1975 Sturgis, Michigan

Marsha Pineda

Born 1955 

Sturgis, Michigan 

Interviewed on February 1, 2024

By Mia Pineda

What is the first movie you remember seeing? 

I always thought I had a good memory till it comes to remembering certain things.You know what I really remember? Haha, the guy I went with, hit another car! That triumphs even remembering what the movie was! Let’s see…Jaws was the biggest movie in the 1970s, so I think that was the first movie I can remember seeing in theaters. 

Do you remember how old you were?

Hmm, no. Probably after high school. No, actually, you know what, I might have been twenty at the time.

Why did it take till you were older to go to see a movie? 

There just wasn’t a movie theater that was close, and my parents just never went, so it was never something my family thought about. Then, when I had a group of friends, we would go to cottages and lakes, and they didn’t see too many movies either. It just wasn’t a popular thing in my little community to do. 

What do you remember about the movie?

Scary. Haha, well, what made Jaws so popular was the background music that always played when the shark was near. I think it was the composer, and that was the main thing I remembered. You don’t forget the sound of that. The music made it powerful. You could always tell what was coming. 

What did you think of the characters or story?

You know what, I just remembered enjoying the movie. They seemed to be real-life, and they seemed to be scared when they were supposed to be scared. I mean, it seemed like it could truly happen. I remember the dad the most because he was the one out to catch Jaws. You went through his timeline in his life more than the kids that Jaws attacked. You went through how he worked to get to the shark, plus he was a policeman, so he was the first on the scene. It had its very exciting parts. The music made me feel afraid with the surprise attacks but I was also sad when the kids got hurt. The movie was an adventure that I went through and I think that’s what movies do today. But I’ve never had nightmares after this movie. I wasn’t ever scared because I didn’t have a pool and none of my friends had pools. We had the lake, but I still didn’t think about it.

Was this movie, for its time, seen as a thriller or horror film?

Ouuu, I’m not quite sure. Probably more like a thriller. 

Do you feel like you could watch it again? 

Yeah, I’ve probably watched it a couple of times. I watched it once in the theater and then again on the TV, but I don’t remember when it was released on the TV.

Who was with you when you saw it in theaters?

I’m sure it was friends. Oh you know who it was, I think I was with a boyfriend. His name was Dan and we went to high school together. *chuckles* We both liked each other for a while and he drove me out to the theaters. 

Do you remember the name of the theater? What did it look like?

Umm, I know that everything was outside, including the ticket booths. And then you walk in, and usually there are two sets of doors on both sides of the booth. There really wasn’t much to see at that point. There was only one theater in the building, and you would walk behind another set of doors into the darker movie room. It was a small home town theater. Oh, it was called the Strand Theater. It had a big sign that was out in front of it. 

Was there a concession? Did you order any snacks?

Yes. Probably popcorn. Well, Dan paid for me. The movie costs about two dollars a piece, and the popcorn was fifty cents! 

You didn’t get any candy? 

They probably didn’t have candy. I mean, I don’t remember when they started carrying candy, they might have had a few kinds. And actually, I don’t even think I got anything. 

Did you have a favorite candy at the time? 

No. Well, when I grew up in the farm house, there was a little shop half a mile down the road. So every once in a while we would take our nickels or dimes, and the best candy I got, believe it or not, was the candy cigarettes. The other thing that was popular was this candy called “Buns”, it was like a round little bun-type thing with nuts and caramel in it, but they aren’t around anymore. 

What town and year did you go see Jaws?

Probably around 1974 or 1975. It would have been in Sturgis, Michigan. I used to only live about 15 minutes from Michigan. LaGrange, Indiana (my home) never had a theater. Because in the little town that I grew up in, by the time I was old enough, they had a theater but it was closed. And so they did not have a theater where I lived, so maybe that’s one of the reasons why I never saw a movie right away. Because we either had to travel 15 minutes north to Michigan or an hour south to Fort Wayne, or probably another hour west over by the Elkhart area. I still don’t even know if my mother ever saw a movie. 

Relationship to Interviewer: Mrs. Pineda is my maternal grandmother