The Grizzly Man Research Paper
The Grizzly Files: Fact or Fiction?
Grizzly Man was a disturbing, yet intriguingly interesting, movie about a man and his undying love and affection with nature. Timothy Treadwell spent thirteen summers living amongst wild grizzly bears in Alaska with the intention of providing protection against potential dangers that could cause harm. Treadwell thought of himself has as a kind warrior to these bears and recorded over hundreds of hours of footage showing these bears in their natural habitat. He was a guest speaker at schools and a hero amongst children. He became a self-created, national celebrity.
To me, Grizzly Man appears as a cheap and cruel way for a director to make money. Treadwell had his obstacles in life and he considered himself saved by the grizzly bears. He was a poor man who risked everything to be where he truly felt at peace with himself. He had his issues, but he wasn’t going out of his way to make sure the whole world knew either. People are entertained by other’s imperfections. Treadwell was a celebrity, and celebrities’ …show more content…
imperfections are easily manipulated. The director saw a man who intentionally put his life at risk, only to be eaten alive, and got exactly what he deserved.
After researching, maybe Herzog’s intentions weren’t so harsh, but the way he combined footage and the interviews came across as disrespectful towards Treadwell.
The film depicts a man whose pure and treacherous passion for the bears leads him to the break of insanity. Herzog’s sensibly combines the footage to show the world Treadwell’s genuine, insane passion and uses that as a basis for the entire film. Herzog didn’t waste any time by telling us that Treadwell was eaten alive by a bear and maybe that’s because he wants us to focus on a bigger picture (citation). Anyone who knew Treadwell said that if he was going to die, he wanted to die with the bears. Treadwell said he would never kill a bear, even if it was a threat to his own life, he would never intentionally harm a bear. Treadwell kept his word and he never harmed one bear. Treadwell believed in the idea of harmony in nature, and he believed that till his
death.
Herzog has if own belief about the world and he doesn’t think it is harmony, but instead, chaos, murder, and hostility. It is clear to me that Herzog doesn’t agree with Treadwell, but Treadwell is complex enough as a character to attract interest. Herzog manipulates the footage to take everything Treadwell was about and completely flips it. He never focuses on how Treadwell was able to spend thirteen summers with the bears; he only focuses on how Treadwell ended up getting himself killed (Russell, 2006).
For most people, their only opinion of Treadwell will be that he was a crazy man who lost sight the world around him, including myself. Herzog created a character that continuously crossed the line and exploited his own opinions and beliefs about nature and about Treadwell (Russell, 2006).
I think this movie was made simply because the story was already fabricated and Herzog had Treadwell’s footage to recreate the story for everyone else to see. Herzog didn’t agree with Treadwell and his footage could be easily manipulated to persuade the viewers to agree with Herzog’s opinions. How is Treadwell’s story any different from any other human who risked their lives doing the things they loved?
If Herzog’s intentions for this movie were to create a character that made me questions my own views on the boundary between reality and nature then he succeeds. If I had learned Treadwell’s story in a different manner, then I might have seen him as a man who loved his job too much. However, Herzog’s version of Treadwell will forever stick in my mind that he was a man who had a mental breakdown and felt like he needed to reprove himself to the world.
Bibliography
Russell, C. (2006, February 21). Letters From Charlie... Retrieved March 21, 2013, from Pacific Rim Grizzly Bear Co-Existence Study: http://cloudline.org/treadwell.html
Grizzly Man was a disturbing, yet intriguingly interesting, movie about a man and his undying love and affection with nature. Timothy Treadwell spent thirteen summers living amongst wild grizzly bears in Alaska with the intention of providing protection against potential dangers that could cause harm. Treadwell thought of himself has as a kind warrior to these bears and recorded over hundreds of hours of footage showing these bears in their natural habitat. He was a guest speaker at schools and a hero amongst children. He became a self-created, national celebrity.
To me, Grizzly Man appears as a cheap and cruel way for a director to make money. Treadwell had his obstacles in life and he considered himself saved by the grizzly bears. He was a poor man who risked everything to be where he truly felt at peace with himself. He had his issues, but he wasn’t going out of his way to make sure the whole world knew either. People are entertained by other’s imperfections. Treadwell was a celebrity, and celebrities’ …show more content…
imperfections are easily manipulated. The director saw a man who intentionally put his life at risk, only to be eaten alive, and got exactly what he deserved.
After researching, maybe Herzog’s intentions weren’t so harsh, but the way he combined footage and the interviews came across as disrespectful towards Treadwell.
The film depicts a man whose pure and treacherous passion for the bears leads him to the break of insanity. Herzog’s sensibly combines the footage to show the world Treadwell’s genuine, insane passion and uses that as a basis for the entire film. Herzog didn’t waste any time by telling us that Treadwell was eaten alive by a bear and maybe that’s because he wants us to focus on a bigger picture (citation). Anyone who knew Treadwell said that if he was going to die, he wanted to die with the bears. Treadwell said he would never kill a bear, even if it was a threat to his own life, he would never intentionally harm a bear. Treadwell kept his word and he never harmed one bear. Treadwell believed in the idea of harmony in nature, and he believed that till his
death.
Herzog has if own belief about the world and he doesn’t think it is harmony, but instead, chaos, murder, and hostility. It is clear to me that Herzog doesn’t agree with Treadwell, but Treadwell is complex enough as a character to attract interest. Herzog manipulates the footage to take everything Treadwell was about and completely flips it. He never focuses on how Treadwell was able to spend thirteen summers with the bears; he only focuses on how Treadwell ended up getting himself killed (Russell, 2006).
For most people, their only opinion of Treadwell will be that he was a crazy man who lost sight the world around him, including myself. Herzog created a character that continuously crossed the line and exploited his own opinions and beliefs about nature and about Treadwell (Russell, 2006).
I think this movie was made simply because the story was already fabricated and Herzog had Treadwell’s footage to recreate the story for everyone else to see. Herzog didn’t agree with Treadwell and his footage could be easily manipulated to persuade the viewers to agree with Herzog’s opinions. How is Treadwell’s story any different from any other human who risked their lives doing the things they loved?
If Herzog’s intentions for this movie were to create a character that made me questions my own views on the boundary between reality and nature then he succeeds. If I had learned Treadwell’s story in a different manner, then I might have seen him as a man who loved his job too much. However, Herzog’s version of Treadwell will forever stick in my mind that he was a man who had a mental breakdown and felt like he needed to reprove himself to the world.
Bibliography
Russell, C. (2006, February 21). Letters From Charlie... Retrieved March 21, 2013, from Pacific Rim Grizzly Bear Co-Existence Study: http://cloudline.org/treadwell.html