Crikey, I Don't Give Much of a Shit!
Vale the Crocodile Hunter, dying in tragical circumstances at the hands of
We're back in Kerry Packer territory when it comes to this guy - mass debate about whether the meeja's reaction to his death is disproportionate, what he was REALLY like in life, etc.
Seems fairly straightforward to me, so let me break it down:
1. Guy was an idiot, but he was a genuine, consistent idiot - stupidity was natural, not an act.
2. Did some good shit for animals and conservation, but maybe shouldn't have held his baby within snapping reach of a crocodile's jaws.
3. Had a very high international profile, whether we liked it or not. Of course when he died suddenly it was going to make news.
4. Don't have it in for him because he said he liked John Howard - criticise the meeja instead for asking him for his political opinion as though he were any expert on the subject. Plus he did qualify that he thought it was his duty to like any Australian PM of the day. Blind patriotism maybe, but not necessarily far-right conservatism.
5. Sad that he died, especially as his missus just popped out a second baby croc for him. Probably would have been more poetic if a croc took him instead of a stingray, but the fact that some kind of deadly animal killed him was perhaps not such a great surprise given his line of work.
All good? Fab. Let's move on.
posted by Sam @ Wednesday, September 06, 2006
8 Comments:
Vale Colin Thiele...
Btw, Sam, Kevin Rudd's response to Germaine Greer's "politically correct claptrap" about Irwin demonstrates perfectly what you were saying the other day about PC rhetoric. PC has shifted to the right. Say a word against the crocodile hunter and you have a nation's ire.
With you on this Sam. Sure, he seemed like a pretty nice dickhead, and it was a surprise he died and everything. And famous + odd death = news, but jeez, bored already?
Irwin also held a low opinion of Bob Brown, because BB dared to criticise GeoWB when he was visiting these fair shores. Irwin felt it was unAustralian to criticise guests. So he may have been a consrvationist, but he wasn't a greenie. Head exploding now...
I worked in the zoo field and did educational shows with all types of animals, many of which were dangerous. We took all kinds of precautions. As I spoke with a friend/ex-coworker about this we both agreed that it is sad that Steve Irwin passed away but it was also not a surprise as we thought it would happen sooner.
Whilst I struggle to like anyone who calls their kid "Bindy" Steve Irwin did do some good. But yeah the media have gone OTT.
PS. Completely off topic Sam but knowing you are a fan of the fine work of the Grundy organisation I thought you might be interested to know Channel 7 are replaying Sons and Daughters at 10am weekdays. it started on Monday so you havent missed much if you want to tune in. Its a chance to see Rowena Wallace pre-social security fraud, Ian Rawlings pre-Phil Martin paunch and Anne Haddy pre-umm death. For those of us who are too young to have seen it the first time of course :o) Chris
he might have thought criticising guests was poor form, but he had no problem criticising Aboriginal people who hunt animals for food just like they've done since year dot.
I know Chris - very excitement! An ex of mine began his TV writing career on S&D, would you believe - and apparently Rowena is every bit as much a bitch as Pat the Rat.
And yes, it's camp seeing Anne with her 'Ozstrayan' accent and Ian Rawlings at a point where he was almost, kinda possibly, at just the right angle, not unattractive.
Steve Irwin wasn't a martyr nor a saint. He was just a simple guy with a curious occupation and a bizarre habit of behaving like an oaf around dangerous animals. Germaine Greer hit the nail on the head.
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