US Halloween Costumes mock Steve Irwins Death

[-Davo]

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=157047

Bad taste Steve Irwin costumes, which include a bloody stingray barb attached to a khaki shirt, are among the top Halloween costumes in the US this year.

The macabre outfits have split Americans, with some condemning the costumes while others find them amusing.



At least one US celebrity, comedian Bill Maher, has donned the Crocodile Hunter outfit.

Photos of Maher at a Halloween party in Los Angeles on the weekend dressed in khaki shorts and shirt with a bloody barb hanging out of his chest are circulating the internet.


The comedian, who has a weekly talk show on the HBO TV network, has outraged some of his fans.
"I suppose he thought it was funny, but it was seriously lacking taste, decorum and respect for Steve's family," a Maher fan wrote on a blog on the comedian's official website.

Another fan wrote: "I am kind of torn on it - I have good sense of humour but this one is just kind of tacky".

The San Francisco Bay Guardian newspaper recently published an article entitled Great bad ideas for Halloween costumes, with the number one suggestion a Crocodile Hunter outfit.

The article came with an illustration of Irwin with a stingray on his chest.
"Kids and grown-ups alike will stare you down with white-hot horror when you strut around in your khaki ensemble with a pissed off sea creature piercing your chest," the article's authors, Cheryl Eddy and Kimberly Chun, wrote.

"Too soon? Hell, no.

"If Irwin's eight-year-old can get her own Discovery Kids television show, you can certainly make sport of her nature-loving pop's freaky demise.

"Group costume idea: bring along Roy Horn and Montecore, and Timothy Treadwell and the Big Red Machine, and you've got your very own When Animals Attack all-star team!"

Mike Flint, the owner of Mallatt Pharmacy, a US leader in Halloween costumes based in Wisconsin, said bad taste outfits were always popular at Halloween.

Flint said he had customers this year who had khaki style Crocodile Hunter outfits but were seeking barbs to put in their chests.

"You would not believe some of the things people ask us to do," Flint said.
"When the movie Titanic came out what was popular that year was frozen victims of that disaster

"Siegfried and Roy costumes were popular the year they had the accident with one of their lions."

Flint said that adding to the popularity of the Crocodile Hunter outfit was it was cheap and easy to put together.

"With the khaki clothes, it is an easy costume," Flint said.

I don't know whether to take offense or nock it up as just another pack of wankers?

Discuss.

[Toksin]

I'm filing it with people who dress up as terrorists or bomb victims. "meh"

[carrrnuttt]

You're just giving the idiots what they want if you pay attention. It's all about shock value to them.

[G-man422]

I saw this comming a mile away.

[BLU CIVIC]

bad taste imo

[Steel]

Bad taste personally, but you have to be an idiot if you didn't expect this to happen. And you have to be a bigger idiot to write an f-ing news article about this, as if it's a new trend.

[03cavPA]

Originally Posted by Steel

And you have to be a bigger idiot to write an f-ing news article about this, as if it's a new trend.

This is true. It's freakin halloween, for crying out loud. Who cares what people wear for costumes?

Next, I suppose there will be an official list for PC halloween costumes. Abusers of good taste will be arrested and prosecuted.

[YogsVR4]

I saw a guy dressed as a leaf pile. That was creative. Dressing up in the fashion of how someone died - not so creative.

[Gohan Ryu]

Unimaginative and immature, like something an 8 year old would think of. It doesn't strike me as being in bad taste, it's just not funny. Surprising that a professional comedian like Mahar would think it's funny.

[TexasF355F1]

When I heard this costume come to light a few weeks ago, I thought it was funny but in bad taste. But they do these things, as was said, for shock value. It'll get talked about.

[KustmAce]

Who cares?

PC needs to die.