Steve and Conan, together again for the first time!

It seems what I reported here as rumour is indeed true: Steve Irwin said, “If I’m going to die, at least I want it filmed.”

Does that mean he’d want it shown around the world, rather than just to the people who were his friends and family? Does it mean that he’d be okay with it being interrupted every thirty seconds for commercials and stamped with a watermark, as it undoubtably would be?

Would you watch?

from the BBC:

Crocodile hunter Steve Irwin’s final moments were captured on camera. But should that film ever be broadcast to the watching public?

Yes, says Anna Smajdor

No, says Daniel Sokol

Steve Irwin made a career partly based on taking risks with wildlife. His death this week at the barb of a stingray on Australia’s Barrier Reef was filmed, and in a Sydney Morning Herald poll 40% of the 24,000 or so respondents thought it should be shown.

It’s typical of the elite-driven media in the UK that they thought only medical ethicists should be interviewed about this, rather than any other kind of philosophers. This is far too narrow-minded for me; they should, if they really wanted two different viewpoints, have gotten two different kinds of philosophers.

In any case, the answer for me is that I began searching for the video immediately upon hearing news of Steve‘s death. Why? Because I do think he’d be okay with it being broadcast; he was always very clear about the risks of what he was doing and I think that he’d want to show that sometimes you pay the ultimate price. He showed videos of animals dying and dead, and are any of us in any doubt whatsoever that he revered them? He’d have asked for no different treatment himself. If I find the video, I will watch it and post it, with a very clear warning, and you can make your own choices.

I also want to find out what watching the video can tell me. I’ve seen people die in hospitals, and it’s not horrible; worse is watching their faces the moment they realize that their death is inevitable, and close. I’ve read the manual of Afghani Jihad, and the Japanese kamikaze manual, and I’ve learned about myself, the world, and right and wrong by reading those “forbidden tomes.” This is, in its own way, as disturbing, but that in itself is no reason to turn away from it.

That said…do I believe that Steve‘s wishes have to be obeyed? I’ve spent the last few years trying to ensure that my father’s last wishes were obeyed, with mixed success, but I realize very clearly that while the wishes of the dead are to be respected, they do not have to be obeyed. If you wouldn’t obey them when they were alive, it makes no sense to do so when they’re dead, and it is in fact a betrayal of your real relationship.

His family should make the call. They knew him better than anyone, and they’ll have to deal with the fallout. Whatever they say, whether the video makes it to the Net or not, I’ll respect their wishes.

You?