She stole the show at Dad's memorial, now Irwin's girl has her own TV series
From Bernard Lagan in Sydney
THE eight-year-old daughter of the late Australian adventurer Steve Irwin is to present her own television series, raising concerns that the telegenic child is being exploited for commercial gain.
Psychologists joined politicians and academics yesterday to caution against the broadcast of Bindi, the Jungle Girl, a 26-part series due for release on the US Discovery Channel early next year.
The mother of Bindi, who stole the hearts of 300 million television viewers when she spoke with poise and emotion at a memorial service for her father last month, supports the show.
Producers predict that Bindi is set to become an even greater commercial success than her father, even if some feel that it is too soon to groom her for international stardom.
John Stainton, Steve Irwin’s manager, who was with the Australian film-maker when he was killed by a stingray off the Queensland coast, said that Bindi had resumed filming the series.
She has nineteen episodes left to shoot, having completed the first seven with her father as co-host before he died.
Mr Stainton disclosed in a television interview this week that he had told Irwin shortly before his death that his daughter would become a bigger star. “I said to Steve, ‘You know, this little girl is going to eclipse you, she’s going to be a bigger star than you have ever been’,” Mr Stainton said.
A TV documentary showed Bindi filming the series with her mother, Terri, and Mr Stainton, off camera, close by.
A senior politician, Senator Bill Heffernan — a close associate of John Howard, the Australian Prime Minister — said yesterday that he telephoned the Australian Broadcasting Corporation within minutes of the documentary ending to voice his concern that Bindi was being exploited.
He was so offended by the programme that he also raised his fears at a meeting of all government MPs, attended by the Prime Minister.
Mr Heffernan said yesterday: “Every child deserves their childhood and your childhood is one of those touchstones of your life, but there is a real danger that this kid is going to be exploited. “When she says that she’d rather play with snakes than dress up like a lot of girls her age, that’s fine — but does she need to do it in front of a camera? “There’s a very strong suggestion that there’s this artificial environment being built around her for a commercial purpose, and she’s not in a position to make that decision by herself.”
He added: “I don’t want to be critical of her mother at all, but I just think it’s time to flash an amber light about the way this child is being treated.” Child psychologists have said that the expectations placed on her were worrying.
A senior lecturer in education at the Queensland University of Technology, Annah Healy, said it seemed that Bindi had not, in the six weeks since her father’s death, been given the room to develop as a child.
While acknowledging that Bindi was a very confident, articulate and much-loved child, Dr Healy said: “She leads a highly regulated life in which she doesn’t seem to have much choice. All children need to be able to explore other avenues. That includes things like boredom and not getting what you want, and other experiences in which she’s not going to be a star.”
Alison Garton, a psychologist at Edith Cowan University, Western Australia, said that Bindi’s minders could easily have been fooled by her apparent resilience and might be inadvertently railroading her into a role that she could not manage.
Mr Stainton could not be contacted yesterday. But ten days ago he defended Bindi’s decision to resume her film-making and public appearances after she attended a red-carpet event in Sydney that drew criticism because of her prominent role.
Mr Stainton said: “She does what she really wants to do. Nobody is telling her she has to do that. It’s always a question of, ‘Do you want to do this? Do you want to do the red carpet? You don’t have to do anything at all’. She doesn’t have to do anything she does not want to.”
