Grizzly Man is a fascinating documentary for many reasons. It highlights the struggle for survival of the Alaskan grizzly bears, but that's just the beginning. It also features a potentially mental film maker, a skeptical narrator, and a cast of other related characters, any of which could be considered at least somewhat 'eccentric.'
Possibly the most interesting part of the film is the way in which Timothy Treadwell, the focus of the movie, is portrayed. Since he was creating the film originally (and because he's a narcissist), Treadwell glorifies himself throughout in the most extreme way possible, proclaiming himself as "savior and defender of the bears". Werner Herzog, the creator and narrator of the final product (Grizzly Man), seems to be fascinated by Treadwell and his ideas surrounding the issues covered in the film. While Herzog respects Treadwell, he seems to have quite a different opinion on whether what Tim is doing is really the right thing.
Treadwell's actions throughout the film are clearly products of his opinions regarding nature. He seemed to feel that humans could coexist with other species in nature, and that nature was actually a beautiful, friendly atmosphere, one that invited him in to help to preserve it and its inhabitants. Treadwell felt completely at home in nature; that he had been chosen in some manner to protect it from his fellow humans. He seemed to believe that intervention was needed in order to save the natural world from those who would disrupt it. What he may not have considered is that he himself may have been one of the very defilers he swore to defend against.
Herzog's narration throughout the film is pretty reserved, but he does let on that he is quite skeptical of Treadwell's thoughts about his place in nature. In "Antiphusis: Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man", (Herzog) voices his opinions on the human relationship with nature, stating that there is an invisible line that one should never cross when interacting with the wild world. He also says that Treadwell's eventual fate may be a direct result of his violation of this rule. Through interviews with Native Alaskans, Herzog found that his opinion was not an uncommon one: They too believed there was a line, and that Treadwell had gone far past where any human should in regards to it.
Timothy Treadwell may have had all the best intentions when it came to protecting a world he so quickly fell in love with, but many felt (and still feel) that he crossed the line, and in doing so disrupted a world humans were never supposed to get involved in. While Treadwell saw nature as an opportunity to start a new meaningful relationship, one that was beneficial to both him and the creatures around him, Herzog viewed nature as dangerous and unpredictable; not a force to be meddled with. These contrasting opinions became extremely apparent in Grizzly Man, and were a large reason why the documentary was so intriguing.
Delaney,
ReplyDeleteThis piece does an excellent job of incorporating the ideas and views of both Treadwell and Herzog.
You start to talk about how Treadwell viewed the wilderness as his sacred space and then you touch on the idea of crossing the line of encroaching on the bears' space. The idea that although it's where Treadwell feels the most content, his existance there is harmful to the very animals he loves. The question is where Treadwell belongs.
You mention the fact that Treadwell had good intentions but also the fact that he was a little full of himself. Possibly Treadwell was there for his own selfish reasons. This idea causes a bit of disconnect in his motives and questions who has claim to the space. It could be argued that Treadwell is trespassing on the bear's space.