cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/17278655
What did he teach? How to jump on any crocodile? How to annoy every animal? This guy was laughed at in Germany, I still wonder what makes him a hero in the US.
He got laughed at in germany because these illiterate fucks can’t deal with subtitles and had to dub over it with a german australian accent. Of course he comes over as a joke.
If you actually watched any of his show, or any of his zoo displays, you would know that he spent much more time discussing the details of the wildlife and their habitat than just “jumping on crocodiles”, including relocation/rehabilitation and the effects of man-made habitat distraction.
man made habitat distractions seems very ironic in his case. But I guess we only got the crocodile jumping parts over here. They actually made me hate this guy… Nice to hear, that he wasnt just a guy doing everything for some views.
You’ve just insulted an Australian and I would gladly call you the c word but lemmy rules
He taught us all life is beautiful. He taught us that we should appreciate the hell out of it.
He taught you that it’s okay to abuse animals and exploit them for fame and money. Wake up. There’s a reason you don’t see serious animal activists and conservationists acting like this, or supporting Irwin. He peddles a message that is compatible with the public’s fucked up notions of animal ethics while making them feel good about their treatment of animals, with the flesh of an animal that suffered atrocity literally purifying between their teeth. If you consume animal products, you never learned “all life is beautiful.” You learned the commercial-compatible Disnified version of that idea.
Maybe this message got tainted a little by the fact, that he wasnt able to respect the animals. Whatever, may just be different cultures. Here we show love to nature by silently watching the animals, and to try not to interrupt them to much, but that doesn’t make for a exciting tv-show.
He wanted to touch them, yes. He said, “look at this [typically feared and/or reviled animal]!” And he’d hold it and look into its eyes and share the with the camera (metaphorically, with us) and say “She’s a beauty!”
It’s not David Attenborough, I’ll give you that. It’s very much hands-on, and I can see how that could be misinterpreted.
