The Fox is Gone

At the end of the documentary, the song played and the pilot replaced “the fox” with “Treadwell”.  After the song says “And the red fox (Treadwell) is gone”, the song says, “Well he cursed all the roads and the oil men. And he cursed the automobile. Said this is no place for an hombre like I am
In this new world of asphalt and steel. Then he'd look off some place in the distance
at something only he could see. He'd say all that's left now of the old days. Those damned old coyotes and me” These lyrics truly represent the life that Treadwell lived, disapproving of humans in general and trying to connect with and ‘become’ a wild animal. Not only does he name one of the foxes ‘Timmy’ after himself, but he also talks to the animals and treats the animals with the love, respect and consideration that we expect to be portrayed among different humans. Throughout the documentary, we are constantly reminded of Treadwell’s inability to survive happily in the human world and his disappointment in humanity. The song tells us that ‘he’d look off some place in the distance at something only he could see’ which really correlates to the joy he gets out of being with the bears and the passion he feels for protecting the bears no matter how dangerous it was. Some people could never understand what he was doing and others would never support him because they thought it was ‘stupid’. Connecting this to the discussion we had at the end of the class, we can see that Treadwell did what he did to make himself happy and to accomplish those goals that he set for himself in order to accomplish a great sense of self satisfaction.

When considering all the factors that we discussed, we identified that Treadwell actually did satisfy many of the needs we identified as crucial for self-satisfaction. Although he was not able to make many strong bonds with humans, he was able to make very great connections with the animals, which gave him purpose and encouragement. In addition, he was able to make himself feel accomplished by ‘protecting’ the bears for 12 summers. One thing I believe that Timothy was missing was the support and positive input from other people- something that adds to self-confidence and happiness. People quickly jumped to conclusions and judged his decisions negatively before considering what had led him to the bears in the first place and what other messages he was trying to send other than ‘the bears need help.’

To Tame Is To Establish Ties

I originally wrote one blog post, but then I realized that I also wanted to write about something else… So, you’re kind of getting two blog posts from me (both late… I know). I tried to tie them together, but bear with me.

Among the things I found most striking within Grizzly Man was Treadwell’s treatment of the animals with whom he interacted as though they were tame? Perhaps it was his interaction with Timmy the fox, but I kept thinking of this one section within Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince in which the little prince encounters a fox and has this interaction about what it means to be tamed:

"What does that mean--'tame'?"

"You do not live here," said the fox. "What is it that you are looking for?"

"I am looking for men," said the little prince. "What does that mean--'tame'?"

"Men," said the fox. "They have guns, and they hunt. It is very disturbing. They also raise chickens. These are their only interests. Are you looking for chickens?"

"No," said the little prince. "I am looking for friends. What does that mean--'tame'?"

"It is an act too often neglected," said the fox. It means to establish ties."

"'To establish ties'?"

"Just that," said the fox. "To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you, I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world . . ."

"I am beginning to understand," said the little prince. "There is a flower . . . I think that she has tamed me . . ."

"It is possible," said the fox. "On the Earth one sees all sorts of things." (Chapter 21… I don’t have the book with me, but I found this online)

On some level, I think the issue with Treadwell’s interaction with the animals is that his relationship with the animals is only half of that described by the fox. To Timmy the fox and every bear with whom Treadwell interacts, he is just another man, but Treadwell believes himself to be friends with each animal- he can tell them apart, he has named them. Treadwell sees each bear as distinct, but more than that, he needs them. The bears and the foxes provide him a sense of caring and membership in a community that the human world doesn’t provide. At the same time, the animals don’t need him; they don’t care. Treadwell’s false idea of taming with the animals perhaps leads to greater misunderstanding on his part (as the fox says to the little prince "One only understands the things that one tames," said the fox. "Men have no more time to understand anything. They buy things all ready made at the shops. But there is no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship, and so men have no friends any more. If you want a friend, tame me . . ."). As Treadwell misinterprets the animals as his friends, he further misreads many of their actions, immersing himself in a world he can never understand.

That said, we all know nature doesn’t care about us. It doesn’t love us the way Timothy Treadwell convinced himself it loved him, but it doesn’t hate us either. It just doesn’t care. The indifference of nature was a theme in most of the things I read for my AP English class. It comes up everywhere, from King Lear to The Road and it comes up as a clear theme within Grizzly Man as well. Werner Herzog even articulates that among the most striking things in the story of Timothy Treadwell is nature’s indifference. Still, though we know nature doesn’t care, we still sentimentalize it. We look at nature as beautiful and sweet, while in truth it is cruel. Herzog does this too, most clearly through the song with which he closes his film. In class we talked about this as paradoxical, but I don’t know that I agree with that interpretation. We’re all as aware as Herzog is that nature doesn’t care, even as we regard it as uniquely lovely. I don’t see doing both as a contradiction. There’s a clear line between our (and Herzog’s) sentimentalization of nature and that in which Timothy participates. Herzog presents the nature with which Timothy interacts as both beautiful and majestic, but he never presents it as caring. Timothy’s “friends” always appear to as wild; Herzog doesn’t present them as tame, though Timothy seems to view him that way. Although Herzog may sentimentalize nature to an extent, I don’t see this as ever contradicting the idea that nature is indifferent. Instead, Herzog shows the difference between the sentimentalization of nature in which we all engage and sentimentalization taken to an extreme.

Herzog's Angle

The heavy presence of Herzog throughout the documentary bothered me.  The part that I was the most uncomfortable with was when he listened to the audio of the killing and told her never to watch it and tried to console her while the camera is panning up for her reaction.  I guess it seemed like such a "I'm such a great documentary person, watch me make these wise comments" moment.  I think I'm really just bothered by Herzog getting personally involved IN the documentary, in addition to his heavy editing. He made several other commentary over obvious points throughout his documentary.  You can basically hear him telling you how to think about Timothy.  


What is Herzog trying to accomplish with this documentary?  It certainly isn't the celebration of Timothy's life.  He seems to be trying to make a tragic figure out of Timothy, and better explain his actions, but it feels so scripted to me.  After watching the documentary, I felt an overwhelming urge to want to have known Timothy for myself, to make my own judgments on him and his happiness.  How happy is Timothy Treadwell?  He must have known (in some way) that his mission, while amicable, was self constructed due to the continued protection of the park service.  This is kind of explained towards the end of the documentary by him not believing they were doing a good job, but still, after repeating this for that many years, how would he have not doubted his goal? How did he regard those who talked to him on those off months?  And yet, I know it's impossible to get answers for these questions.  Herzog's interpretation is the closest answer I can settle for at this point in time. 

Bear Sighting

A bear was on the campus of the school I live at two nights ago. I've been terrified ever since. I usually love going on walks in the woods, but now I've been sticking to the roads or fields around my house. Today when I was walking with my mom, she started talking about how much she'd love to run into this bear, and see it up close. She wasn't even thinking about the danger of being faced by a bear; she was far too concerned with how breathtaking and beautiful that experience would be. Although my mom would not be delusional enough to walk up to a bear, or to call it a "friend," her excitement reminded me of Timothy Treadwell. For my mom, and for Treadwell, seeing this bear would cause pure joy and happiness. For me, it would instill terror. This differing perspective is what allowed Treadwell to be so happy in what he was doing. To me, his work seems absurd, dangerous, and unproductive, but for him the work he was doing was amazing, life-changing work. And because he so authentically believed that protecting the grizzly bears was what he was meant to do, he was happy to live with these bears, and happy to die for them. Even though, from an outside perspective, Treadwell seems delusional, this work was very real to him and allowed him a happy, satisfying life.

Happiness

At the end of class we talked about happiness and what makes someone truly happy.  When I first saw Timothy Treadwell I thought he was crazy and wasting his life chasing bears.  Treadwell was not really doing that much to help the bears, but he convinced himself he was, so he continued to fight for them.  I then realized that Treadwell was doing what he wanted and did not care what other people thought about him.  He was happy and that was the most important thing for him.  I gained a lot of respect for Treadwell because I have never seen someone chase their dreams like he did.  I then began to question myself and think if I am doing what really makes me happy.  I will spare everyone and avoid going into my deep personal thoughts on my own happiness, but I think it is important that people take a look at themselves.  I have started asking myself if I am truly happy doing whatever I am doing.  If I am not happy with what I am doing I wonder why I am doing what I am doing.  Treadwell asked himself if he was happy all the time and the answer was always yes.  I then asked myself the other night if I was happy doing chemistry and it was a definite no.  I now wonder if I should stop taking chemistry or work harder to find happiness in chemistry.

Saw a girl wearing this hilarious shirt today... Happy Fall Break!

Selective Delusions

The thing is about Timothy Treadwell is that he seems selective in lying to himself. He fully accepts that he's an outcast in the human world -- in his videos, he's very open about his failed relationships with women. He seems very depressed about that aspect of his life, and has no idea how to fix it, as he laments in the videos. He seems just as misguided in the animal world, yet he doesn't acknowledge it in the same way. Instead, he builds up the delusion that he is a king among the bears, protecting them from evil poachers and living in harmony with them. In reality, the bears merely tolerate him as long as he stays away -- they get kind of freaked out when he tries to touch them. They're not his friends, no matter how many times Treadwell follows them around chanting, "I love you, I love you, thank you for being my friend, I love you." They don't care about him and they don't need him, just like the women Treadwell encounters in the human world. Why can't he realize it? It's fascinating to observe the way Treadwell seems to have built up his own world in Alaska, a delusion where he can be content with his life. None of what he says about his experiences with the bears -- that they're his friends, that they like him -- seems to be true, but he doesn't realize it. He doesn't recognize the parallels between the human and animal worlds. Or maybe he does, and he's just incredibly dedicated to believing that the animal world is different. Maybe it's all a matter of willpower, of deciding to believe in something -- in his case, the love of the bears -- until it becomes true inside his mind.

Herzog

“Herzog's films often feature protagonists with impossible dreams, people with unique talents in obscure fields or individuals who find themselves in conflict with nature.”¹ Timothy Treadwell – grizzly bears defender. In conflict with human nature and mother nature.

“Driven protagonists who often seem to be on the brink of madness.”² Timothy Treadwell – addicted to the danger of “socializing” with bears. Delusional?

“His films frequently feature characters or real people who attempt to change nature but are ultimately overwhelmed by it.”³ Timothy Treadwell – believed in the goodness of wild beasts, the grizzly bears, a belief that brought to his death. When confronted with the cycle of life, reality, in the form of animals’ body parts, reacted in an emotional way, as if hoped that he saves the bears not only from humans, but from themselves.

These descriptions of Herzog’s works raise the questions of why he chooses to commemorate these people and their moments. Did he have an impossible dream that was not fulfilled and thus he tries to reach satisfaction through others’ experiences? Does he experience a “conflict with nature” through his impossible dream? Does Treadwell represent a manifestation of Herzog as he views himself?

Grizzly Man is the only work of Herzog that I have watched and I did not believe it. His attempt to create suspense in the movie is transparent and thus diminishes its effect. It also appears that he forced some of the scenes to fit together. As in the scene where Treadwell’s ex-girlfriend observes Herzog as he listens to the tape containing the last sounds of Treadwell and Amie Hunguenard. Their interaction seems unnatural and his statement that she should not ever listen to that recording appears coerced. Though Treadwell is a “character” for his own, it seems as if Herzog tried to portrait him in a very particular way, emphasizing his conflict and demonstrating how he brought his death on himself.

¹ http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=107680

² http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001348/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

³ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001348/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

External vs. Internal Validation

Continuing off of what we talked about in class with Ms. Jillings, I think that one of the most important factors that goes into finding happiness is first finding a way to be irrevocably confident in who you are. I don't mean this is any sort of egotistical way, but I think that a lot of being happy with your life depends on believing that who you are is what is right for you. The way I see it, I think a lot of people come to depend on external validation, whether that's through things like good grades, a hefty work bonus, or even praises and compliments from other people. I remember that in high school the people who were the least satisfied with who they were were the always the most flirtatious; they were the ones who looked to others for an affirmation that they couldn't give themselves. I also knew a lot of people to whom grades were this validation--they worked hard to get good grades because seeing all those As on their report cards was their way of feeling good about themselves. Of course there are many other things factoring into these two examples, but I do still believe that this external venue of validation is how a lot of people construct a superficial happiness for themselves. I think that this works in the short term fairly well as you get into a good college or snag a cute boyfriend and then feel good about yourself, but what happens after you graduate school and there's no more grades to affirm that you're doing well? Or what happens if you and that cute boyfriend break up? The problem with external validation is that it is external--it is out of your control. That kind of validation can be removed or corrupted in an instant without you being able to do a thing about it. What happens when these things are gone is that it becomes harder to recognize your own worth. It is for this reason that I think having a humble confidence is one of the most important factors leading to happiness. If you have a strong belief in yourself then you don't need external validation and your happiness is therefore contingent on you and you alone. With that said, I realize that this is an incredibly individualistic approach. I think that is important to note that external validation is not inherently a bad thing, and, in the case of love or a close friendship, outside affirmation can actually be very valuable; however, I would argue that relying too much on what other people think of you can cross into a realm of dependency that is just not conducive to feeling truly, deeply happy.

If it Doesn't Scare the Cows...

Timothy Treadwell lived his entire life, long before communing with bears, surrounded by his own theatrics. I was surprised to learn that his real name isn't even "Treadwell," and that he changed it to sound more dramatic. Upon moving to California, he invented a brand new persona, researching in detail a small town in Australia and attempting to replicate an accent. And that's how Timothy Treadwell, the Australian orphan and up-and-coming actor, was born. 

Later, Timothy was employed at Medieval-themed role-playing restaurant, where he continued to mask his true self. This pattern of escapism persisted as he slipped into drug abuse and alcoholism. But he did eventually give all that up and constructed a new reality. In the Alaskan forrest, the bears were his friends, nature was utterly harmonious, and he could transcend his personhood. 

During class discussion, Tim's constructions were often called "delusions," and I would tend to agree. It seems to me that he spent the majority of his life running from himself. He wants to abandon every aspect of his humanness and become a bear, which, to me, suggests some amount of shame. And while it may not be the best long term strategy to refuse facing that shame, he certainly did outrun it. Treadwell died a happy man (as far as I can tell), and that counts for a lot. 

One of Tim's friends mentioned the saying, "'If it doesn't scare the cows, who cares?' I don't think Tim scared the cows." So maybe he wasn't doing anything wrong. To each his own, I suppose, and if the only way Tim could have been happy was through extreme escapism, then let him be deluded.

Happiness vs. Success

Often times in life society measures happiness on a scale of how “successful” someone is: how many cars they have, how much their job pays, how big their house is. However, there is one major flaw in this argument; neither happiness nor success can really be defined. In fact, in my opinion they are dependent on each other. You do not need cars, or money, or big houses to be successful or happy.

As we discussed in class, happiness can really be boiled down to cultivating meaningful relationships, and meaningful goals with an authenticity in each. If we surround ourselves with family and friends that genuinely care about us, it is impossible not to be positively affected by their presence. Similarly, as long as we are working toward goals that we have a passion for and not toward expectations others have of us, then we are thus making ourselves happy. There is no reason to do something as a means to an end because in reality there is never an end; it is the middle that really matters. We spend out whole lives working toward the next “step” when we could just be enjoying what we already have. At some point we need to realize that what we are looking for doesn’t exist, and instead we need to work toward whatever it is that we know makes us happy, not what we think (and society tells us) will make us happy.

Once we acknowledge what makes us happy, and we go after it, that is what defines success. To me, it is clear that happiness and success go hand in hand. You can neither define success nor happiness because they are contingent upon each other. You need to be happy to be successful, and you need to be successful to be happy. This is where the ambiguity comes in: we each find happiness and success in different things, so there are a number of valid ways to define each.

Tim Was Happier Than Any of Us

I thought it was very interesting and appropriate ending class yesterday with a discussion about happiness. While watching this documentary about Tim a lot of us assumed that he was crazy or weird or somehow mentally unstable. Either way no matter his condition, Tim was clearly happy. He absolutely loved socializing with the bears, living in the outdoors, and documenting his interactions. Like we discussed in class, the main components to happiness include rising above your own expectations, setting goals and working towards them, and being appreciated for who you are. Tim rose above his own expectations by following his dreams and living with the bears year after year. He accomplished numerous goals interacting with the bears, befriending foxes, and surviving with out human civilization. Most of all, Tim lived well by being accepted by his "animal friends." In his mind, the bears and foxes loved Tim for who he was, and even helped him come over a drinking problem, cope with his "lack of women," and become a better person. The animals truly became Tim's friends (in his mind) and he felt more connected to the bears and foxes than he did to any humans.
All of this evidence can be very supportive of a theory of Tim's mental insanity, but I think it's stronger support for the idea that Tim really did reach self actualization. He was doing what made him happy, even though he had to break multiple laws, go against the human norm, and ignore society. We might think he was just a crazy bear lover, but Tim wouldn't have cared because he was happy and the bears were safe, and that's all that mattered to him. He found his purpose in life, and although we know that his "purpose" to protect the bears was unnecessary, he continued to do his duty.

Some Advice From Bill Watterson

http://zenpencils.com/comic/128-bill-watterson-a-cartoonists-advice/

A perfect Calvin and Hobbes-inspired connection to our class discussion about happiness.

Authenticity

Sarah Jillings discussed the importance of authenticity.  In order for the world affirm us for who we truly are, we have to be willing and able to show the world our “real” selves.  I agree that pretending to be somebody we are not, keeping true expression inside is a binding, unhappy way to go through life.  As I thought about it, I wondered who my true self is.  Who am I?  That is a very complicated, overwhelming question to which I do not think there is an answer.  Humans cannot identify themselves in a word, sentence, essay, or even a million words.  It is impossible to define who someone is because we are always changing.  Identities are not a concrete concept.  We can, however, have a good sense of our core selves and values, of who we want to be.  We can have self-confidence.  We can show our current selves—but that doesn’t mean we have to be able to define them.

            Timothy Treadwell showed his authenticity in his determination to pursue his passion regardless of public scorn and judgment.  In some ways, he is being his real authentic self.  He discards federal law, leaves home and loved ones behind to protect the bears.  However, he lacks connection with other people to reaffirm his identity, who value his place and contribution to the world.  To fill this void he lies to himself—makes himself believe he has profound connections with the bears.  Although he may feel connected, this is not the type of connection Sarah Jillings is referring to because it lacks reciprocation.  He has to lie to himself to trick himself into thinking he is happy.

            The lies are not very authentic.  But if lies are inescapable, we don’t exactly have a choice. Is complete bliss ever truly achievable?  If we have to lie to ourselves to get it, is the happiness we feel “real”?

Misunderstood

In the short video Timothy Treadwell says that “bears are very misunderstood”. I think that in this statement he refers not only to the bears but also to himself, as being misunderstood by society, both as an individual and for his work as the defender of grizzly bears. In the movie Treadwell gives a testimony of his difficulties in social interactions, thus he relies on the animals to be his friends. They ease his loneliness not only for he is “alone” in the woods but also because of real-world social difficulties. The animals react to him and give him unconditional love, or so he thinks.

By his proclamation that “bears are very misunderstood” Treadwell implies that he is one of the few that do hold that understanding. In the footage he demonstrates his “understanding” in his ability to push the bears off when they behave aggressively. The question that arises to these repeated occurrences is not whether he knows how to uphold to them, but rather why does he even need to – how he inserted himself into the situation in the first place; he provoked and teased them, drawing them closer and pushing them away at the same time. In disobeying the laws of camping in “the maze” he does not only aspire to make a stand or initiate a change, as he states. For Treadwell this represents the fulfillment of his desire to remain in the spotlight and raise awareness – make bears understood – as his audience might grow bigger as the danger increases.

Treadwell exchanged one addiction, alcoholism, by another, grizzly bears. Both addictions posed a threat to his life, satisfying his need to live “on the edge”. The bears did not save his life from death by alcoholism, as he and his acquaintances claimed, they merely deflected his fixation.

*Thank you Alec and Jake for reviewing my post.

Legacy or Bottom Line?

I find it very interesting that over and over Herzog makes the statement that Timothy Treadwell’s legacy will be his photos and videos which captured Grizzly bears in their daily interactions. This interests me because, thanks to Herzog, Treadwell’s legacy has become the Grizzly Man documentary. Furthermore, the focus of the documentary is not Treadwell’s footage. Although it plays throughout a good deal of the film, the viewer is led to focus on Tim’s personal life and mental health.

This upsets me as it seems as if the people who supposedly respected Timothy’s work (Herzog, Palovak, and other contributing friends) actually became so enveloped in Tim as a character that they forgot the real purpose of his time in the wild. They either forgot (unlikely since the film was painstakingly edited and scripted), or they simply decided to move the focus to the opposite of what Tim would have desired. They focused on the human; not the bears.

Is this a business move to create more buzz around the film? I believe that it is. The only remaining question in my mind is: was it worth it to sacrifice the integrity of Treadwell’s work if it turned out to mean that more people actually saw the documentary and therefore saw his footage? Logic-wise, I agree with the decision, but, morally, I believe that the decision to focus on Treadwell was disrespectful and insensitive.

Fundaments of Satisfaction

            I want to respond to the elements of satisfaction discussed by Sarah Jillings. I want to speculate as to what basic desires are fulfilled by two of the three elements Ms. Jillings distilled from her research. Essentially, I want to consider WHY these elements have the power to satisfy.

            A person is satisfied when they rise above others’ expectations for their life

            I believe that the satisfaction that comes from acting out of personal conviction irrespective of others’ opinions is a result of two human wants being satisfied. Call it control or power, people have a fundamental desire to be autonomous and efficacious. Acting solely for your own beliefs is an act and thereby a proof of control over oneself, and this engenders satisfaction. Secondly, people calculate their worth by comparison, how skillful or successful we are is determined in terms of relativity to other examples. Therefore, when one acts for one’s own wants rather than another’s expectations, they re-affirm their own worth to themselves, because they chose their opinion over another’s: their opinion was relatively better.

            A person is satisfied when they set goals and work towards them with determination

           When a person sets a goal, when they truly render an objective important in their mind, they imbue said objective with meaning. They make the objective a mechanism for fulfillment. However, the potential for great reward or great damage emerges if a person stakes part of their self-esteem on their achievement of the objective. Working towards the objective “with determination” validates the worker’s sense that they have the power to do what they want, or helps convince them of such if they did not previously believe it: thereby, self-esteem can be uplifted by successfully approaching the objective. Contrarily, failing to achieve the objective when it is tied to self-esteem can ruin one’s satisfaction, making one feel powerless.

Versions of Reality

All I could think of while watching Timothy Treadwell film multiple takes of him running through the brush or interacting with bears was how much it seemed like reality TV. Specifically, the kind of reality TV you know is scripted. Here's Treadwell, narrating his own story, trying to turn himself into a hero or at least some kind of sympathetic character, but it's not natural. It's a script, it's a ploy, it's his way of controlling his own press. In the videos, at least to me, Treadwell doesn't seem like a real person; he's more like a caricature, loud and enthusiastic and unselfish to the point of being unbelievable. In short, he's playing a type, not being his true self.

This is seen again and again on reality TV. It doesn't matter what the show is, in reality TV, people are rarely depicted in all their complexity. Cast members are specifically selected for their ability to play toward a type. A great example of this is Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Each member of their family has a role to play, one engineered by themselves, as the Kardashian family is heavily involved with producing the show. Kris Jenner is shown as the overbearing, harsh matriarch, while Kim is the spoiled brat, Khloe is the badass wife, and Kourtney is the whiny new mother. Like Treadwell with his self-narrated story and endless video footage, the Kardashians select their own roles and attempt to control their media through the show. But the roles they are cast into on the show do not necessarily correspond to who they are in real life, just as I feel Treadwell's character in the videos doesn't accurately reflect who he was. It's worth asking: what's the true reality--what's on video, or what happens when the cameras aren't on?

A Fictional Documentary

After watching the first half of “Grizzly Man” I am still confused about my feelings toward Timothy Treadwell. Although we are physically watching him in videos that he shot, are we really getting to see who he was as a person? The definition of a documentary, according to Dictionary.com is “a movie that is based on or re-creating an actual event, era, life story, etc. that purports to be factually accurate and contains no fictional elements”. The most important word in this definition is purports (intends). The video intends to be factual and accurately represent Timothy’s life, but when it comes down to it, it is impossible to represent someone’s whole life and what they believed, in only an hour and forty minutes. We are only seeing the pieces of him that Werner Herzog wants us to see. From the hundreds of hours of video shot by Timothy Treadwell, Werner Herzog chose these clips to represent his life. Each video of Timothy Treadwell is place in the movie for a certain purpose: it is meant to evoke something in the person watching the video. As soon as we start to question Timothy, we are pulled back into believing in him.

As you watch the movie, you tell yourself that what you are watching is true since it is a documentary; everything in the film is an accurate portrayal of Timothy Treadwell’s life. This, however, is false. What you are seeing and feeling is what Werner Herzog wanted you to feel, and your opinion of Treadwell is what Herzog wanted it to be. Although it is impossible to fake real videos from Treadwell, it is possible to put them together in a way that gets a certain message across. There are thousands of other ways Werner Herzog could have put this movie together, however, he made it this way.  Although “Grizzly Man” is technically a documentary, we need to ask ourselves if it portrays Timothy Treadwell’s life, or a certain view of his life.