Friday, August 15, 2003
Misunderstood or just hungry?
I don't get to watch a whole lot of TV. Not that I'm too good for it or anything (well... Maybe network TV), just that I've fallen out of the habit of watching it regularly. When I do watch TV, I usually turn to the discovery channel. As of this writing, they're wrapping up their annual "shark week". Shark week is an entire week of ducumentaries about, well, sharks.
Included this year was an entire show about a shark behaviorist who was bitten by a bull shark while filming a nature show. Consequently, the whole thing was caught on video. He was standing in waist-deep water with the nature show's host completely surrounded by sharks when it happened. I think the whole point of the bit, had it been filmed without the expert's leg being nearly bitten off, would have been to show what docile creatures sharks really are.
Now I certainly don't want to make light of the man's injuries; He lost the majority of his calf muscle, and I'm sure that had to hurt, but there's a significant point here having to do with the way sharks are portrayed in these documentaries. We're constantly told that the shark is a misunderstood animal. Sharks that attack people are merely confused, having mistaken the the person for a seal, or having been whipped into a frenzy by some nearby fish, or whatever. This isn't the first time I've noticed this effect, but it's certainly the most egregious, since the video just seems to show a hungry shark taking a bite out of someone.
Is it really so hard to believe that when a shark bites you, it means to? What is it with this constant excuse-making for these toothy creatures?
Included this year was an entire show about a shark behaviorist who was bitten by a bull shark while filming a nature show. Consequently, the whole thing was caught on video. He was standing in waist-deep water with the nature show's host completely surrounded by sharks when it happened. I think the whole point of the bit, had it been filmed without the expert's leg being nearly bitten off, would have been to show what docile creatures sharks really are.
Now I certainly don't want to make light of the man's injuries; He lost the majority of his calf muscle, and I'm sure that had to hurt, but there's a significant point here having to do with the way sharks are portrayed in these documentaries. We're constantly told that the shark is a misunderstood animal. Sharks that attack people are merely confused, having mistaken the the person for a seal, or having been whipped into a frenzy by some nearby fish, or whatever. This isn't the first time I've noticed this effect, but it's certainly the most egregious, since the video just seems to show a hungry shark taking a bite out of someone.
Is it really so hard to believe that when a shark bites you, it means to? What is it with this constant excuse-making for these toothy creatures?
