The commercial media in this country shits me, it really does.
Poor old Steve Irwin is dead, killed by a stingray. It’s sad, but somehow not surprising that he should die young at the hands of a wild animal. Everyone I know says pretty much the same thing:
“Yeah, I thought a snake would get him. He was a bit of a nong, wasn’t he? But he was so enthusiastic and good hearted that it’s sad, and it’s a shame he died so young, and I feel sorry for his family.”
That pretty much sums up the average Australian sentiment about Steve Irwin. We’re all still amazed that he was so famous around the world, because many of us thought he was a little bit crazy.
So the overwrought, over-the-top media coverage and emotional half-hour TV tributes seem unnecessary and ridiculous. Yes, it’s a big story and yes, it’s sad, but really, Steve was not a saint.
I liked the way he wasn’t afraid to cry, but I didn’t like his politics. His approach to conservation was not one I particularly agreed with.
Advertisement
Support independent, ethically made, award-winning porn. Bright Desire features all of my erotic films and writing. A membership to Bright Desire gets you access to every movie I've ever made and lets me keep making female friendly porn!
Click here to find out more.
-------------------------------------------------------
Germaine Greer didn’t think much of him and has said so, arguably a little too soon after his death. She’s now become the victim of a vitriolic media hellbent on canonizing celebrity; the very same media who were ready to lynch Steve 2 years ago over the “Baby Bob and the croc” incident.
The Daily Telegraph makes me want to puke.
THIS is the muzzle The Daily Telegraph has sent to batty loudmouth Germaine Greer on behalf of all Australians furious over her comments about Steve Irwin. Today The Daily Telegraph calls on all Crocodile Hunter fans to tell the controversial academic exactly how they feel.
A muzzle? A MUZZLE? Why don’t you just declare a fatwah while you’re at it?
The media-induced hatred has reached hysterical levels. People have even been vandalising her Wikipedia entry.
Jack Marx has made some cutting comments about the whole furore here. Well worth reading. This opinion piece by Clive Hamilton is also good.
What’s interesting is the choice of words that people are using to criticize Greer. It’s almost like they’re providing her with fodder for a new book about how people view older women who won’t shut up and knit like they’re supposed to. In one article alone she was called a “poorly sketched caricature of a harridan”, “an unwashed and wretched bag lady”, a “feral hag” and God forbid, “childless”.
Even the comments on the Jack Marx blog reflect those same stereotypical insults:
“I really do think that she could have waited a bit longer before rolling out her particular brand of vituperative carping.”
“Germaine Greer sounds like a bitter twisted woman who needs to get a life.”
“As for Germaine, the poisonous old tart blithers on…”
“Germaine Greer is a quafid, dried up old cow.” (Quafid?)
“Germaine Greer continues to this day as what she has been for the last 40 years, a whiney bitch, who thinks she knows best and should tell the world what she thinks. For christ’s sake woman, will you ever SHUT UP?!”
Notice a pattern here? Germaine is the witch, the evil stepmother, the sexless, unattractive harpy who talkes too much. There’s an awful lot of playing the woman, not the issue, going on.
This one may take the cake: “As far as Germaine Greer goes, what the hell has she ever contributed to our society?”
What indeed?
It’s thanks to Germaine and her “whiney bitch” feminist sisters that I enjoy the lifestyle I have today. I am forever grateful to her for that. She is a fiercely intelligent woman who has never been afraid to say what she thinks and I find that admirable. I may not always agree with what she says, but that doesn’t diminish my respect for her independence, intelligence and sheer guts.
Germaine is a self-declared “grumpy old woman” – she appeared on the British TV series of the same name – but she is still a brilliant academic and writer, and deserves a bit more respect.
Perhaps when her time comes the media will engage in their usual hypocrisy and canonize her as well.
Yeh I agree, and in a way, I agree with what she said. But the media live for this shit, it’s what sells stories, papers, magazines. I’m sure New Idea or Woman’s Day will have a 4 page spread on him and his family out next month. It’s sick.