You're nobody until somebody kills you.

[The Curmudgeon]

First of all, this isn't a snide comment or nasty thread aimed at Steve Irwin, he's just another in a long line of people this has happened to. You know what? It absolutely SUCKS that Steve is dead. I wasn't a huge fan or anything, but he was a warm, enthusiastic, genuinely likeable television personality with bags of natural charisma and a passion and dedication to his work. When you consider some of the hateful people on television these days, the fact Steve is no longer with us just isn't fair.

There was an old letter in satirical adult comic Viz a few years back, which went along the lines of:

"I like when famous movie stars die, because then they repeat all their films on television. I hope Clint Eastwood dies soon. He's my favourite."

And that's sort of the same thing that's happening here, indeed, happens every time someone famous dies. People are suddenly falling over themselves to talk about how much they actually LOVED them.

Take Johnny Cash. Been around for decades, snuffs it, and suddenly you can't move for all these trendy hypocrites saying what an "influence" he was, when they wouldn't have played a Johnny Cash record for a bet the year before.

And it's the same story with Steve Irwin. Having a sneaky hunch, I typed his name into Play.com. Check it out..

Steve Irwin - The Crocodile Hunter: His Most Dangerous Adventures - Sold out.
Steve Irwin's Wildest Animal Encounters - Vol. 2 - Sold out.
Steve Irwin - The Crocodile Hunter - Sold out.
Steve Irwin - Crocodile Hunter (Book) - Sold out.

Would ANY of these items have been sold out last week? Would ANYONE have suddenly had the major urge to buy The Crocodile Hunter? No - but now because the poor guy is dead, suddenly the world must own a piece of him. It's like when a famous Scottish comedian died a few years ago (Rikki Fulton), his videos, which were gathering dust for years, were now suddenly selling for more than £20 on ebay. What, because he's dead he's funnier now or something?

Like I said, I'm no huge Steve Irwin fan. I hate the fact he died, but I'm not going to rush out and buy everything he ever did just because he's dead. Same with Johnny Cash.

Moral of the story - appreciate who you wish, for whatever reason. Don't buy into media overkill and fake sentiment (Steve Irwin was, oh man, "The Australian Diana"). It's not what you want and it sure wouldn't be what they would have wanted.

[Ben]

You may not have been a huge Steve fan, but I was. As a kid I wouldn't have missed an episode of The Crocodile Hunter. Now that he's dead, I'm not buying all that stuff, but I did pay tribute by watching part of The Crocodile Hunter marathon on tuesday. RIP Steve.

[trashcanman]

This really bums me out. After all the croc-wrestlin', snake-wranglin', and other death-defying acts of madness this man has performed, he dies at the hands of a freakin stingray. Possibly the most benign animal he's ever handled. Only a few dozen people have EVER been killed by a stingray, they typically only sting people when they are stepped on and the sting is hardly deadly. This incident saddens me more than I thought it would. I've watched the guy for years and appreciated his showmanship and sheer BALLS in dealing with these insanely threatening creatures that anyone else would run in terror from. I've seen him bitten by deadly poisonous snakes and get chomped on by crocodiles, and laughed my ass off. Now every time I get reminded that he's dead in such a freakish accident, I feel a wave of depression. Life really sucks sometimes. I will admit not getting too much into Johnny Cash until after he died, but that's more of a coincidence since I'd never heard an entire CD of his music until somebody brought one into work. I always dug Cash, but I had never gotten to know his sheer awesomeness until after he had passed. Now every time I hear him sing "Hurt" , I wish I had been a fan while he was alive. Unlike most music artists, he was always doing something bold and new right up until the day he died. Classify him as country or rock if you want, but the man's music transcended any and all confines and labels. We've lost a lot of good people too young in the last several years. Strummer, 3-out-of-4 Ramones, Dimebag, and Entwhistle to name a few more. RIP guys, it's a sadder world without you.

[The Curmudgeon]

Hey man - only the good die young. There's a long, far too depressing list to prove that point.

[hackersanonymous]

My fiancee is/was a huge Steve fan... I wasn't that bothered one way or the other initially, but she's managed to convince me that he was more than his onscreen persona.

He wasn't just about prodding dangerous animals to see if they'd bite. That was the land of God-awful Jackass spin-off Wild Boyz..

What really grated my cheese, however, was the "Steve Irvin Tribute" on one our terrestrial channels (ITV1), which had the cheapest and nastiest Aussie "celebrities" waxing lyrical about Steve..

The main contributor - Jono - an unfunny, talentless tub of lard was on numerous times talking about Steve.. When at one point he said he was "lucky enough to meet him a couple of times"..

It's this kind of desperate cash-in which makes me want to vomit.

Toodles!

[The Curmudgeon]

I hear that, Hacker (or, er, "see that", I suppose is better). I hate when people who only want to be on television will talk shit about anyone and anything - Jono "just get a heart attack and die, already" Coleman is a prime example.