 Yet he observes that, far from the narrative formulas so often employed by New Hollywood filmmakers of the era—involving Us vs.Them, hip counterculture figures vs. "The Man"—the overarching conflict in "Jaws" does not pit the heroes against authority figures, but against a menace that targets everyone regardless of socioeconomic position.Whereas Britton states that the film avoids the novel's theme of social class conflicts on Amity Island, Biskind detects class divisions in the screen version and argues for their significance.