Grizzly Man: final thoughts

My second viewing of Grizzly Man left me with a similar impression of Timothy Treadwell to my first go-around with the film.  I was entertained and mesmerized by the scenery of Alaska and the footage of wild animals filmed close-up.  I saw Treadwell’s passion for the animals as more of a service to his own soul and a solution to the problems of his own life as opposed to a functional role as a bear advocate and educator of children.  I also clearly saw Werner Herzog manipulating the message of Treadwell’s life (masterfully) to represent a view of nature that was predatory and vicious.  I agree with Herzog’s assessment of nature as a vicious and predatory world of survival, but was struck by the juxtaposition of this idea with the utterly serene beauty of the untouched wilderness.

I can sympathize with earlier blog posts that are upset with Treadwell for not putting his passion into a different pursuit that might have been able to help humans that are suffering as opposed to bears that are already protected by laws and state wildlife sanctuary designations.  This point is especially salient in the context of having just read Across the Wire.  However, I also see Treadwell as incapable of interacting in a normal way with human society and think that was one of the reasons that isolation from society in a world of beauty and wild animals was so appealing to him.  He had found a way to stay sober and keep himself clear of the shady characters that inhabited his life in human society and thus invented a cause to take up (Save the bears from poachers).  He bought into this new reality so totally that he became paranoid as was clearly visible in his reaction to smiley faces on rocks and piles of rocks that indicated another human presence.  What seemed most odd to me about the invented cause of protecting the bears was that he wasn’t able to see that he was incapable of protecting the bears if all he was prepared to do was hide in the woods when any other human activity was detected.  He stays in hiding and cries about the fact that people are throwing rocks at his bear friends and was in no position to do anything else if he didn’t have weapons or the backbone to show himself and take a stand.

Treadwell’s spastic ranting and swearing, which was used by Herzog to show that he had lost his mind and was truly crazy, seemed like a result of isolation from society and human contact for such a long period of time.  He was unable to come to terms with the fact that his invented cause might be more selfish than beneficial to his wild friends and therefore displaced some of his anger at himself by screaming at the Park Service and the national government.  He took solace in this view of himself as a rebel that was fighting for a noble cause.

He knew that he was probably going to die at the hands of a grizzly bear, but seemed to be okay with that impending doom.  The one real criticism that I have of him is that he allowed Amy to accompany him, giving in to his longing for a real human connection.  If you’re going to live such a dangerous life in service to your own needs, do not endanger someone else who may not have fully understood the ramifications of such a choice.  He was selfish.

It does seem like a wasted life, but it was not my life that was wasted and perhaps he was happy with the way things came to pass.  One thing is sure, he left behind an interesting story and many hours of beautiful footage that gives the rest of us a glimpse into a world that we otherwise would have never seen.  Perhaps this vicarious experience will suffice for people that entertain the idea of doing a similar thing and his death will serve as a reality check that nature is a violent game of survival.