“A Summer Girl goes swimming,” says Mayor Vaughn. “Swims out a little far…”
In the book “Jaws,” Chrissie Watkins is about 25, the date of Tom Cassidy, and a houseguest at the home of his friends. The couple decide to go for a moonlight swim, Tom stays behind on the beach, and Chrissie is eaten.
Tom wakes up and wonders where she went. He doesn’t know her well. Could she have run off with someone, maybe the couple that owns the house?
“For all I know,” Tom says, “she could be a little weird.”
In the movie, Chrissie is listed as a student, though she looks like Janis Joplin’s older sister. Tom Cassidy appears to meet her on the beach, because he asks her name.
Despite the other differences in the book and movie, Chrissie’s fate is the same: she is the shark’s first victim.
She died on July 1, 1974. Her crime? She just swam out a little far.
Previously on All That Jaws: June 29: Icthyology Numerology
Why did chrissie watkins go out swimming a little too far when there was a shark out there.
Chrissie was unaware a shark was out there. Her remains washed up on shore, and Hendricks absently kicked sand on them. Later, Hooper examined a tray of what was left, requesting a cup of water. “It wasn’t Jack the Ripper,” he said.
Why did chrissie go out swimming a little too far?