Bleatsters,
Bindi Irwin, daughter of the late Steve “Crocodile Hunter” Irwin, has resurrected her famous father in order to pad-out her new TV show, Bindi the Jungle Girl:
“It’s downright – well, I don’t know what, but not comfortable – when Steve pops into the treehouse in Saturday’s 5.30pm second episode. He’s crouched behind a desk resting his chin on its edge, his head alongside that of a gorilla skull, which Bindi asks us to tell apart. Sorry. That’s more than I can handle. By the time Steve and wife/widow Terri helped Bindi bid the audience bye-bye at the end of my hour screening disc, I was seriously weirded out.”
It seems to me the Irwins want it both ways. On the one hand, little Bindi wouldn’t be on the fame fast-track were it not for her father’s untimely death, yet on the other hand, they’re pretending that he’s actually still alive. (The Newsday quote specifically states that Steve Irwin is “shown and mentioned in the present tense” in the show.)
Would Steve himself have a problem with any of this? Probably not. But at this point everyone involved should be avoiding the appearance of exploitation — of Irwin’s death and his daughter’s vulnerable state — not encouraging it.
For a man whose persona was surprisingly free of pretence, his legacy is becoming more “showbiz” by the minute.
June 14, 2007 at 11:40 pm |
I have wondered about the sudden dominance of the Bind in the media. Prior to this the only reason I knew who she was came about because I had a friend who 20 years ago had a cat named Bindi. She had told me that “bindi” is an aboriginal name for burr. That’s the only reason I even knew the name of Steve’s daughter, because it stuck (like a burr..) in my head.
Now suddenly she’s on the cover of Women’s Weekly, doing tv interviews.. okay I know the show was planned before Steve died but there is still something weird about it.
June 15, 2007 at 1:29 am |
Well, I grew up calling burrs “bindis” — I didn’t know the origin of the word, however!