Steve Irwin, R.I.P.
Author Germaine Greer has an interesting take on the life and death of Steve Irwin, Crocodile Hunter. I don’t have much to say about the man himself, seeing as I’ve never watched his show—I tend to find “stunt zoology” embarrassing—but I do know that we tend to alleviate those who have shuffled off the mortal coil to a kind of ad-hoc sainthood, which is unsurprising because we’re always warned never to speak ill of the dead. While Irwin’s fans may prefer to focus only on the good he did—which, by many accounts, was a great deal—we must temper any posthumous adoration, I think, with the knowledge that we are all ultimately flawed.
Perhaps it’s telling that I feel most sorry for his children.
Rebecca Carter said,
September 6, 2006 at 1:08 pm
Thanks for showing me an article that doesn’t “praise the man that changed conservation.” His show gave me the creeps and I don’t appreciate the kind of attitude it creates: animals for entertainment and scare-factors. I wrote a little line about it the other day on ecorazzi, and have felt bad since then. I do believe that education is one thing, entertainment another. His shows I found to be on the entertainment side of it all. I, too, feel for his family and children. Thanks again for the piece.
Amber said,
September 7, 2006 at 4:26 pm
I do feel for his family, but perhaps his death saved them from worse fates. I have a friend who is a zoological horticulturalist who says that zoo folks thought he was alright until he was feeding crocs with one hand and holding his baby in the other. It’s one thing to put yourself in danger when you feel you have an appreciation for the way the animals you’re with will behave. Holding your baby (tasty tidbit!) in front of a croc and feeding it (tasty tidbits right here!) is dangerous, studid, and encouraging of bad behaviour (in crocs as well as in other humans with access to babies).