Jacques Cousteau 100th celebration...

[Dhboner]

Anyone who has issues with the way Cousteau worked needs to put it into context. The world was a different place back then.

We get to be eco-conscious and explore the oceans/lakes/rivers in large part due to Jacques Cousteau.

I think he can be forgiven for some personality flaws and for his less-than-hands off approach to his research given that he pretty much invented SCUBA.

 

[shakeybrainsurgeon]

The Undersea World was the forerunner of today's reality TV --- 10% reality and 90% staged/scripted BS made to give the illusion of "cinema verite". It also had a lot of the macho, manufactured danger that would be the trademark of he-man nature shows from Wild Kingdom to the Crocodile Hunter (in the latter's case, the danger was quite real, unfortunately).

I watched for hours last night and I loved the show then and still enjoy it now. True, it's dated and hokey, but we forget that these people were the pioneers of underwater exploration and naturalism. Prior to scuba, hard hat diving was for construction and sponge collection, not science and conservation.

For some reason, many people at the cutting edge of their fields end up with sullied reputations. Einstein is often depicted as an aloof a-hole, Harvey Cushing (the father of brain surgery) is viewed likewise. To break the mold and shape an entirely new paradigm often requires rubbing a lot of people the wrong way. Cousteau was no different.

The only problem I have with many of these nature shows is how often the creatures end up being harrassed and tormented by those who supposedly "respect" them. In the episode on whales, for example, was it necessary to keep playing the sounds of an outboard motor in the tank of a captive killer whale just to illustrate how agitated it made him? The whale was said to be "confused" by the noise, but he looked like he was in pain to me. And did the Calypso really need to harrass a whale simply to harpoon it with a buoy line?

Steve the Crocodile Hunter displayed sincere love of the reptiles he dealt with... Cousteau's divers often came across as drunken frat boys looking for cheap thrills, as when they went hanging onto the tail of a whale shark. Exactly what is the scientific purpose of riding turtles, sharks and whales like teenage skateboarders dangling off a pickup truck?

But the bottom line is: when I've accomplished what Cousteau has, I will criticize him. Otherwise, Happy Birthday mon ami. And merci for SCUBA.

 

[cocoajoe]

you have to put it into the context of the 60's .. it was partly science, partly to get more money for projects

bad way to treat the ocean? ... heck, you still have people that treat the ocean the same way today .. what is their excuse?

the hey look at me I'm famous may have been exactly what the producers directed .. me not having met him I would not make a guess as to his ego

the hey look at me I'm famous may have been exactly what the producers directed .. me not having met him I would not make a guess as to his ego

 

[covediver]

presidential historians assert that we cannot accurately rate a president's "greatness" until 100 years after his birth. Maybe it is the same with JYC. His sympathetic and unsympathetic biographers have started the process and the range of feelings is reflected in these comments.

So far as inspiration as a reason for diving, would you rather have Mike Nelson or Cousteau?

A recent book by Gary Kroll, America's Ocean Wilderness: A Cultural History of Twentieth-Century Exploration, examines the changing conception of the ocean as wilderness through the story of various ocean naturalists and explorers. Of Cousteau he writes "Cousteau's ocean (is) one that embraced a technologically savvy culture to meidate humans and the ocean...More than providing a window to undersea life, Cousteau's books, articles, films, and television series highlight an ocean populated by scuba equipped man-fish, underwater scooters, underwater flying saucers, and housing units. Cousteau created an ocean that was easily explored and imminently habitable thorugh the genius of science and technology."

As to the treatment of the subject portrayed on TV 40 years ago, let us not be guilty of excessive presentism, judging the past by today's standards. I like to think I have grown over the years.

 

[Stu S.]

When I started diving, he was the most admired Mr. Everything. People think of him as a scientist and environmentalist. He started as a military officer. As a filmaker, he made diving famous, and himself too. He was an international star, and demanded to be treated as such. Every piece of US Diver's Aqualung gear had his picture on the bag or box. The regulator was called "Calypso". Him and Walter Cronkite were the most admired men of the 1970's.

The film that influenced me was the "World Without Sun". A multiple award winner in the 1960's. I saw it as a kid (part of a double feature with a 3 Stooges movie first). It showed deep diving and his diving habitat and saucer. That film is no longer readily available. Maybe Capt. Cousteau having a cig and a bottle of wine after a dive presents the wrong image. But, the overall message of the movie, the Sea is good, is something we can still all believe in.

 

[seaducer]

The only problem I have with many of these nature shows is how often the creatures end up being harrassed and tormented by those who supposedly "respect" them.

It helps them to frame the animals in such a way as to get people excited about wildlife. At best these manipulations border on harrasment, at worst they go way past the line. However, look at what Steve Irwin accomplished for wildlife? He single handedly (well, along with his family and colleagues) raised millions and set aside thousands of acres of fragile land that can never be developed. His manipulation of wildlife made all that possible. JYC was very similar, he inspired an entire generation with his exploits.

Exactly what is the scientific purpose of riding turtles, sharks and whales like teenage skateboarders dangling off a pickup truck?

Interacting with these animals is precisely what turns on the lay public. These are the folks who must be reached in order to raise funds and awareness. You and I are not the target audience, we are already hooked. It is the millions of people who are generally clueless but just happen upon an exciting show once that is important to the mission.

But the bottom line is: when I've accomplished what Cousteau has, I will criticize him. Otherwise, Happy Birthday mon ami. And merci for SCUBA.

I don't know, I don't think anyone is beyond criticism, but I do think it should be weighed with what they did, what they intended, and that sort of thing.

And yes, happy birthday and all that jazz. Cousteau was a major influence on my life. I wanted to scuba dive right around the age I was able to learn how to say it, because of his shows.

 

[sharky60]

... But the 'hey look at me, I'm famous' production smacks of ego...

we...he was French.:cool2:

 

[Eff]

I absolutely loved the show. Watched about 6 of them, fell asleep sometime after midnight.

Yes, I noticed how they were grabbing the coral and riding the whales, but I don't think they knew better back then.

Disclaimer: I'm wayyyy after his time [kid of the 90s], and wish I had THIS stuff on TV while growing up instead of Johnny Bravo and reality shows.
It must have been great to watch that show after school or whenever it was on. Sometimes I wish I was born back then. Life, now, seems to be way too complicated, petty, stupid, unsustainable, and invasive.

Now I can see what inspired all you guys to start diving.

 

[Stu S.]

Sometimes I wish I was born back then. Life, now, seems to be way too complicated, petty, stupid, unsustainable, and invasive.

Now I can see what inspired all you guys to start diving.

Those were violent times. I remember the smoke rising from Baltimore during the race riots. There were war riots too. What did John Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, George Wallace and Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan all have in common?

off to my dive.

 

[drbill]

Maybe Capt. Cousteau having a cig and a bottle of wine after a dive presents the wrong image. But, the overall message of the movie, the Sea is good, is something we can still all believe in.

Since he was French, what else would he drink? Tee hee.

I'll bet almost all of us who were diving in the 50s or 60s did things we look back on as pretty stupid now. As one poster said, most of us grow in our understanding of the world over the decades. Many of the things I did in the 60s as an "environmentalist" and "biologist" I would never think of doing now.