Grrr...Bears, or do I mean Woof?

So all I need to do is start frequenting more truck stops and public restrooms?!  I had no idea!  Thanks for the heads-up, TT!!  Really, I hate to speak ill of the dead; but he was a nut, and this sort of stuff drives me crazy...  I'll try not to judge him too harshly.  I mean, he did spend all that time with bears in Alaska, but I imagine he likely could have found the same at a truck stop or on any Thursday night at Big Chicks for that matter.

Seriously though, his tale is rather touching in a rather strange way; but like McCandless, you can't help but want to shake a little sense into him.  Granted, in the film version of Into the Wild, we had Sean Penn's turning McCandless into a romantic figure; and even Krakauer treats him quite kindly.  Who's to know what the real McCandless was like.  Everyone seems to mention his "high moral code;" and from my experience, those types aren't always the most pleasant to be around.  Treadwell isn't provided with the opportunity for similar treatment.  He might have shot 15 takes of Wild-Timmy-jungle-scenes wearing not one but three different bandanas (just in case), but it's still the real Timmy that we see and about whom we must form our opinions.

That being said, I have to admit that I'm quite partial to Dan's diplomatic assessment of our leading man (despite its making me feel like a jerk for taking the piss out of Timmy):  

He seemed like a recovering drug addict who had found a way to live his life without substances by replacing it with the thrill of befriending wild animals in a way that no one had ever done before.  It was a simpler world that he could escape to instead of escaping into substance abuse.  He seemed like he didn't feel like he fit into society and had found a way to find purpose to his life.

So you see, I'm really not that heartless; and I am anxious to watch the second half of Grizzly Man to see how/if my perception changes.  Nevertheless, I can't help but thinking how much better off TT might have been if he had just been interested in saving the leather daddies instead.