Exploiting Animals for Entertainment: The Facade of Showmanship
Entertainment, education or unnecessary invasion of their space?
It is a fine line to walk between using a documentary or wildlife show as a way to become a celebrity or showman. Steve Irwin, alias Crocodile Hunter, achieved celebrity status. He died tragically.
His actions, although he was adored and respected by many, could be seen as a circus performer. He was a showman who used his antics to promote his zoo. This gave the wrong impression about how animals should behave and be treated. The media still labelled him as a conservationist, wildlife expert, TV personality, and an all-round good guy.
Animals that provoke good television
He seemed to have little empathy for animals, but went to great lengths to control them. By provoking them and taunting them in order to get their reaction under the pretense of showing them their natural behavior. This made for entertaining television as opposed to the animal simply sitting and contemplating the surroundings.
Steve Irwin was unfortunate because he provoked or invaded one animal’s space too many times and the animal took revenge. Or, did it simply react naturally to a perceived threat? This was an unnecessary tragedy caused by a desire to entertain and show off. This behaviour inspires others to create TV shows and encourages them to treat animals in the same manner.
The He-Man of Natural History
The Radio Times in the UK described Steve Backshall, as a ‘he-man’ of natural history due to his how near can I get without being killed’ doctrine when approaching potentially deadly creatures. His method was to torture and aggrave them, and then goad them into a response.
Many reality shows and pseudo-wildlife shows are presented by celebrities or heroic presenters and involve the killing of animals, stressing them out. We even have extreme fishing in which poor fish who have grown to enormous sizes over many years are portrayed as “monsters” and are hunted down and caught for entertainment.
These programs are very popular, mainly because we are drawn to the personalities and treat them as heroes. We do not even question whether or not their methods and actions are beneficial for the animals that they ‘present’.
David Attenborough criticises the killing of animals for entertainment.
David Attenborough has recently criticized Bear Grylls’ reality show for allowing animals to be killed for entertainment. In the name of charity, so-called celebrities were encouraged to kill animal to “survive”. David Attenborough stated that “we have never killed an animal in a film”. Bear Grylls must answer for himself.
In 2016, the presenter was also criticized when a “reality star” killed a Crocodile with a knife in its neck. Animal rights activists argued the crocodile wasn’t killed humanely, that it was purely done for entertainment, that it was unnecessary, that this sent the wrong message regarding the status and treatment of animals. He was also accused of exploiting animal for greed when he opened a Shark attraction. His Bear Grylls Survival Guide was withdrawn from sale.
The show may be entertaining, since reptiles are difficult to get to perform well. But it’s not necessary. It only reinforces the idea that animals can be used to subjugate and dominate, to tease, to provoke, and to kill without remorse. This isn’t the best impression to leave on young people.
Some argue that the purpose is to educate and prove animals’ natural behaviour. However, most wildlife documentaries are able to achieve this without any unnatural interference. It is time to put such archaic TV presentations in the past now that we can produce wonderful nature and wildlife documentaries like the Blue Planet.