July 1: So Long, Chrissie Watkins

“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

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5 Responses to July 1: So Long, Chrissie Watkins

  1. Why did chrissie watkins go out swimming a little too far when there was a shark out there.

    • Fogelfoot says:

      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.

      • Dubitandum says:

        …which is EXACTLY what you’d say if you *were* Jack the Ripper, posing as a shark-obsessed oceanographer. IT’S THE PERFECT COVER.

        “Who killed this prostitute, Dr. Expert?”
        “Looks like the work of a…shark to me, Inspector.” [Laughs up sleeve.]

  2. Why did chrissie go out swimming a little too far?

    • leighton Mueller says:

      She didn’t swim out too far, Annabel. It’s a line from the film when the Major is urging Brody not to make it public knowledge that there’s a shark out there. ‘Our summer girl goes swimming…she goes out too far…she tires.’ Saying she got hit by a boat or something….

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