by cleargreenwater » November 25th, 2012, 8:47 pm
[quote="TheBlackCatCrossing"][quote="cleargreenwater"][quote="Woeler1"]
I really have to say though, I strongly dislike the cult of personality much wildlife programing has become in the wake of Steve Irwin [/quote][/quote]
??
Jeff Corwin and Jack Hanna were very popular and this was before Steve passed away.[/quote]
I mean like going out and interacting/"befriending" wild animals, Jack Hanna was around in my childhood but he wrangled captive ones and taught from those, supplemented by video. I mean like the Grizzly Man. Yes OK, document their lives but get way too close to them, they loose their fear, you loose yours, next thing they kill your special snowflake a-- and additionally all the bears that grew up used to you around now also don't fear humans. What does that accomplish except inviting animal/human clashes?
That was my problem with this hyena doc, it was really fascinating stuff, the clan had a barren alpha, that's practically unheard of and *super* rare....and the show did a really good job until the last 20 minutes was about this guy "befriending" the clan. Wat?? OMG, get your fat head out of it, what did that just do except introduce hyena cubs to humans as a non-threat in an area surrounded by villages and tourists? You had massively interesting stuff there, you mean in months of watching these critters in completely unique circumstances you couldn't find/splice >20 minutes of footage?
Hosting a show, finding an animal in the wild & talking about it is one thing. If I ever run in to a bear, though, I sincerely hope it has zero acclimation/comfort or previous interactions with "friendly" people.
I don't know, I grew up on too much Marty Stouffer's Wild America and hands-off docs, lol.