Having established through Quint that fish are "stupid as sin", Peter Benchley goes on to suggest that this particular Great White may be smarter than the average shark. It appears thirty yards to the
Orca's stern and maintains a cautious distance as if aware that to come any closer means risking a harpoon. Not being able to give the shark a voice of its own, Benchley has to resort to
Narrating The Obvious, a technique which puts redundant comments into the mouths of characters. When the shark holds back, Quint comments "I don't get it [...] He should come in and take a look at us". A couple of pages later the shark finally takes the proferred bait of the baby porpoise. Quint pulls the empty hook on board and we're told that "it was nearly straight, marked by two small bumps where once it had been tempered into a curve." This, you would think, would be enough information, but to emphasise the point both Brody and Quint feel compelled to comment:
" 'Jesus Christ!' said Brody. 'He did that with his mouth?'
'Bent it out as nice as you please,' said Quint."
The film is equally guilty of stating the obvious. In the scene when the
Orca is taken on a Nantucket sleighride the shark chews down on the line and Brody says: "He's eating his way right through that line." Hooper acknowledges this blindingly obvious statement with one of his own: "Yeah , and he's working his way right up to us." As the boat is pulled backwards, its transom cannonading against the water, Hooper provides a commentary on the action: "Boys, it's too tight! He's pulling us! You've got to cut him loose! We're breaking up over here!" It's clear that these lines were added in post production, probably with actor Richard Dreyfuss gargling them Method-like over a bowl of water on a Hollywood soundstage just as he had witnessed Susan Backlinie doing for the dubbing of her screams in the opening night attack.
