OK, so Steve “Crocodile Hunter” Irwin is dead. I am not going to speak ill of the dead, I didn’t like the guy particularly but I do acknowledge he seemingly could sell ice to Eskimos as he was able to secure such lucrative television and media deals on a global stage with a very rough and seemingly corny product.
What I am miffed about is the amount of press and also the words used to describe Steve Irwin. I was watching A Current Affair last night and guest host Karl “2nd Best Ice Queen In Australia” Stefanovic describe Irwin as a “Hero”. Just because a larrikin whose a sandwich short of a picnic can stick his hand / head / new born baby into a crocodiles mouth doesn’t mean he’s a hero. Whilst I am not one to get too caught up in semantics when we describe sport stars as “sporting heroes” I am going to pull someone up if they call a TV “personality” (and I use that term loosely) as a “hero”. The guy was highly successful at what he does and he was the walking advertisement for what too much cordial as a child can do to you in later life, but he wasn’t a hero.
Whilst it is a tragic death and a horrible way to go, it was perhaps very fitting and also a reminder that no matter how much you think you know about animals, when you enter their world, in particular the ocean, you are just another link in the food chain.
And on that note, let’s not make the Sting Ray the next big villain of the ocean. They are not frenzied killers of the ocean and they should not be wrongly portrayed like the shark is.
1 comment:
I think he was a Hero, Clay... I thought the baby-dangling incident was a huge mistake, but I'm sure we're all guilty of some pretty bad moments, most people just have the advantage of not being filmed 24/7.
He's not a Hero in the Hercules, Superman, Aragorn sort of way, but he is a Hero. His "lariken" image was exaggerated but so what... the important thing was that he got millions of people interested in going outside, understanding wildlife, and protecting a rapidly vanishing habitat for many of the creatures he featured on his shows.
He inspired people...
How many kids have dreams of being biologists, guides, zoologists, divers because of his show? Maybe not millions, but some.
How many people who had lived in an American urban environment their entire life (you'd be surprised how many there are like this in the States), got interested in what it was like beyond the city borders and went camping/exploring on account of his program. Again, not countless but some.
Steve inspired people, he was able to convey his passion for animals and wildlife to others, and he increased the world's interest in Australia like noone before since Crocodile Dundee, a "fictional hero". Like him or not, as far as the rest of the world is concerned, he was the quintessential Aussie icon.
He lived life doing what he loved, made the world a better place, and showed other people that it was possible to do the same. Did he save falling planes, battle hydras, or save Middle Earth from evil? The answer is clearly No. But, he made a difference while he was on this planet, and for many people (myself included) that's as good a definition of Hero as any.
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