Blog 12 - Grizzly Man

Grizzly Man is a documentary that follows Timothy Treadwell through his numerous excursions into the Alaskan wilderness to live among grizzly bears. This documentary gives an interesting insight into the radical and passionate actions of Treadwell. Along with this, it provides remarkable footage of the bears in their natural habitats. Most nature documentaries cannot provide the close-up footage of the bears, nor how they reacted to having a human right beside them. The most shocking footage comes from when the bears actually approach Timothy and he touches their snouts or tells them to go away when they are aggressive and they actually turn around.

Throughout the documentary, different people are interviewed about their views about Timothy and what he did and how he died. Their opinions range from sympathy and understanding to cynicism and disregard. I found that my opinion on the matter was very similar to the local Native American. I understand what he was trying to do and I can respect that. He had good intentions at heart and was very passionate about what he did; he died doing what he loved. I just believe that maybe he went about doing it the wrong way. By living among bears in the wild, you are making them comfortable around humans. Next time they see humans, they may approach them and since these humans probably can’t read a bears body language or know how to act, it could very easily end with them being killed. This is why you aren’t supposed to feed wild animals, it creates a sense of familiarity for them with humans. The Native viewed the bears as creatures to be respected, but left to their own way of life. We should not interfere with them and stay out of their way. Timothy was trying to protect the bears, and his radical approach may have been more effective than others, but the consequences could be worse. Supporting wildlife preservation programs can be effective though, and you don’t do the damage of creating familiarity between bears and humans. Treadwell’s intentions were good though, so it is hard to blame him. Beyond his intentions, it is easy to see why people thought he was crazy. It takes a passionate and brave person to risk there lives for bears by living among them. The entire documentary, I was waiting for a bear to rip him apart. It was shocking seeing the bears be so gentle towards him. For these reasons, it is easy to see why some critics call him crazy. This documentary provided amazing footage of a passionate man doing what he loved.