The Controversial Perspectives of Our Existence

There is something incredibly strange about seeing a human so dedicated to nature that they choose to live directly in the middle of it. Nature isn't something the average person thinks about everyday, but to a few, it's the only thing on their mind. Timothy Treadwell was one of those few, and his perspective on life is quite interesting. After watching the film Grizzly Man, it was difficult not to focus on analyzing Timothy's personality. However, Herzog's main focus was Timothy's belief that he is the protector of nature. Timothy believed that he, like the bears, lives within nature and is equal to all other animals. In his footage, he claims to feel nature's pain and truly care for the animals, and he believes that he must be their savior. To Timothy, he is the most caring, compassionate, giving, and unselfish person on the planet. He truly believes that what he is doing puts him above others, and that he sees what others do not. Werner Herzog, on the other hand, sees the foolishness in Timothy's actions, and expresses it through his film, Grizzly Man.

In Noy's "Antiphusis: Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man.", Noy writes about Herzog's perspective of Timothy. This text might initially cause the viewer to believe that Werner Herzog was an incredibly critical person. After watching the film, however, the viewer would be able to understand Herzog's perspective. Herzog believed that what Timothy was doing was foolish. He saw how Timothy treated the bears and other animals with unnecessary care and equality, and believed that Timothy had no understanding of the boundary that needed to be kept between man and animals. One of the many valid points that Herzog made was that Timothy's treatment of the animals could be considered highly disrespectful. Timothy should not have been so close to the animals, he should have respected their space and way of life. Herzog saw how other peoples, such as the Aborigines and the Alaskan tribes, treated animals and the nature around him and noted how these tribes respected and appreciated nature without getting in the way of it's natural processes.

The controversial question that arises from Grizzly Man is about human's place in nature. Should we, as humans, be incorporating nature into our everyday lives? Should we be acknowledging and interacting with nature? There are many answers to these questions. Some people, such as the Australian Aborigines, believed that nature was sacred. Nature was a part of their culture, and they believed that they must allow nature to flourish without their interference. There is a very big difference between the Aborigines perspective of nature and Timothy Treadwell's. The Aborigines painted pictures of the animals to help them continue to grow. Timothy Treadwell attempted to live with, feed, and protect these animals. The Aborigines would have been very confused with Timothy's way of living. Another group of people that would disagree with Timothy were the Alaskan native tribes. In the film, a few alaskans expressed their distaste for Timothy's lifestyle. They explained how nature was important, but not something one should mess with. For them, the most obvious factor was the danger of being so close to the wild bears. Some people just thought Timothy was an idiot for risking his life in such a way, and trying to interfere with the natural habitat of the bears. Werner Herzog was one of those people, and he made sure to express that.