Grizzly Man

We watched the first part of the film Grizzly Man, in class. Timothy Treadwell is looking at bears in their natural habitats and to do so, he lives in nature with them. He names the bears and show that they are harmless and loving. One was called Mr. Chocolate, and he names a fox, Spirit the Fox. He has connected with the bears on a very deep level. He goes as far as to say he would die for them. He wanted to raise awareness for bears and try to get people to understand their importance. He brings his girlfriend along for some of his hikes and interactions. The movie explores the pilot's feelings too, the one that flies him to the place the bears are at.

A lot of people don't agree with what he is doing though. They don't think that he needs to treat the bears like house pets. It is not good for the bears and him either. They also don't like how close and attached he gets to the bears. He may think he is a bear now. There are some people that think he's courageous though. They think that he is brave for being out there with the bears. I feel that I am in the middle. I don't think it is good to get to attached to a wild animal and treat them as if they are not harmful. Bears are different from home pets and they need to be treated in that way. But on the other hand it is good in a scientific sense. We may need to know how bears react to one another in their natural habitat. To look at their behaviors and feelings. It could help us to define how they communicate with each other and also may help us figure out if they have any hierarchy in their groups. Therefore, I feel it is both good and bad.

His love and connection to these bears may have been exactly what led to him and his girlfriend's deaths. He forgets to remember that they are indeed wild animals and will protect themselves from harm if they need to. He hits them on the nose and names them. This shows that he is more powerful than them. They may not be threatened by him at first or for the most part, only because they are used to him being there. Therefore the second he makes one move that scares them or makes them feel threatened, they attack, which is exactly what happened. I understand that he didn't intend to harm them or scare them but he did. He may have just wanted to show to the viewers that bears aren't harmful and that they are good. But he got too close to them and they acted against him in order to protect themselves. This same thing happened to Erwin. He gets too up close and personal with the animals and eventually in turned on them both.

These two among a few others actually get out there in nature though. They tell us things about nature that we otherwise may have never known. Therefore they have made a big contribution to society and will not be forgotten for all they have done for us.