As many of the other bloggers have noted already, Steve Irwin was killed this morning by a stingray.Some have noted that it's perhaps not that unexpected that the Crocodile Hunter would be killed in an accident involving an animal. Others have noted that he died doing what he loved, that he essentially would have wanted to go this way. But I have to wonder if both of those observations are a little off the mark.
Sure, Steve Irwin was poking and prodding things full of teeth and venom for years and years. But he was ultimately killed by a stingray. In the broad spectrum of nasty nature, this actually ranks on the relatively benign side. It's been said this is only the third confirmed death by a stingray in Australia, ever.
So... does that make it neater and more special somehow, that a man of extreme adventure and notoriety was killed in a highly unusual way? Or is a sad letdown of sorts that it wasn't one of those poisonous snakes, or most fittingly, a crocodile, that got to him?
And perhaps just as importantly, am I a completely morbid and insensitive bastard for even posing a question like this?
5 comments:
I don't know if you are insensitive or not...I just can't believe that a young man like this with a young family is gone in a couple of seconds. One minute you're with a stingray - the next with the creator... this truth always strikes me as a unique part of the human experience...
I think it's obvious that his odds of being killed in a wildlife accident were certainly higher than any average person. It still sucks though. I wonder if this will somehow "9-11" the whole crazy-animal-chaser shows where now all of a sudden it's determined to be too dangerous?
in another possible insensitive attempt at humor to lighten the story, this whole thing might incite a gang warfare between the Stingrays and the Crocodiles. those crocs have got to be mad that they won't get the chance to get thier arch nemesis...
the mole
It's not insensitive. We all figured that Irwin would come within an inch of his life someday...but by a croc. After all, that's his staple...that's his schtick.
So death by stingray just comes out of left field and leaves us baffled. The show's called The Croc Hunter, not fucking Sea Quest. What the hell was he doing out there hanging with stingrays anyway?
It's just mindboggling. And sad...I feel for his family.
Actually, I think it's more fitting that the croc NEVER got him. In the end, we thought that's who it would be, but (as death usually does) it came completely out of the blue. It's a lesson for us all. I feel bad for his family.
It all kind of reminds me of the movie The Shootist. John Wayne's character had been cheating death for so long. He knew in the end it wouldn't be a gun fighter that got him, but some random nobody. A situation that he'd never have seen coming.
Irwin was like that. When there's a crocidile in front of you, there's probably very little that will distract you from that fact. Maybe in a very tragic (ironic?) moment he stopped respecting nature when he most needed to.
- Enrique
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