What most intrigued me while watching Grizzly Man was the involvement of Jewel Palovak in the life of Timothy Treadwell both before and after his death. Jewel was a waitress at a themed restaurant where she and Tim worked together. This was how they met. The two dated for several years and remained close until Timothy's death in 2003. What perplexed me the most about Jewel's behavior as I watched her first interview in the documentary was the fact that she and Timothy were not dating at the time of his death. Given this fact, it is possible (honestly, it's probable) that she and Tim would not be a couple now were he still living. Why, then, does Jewel admit that she often feels like Tim's "widow." The fact that Tim perished in his fight to help the bears has completely changed Jewel's perception of her relationship with him. When faced with tragedy, one tends to focus only on the positive memories, and I have to wonder whether Tim is so important to Jewel primarily because she has idealized him in his death.
In a second interview with Herzog, Jewel faces opposite Herzog as he listens to the audio recorded at the time of Timothy and Amie's deaths. The look on her face is one of the genuine pain felt only by those in the deepest grief and mourning. As Werner instructs Jewel to never listen to the audio herself, the reason behind Jewel's deep emotional hurt is suddenly clear. Jewel does not miss Timothy so much as she mourns the fact that she will never know if she had a future with him. Does the loss of possibility dignify feelings of widowhood? It is true that Palovak is perhaps more attached than what would be normal or expected, but, given Timothy's tendency to feeling unlucky in love as he expressed in the video, I believe that he would be honored by Jewel's longstanding grief.
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