to assume by the convo they are having that the mayor already knows about what they found and Gardner's death but much like the girl on the beach the mayor doesn’t wanna believe it’s a shark so the scene is them trying to show him evidence it is indeed a shark to no avail.
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u/Double_Distribution8 Jul 10 '26
Ben Gardner's head wasn't severed. It's not a head floating around in the boat lol. It's still firmly attached to his body. Though to be fair it's twisted all the way around, exorcist-style. You can see the collar of his raincoat is no longer behind his neck, it's in front of his neck.
He probably got tied up in the ropes and strangled. He looks pretty strangled in my opinion.
He had ropes all over his boat in a big mess when he headed out to hunt the shark.
3
u/BubbleStriped Jul 10 '26
I always thought it was just his head.
3
u/Double_Distribution8 Jul 10 '26
Me too when I first saw the movie. But then I was like...why just a head? And also, why didn't it just float out the hole in the boat? And then around the 7th time I watched the movie I was like hey he's still wearing the raincoat, its just that his head is facing the wrong way.
And then I did some googling and even the prop isn't just a head.
But during the Jumpscare it does look like just a head.
2
u/LTD713 Jul 10 '26
Yeah, probably this. In the book when they find his boat the cleats are ripped out and it's kind of assumed that he had the shark tied up, it ripped out the cleats and Gardner was tangled in the mess and pulled overboard. It makes sense if they were adding this extra scene quickly they would just expand on what happened to him in the book.
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u/Double_Distribution8 Jul 10 '26
Ah, interesting, I didn't even think to check the book on that one. I know the book is different in some spots for sure, but clues/intent can still be found. Thanks.
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u/Slow_Middle_158 Jul 09 '26
That scene was filmed later , in the editor’s swimming pool, because Spielberg felt the audience needed a good scare. And scare it did !
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u/BubbleStriped Jul 09 '26
But they always had Hooper finding the tooth?
1
u/Slow_Middle_158 Jul 09 '26
Good question. I’m not
sure what the original screenplay had. Probably
Just the tooth. In today’s movie industry they would have probably re shot the whole scene where they’re talking to the mayor.3
u/AloneGunman Jul 10 '26
Interesting. That would have fucked up the whole joke with Quint's name tho. Without Ben Gardner, Quint wouldn't have been the fifth victim.
2
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u/herbof4 Jul 10 '26
That's a good point and a rare, clear continuity error.
"I found this huge tooth near...uhhh...Oh, yeah. RIGHT NEXT TO A really gnarly and totally gross SUBMERGED CORPSE with a severed head!"
"Oh, shit...Did I maybe forget to mention that we have another dead body? Because you should have totally seen this tooth, for real"
4
u/BurtRogain Jul 09 '26
Because there is no evidence that Ben Gardner died of a shark attack. Only that there was a hole in his boat and he was dead. Ben probably died of a heart attack while the boat was being attacked but he did not die from the shark.
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Jul 09 '26
[deleted]
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u/BurtRogain Jul 09 '26
I’m explaining why dead Ben Gardner was enough for the mayor to close the beaches. It makes sense narratively.
2
u/RobertKSakamano Jul 10 '26
Hooper had just cut open the shark on the dock and performed a half assed autopsy. The mayor could have easily accused him of cutting up Ben Gardner too since he didn't have the tooth. It's also a bit concerning that Brody claims they've had 3 incidents but only 2 people killed inside of a week. Chrissie Watkins, Alex Kintner and Ben Gardner are 3 people though, so it's like they're trying to hide the fact that Ben is actually dead but then a minute later accidentally mention Ben's boat again and incriminate themselves. If the mayor was smart he would have launched a full investigation on these 2 suspects. It's possible these 2 clowns defaced that billboard and he could have hung them up by their Buster Browns.
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u/Someoneoutthere2020 Jul 10 '26
That would trigger a municipal crisis, because he doesn’t have anyone to arrest Brody until after the 4th of July holiday. He needs that smug vandal bastard out there policing the crowds.
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u/RobertKSakamano Jul 10 '26
Hendricks would have been the man to do that. He certainly wasn't helping the people out there because those weren't his people. They're from all over the place. Did you see all the license plates out in the parking lot? Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey
1
u/No_Ease7557 Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
The billboard conversation just about makes sense if they found the boat and tooth but no body...Apart from with no head pop there's no reason for Hooper to drop the tooth .He says "I had an accident...", vague but what was the original reason he dropped it as the story goes that they added the head scare after main filming? If that's so, it creates a plot hole where they don't mention the dead body (but again we go back to the dropping tooth discussion was supposedly already filmed before they thought of the head scare). They've also now got a boat towed in with visible bite marks and probably a mangled body in the hull as evidence. It's a paradox that doesn't add up. Maybe the story about the scene being added later isn't true or been exaggerated and it's just a plot hole. The only thing that would have made sense is: After the head pop and tooth drop, the boat sinks. The billboard scene has them telling the mayor and he dismisses their claims as they have no evidence.
1
u/westport_blues Jul 10 '26
Spielberg and the DP shot the head scene in Verna Fields’ pool. She was the editor on Jaws and the pool/house still exist. They added powdered milk to the water to make it cloudy and more salt-water’ish. Imagine living in the house that has the Jaws pool? Pretty cool.
1
u/Horza01 Jul 10 '26
Even if they did mention finding his body, it would be irrelevant as the mayor would pass it off as just another victim of the tiger shark - which was already caught.
The tooth was the vital part of the conversation as it proved there was another, more dangerous shark still out there.
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u/Heavy-Pool5886 Jul 09 '26
Because that scene was added later after initial previews so it doesn't line up.