Wildlife films are a staple of our television programming schedules; they bring the spectacle and wonder of nature to our homes and fascinate us with a view into the world of wildlife that most of us are unlikely to encounter outside of the documentaries.  But in representing wildlife to us over the past 120 years or so, they can also tell us something about ourselves.  I am examining the natural history documentary as a tracker of cultural and ideological change in our society and, through a case study on documentaries on sharks, consider whether there is evidence to support the hopes of wildlife filmmakers that their films can support positive environmental change.