Herzog and Treadwell are both artists specializing in closeness to nature, however, they both have radically differing views on nature. Treadwell has a certain craziness to him. He finds himself, his whole self, in nature. Treadwell alienated himself from humanity and found his sacred space in the nature of Alaska. He would find himself wishing he was back with the grizzlies, with the ones that actually made him feel alive and happy when he was away for an extended period of time. A sacred space is somewhere that you can feel calm and one with themselves. It is almost like being away from humans made him feel more like a human. This view differs very much from Herzog's.
Herzog has a much more pessimistic view on nature. Herzog saw what Treadwell did as unnatural and detrimental to nature. He thinks that Treadwell was actually hurting the natural order because he should have never involved himself. To Herzog, the bears never needed a savior. It was really Treadwell who needed the bears. Herzog does not think that humans can really be connected with non-domesticated animals because they will always see humans as either danger or food. Herzog believes that humans must be with humans to feel human. Their two views differ so greatly that making a movie containing both, one passively and one actively, made for a very interesting film.
Gabe,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the way you went about this blog post. I thought it was interesting how you proposed that timothy felt more human away from civilization. I definitely agree that Herzog's view of nature is pessimistic, and that Herzog saw the separation between man and animal. I thought your statement that it was really Timothy who needed the bears was very interesting, and it made me think of some of the things we have discussed in our AP Psych class. Maybe there was something particularly wrong with Timothy, or maybe he just saw things in a way others did not.
Your analysis of the differences in opinions of Treadwell and Herzog was pretty much spot on. It really seems like you grasped what Herzog was trying to say with his documentary and the thoughts were summed up well in your post. I tend to agree with Herzog and his opinion that you pointed out: Treadwell thought the bears needed him when, back in reality, he actually needed the bears.
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