While at first I was intrigued and
thoroughly entertained by the bizarreness of Grizzlyman, after watching the first half of the documentary I
found the whole story to be very sad.
Timothy Treadwell was indeed a very eccentric character, but Herzog
played on his peculiar disposition for the intriguing factor of his film. It is hard to say whether or not we, as
the viewers, were given a fair depiction of who Treadwell truly was. Herzog had over 100 hours of video from
Treadwell and we are subjected to the few point of interest Herzog decided to
include. From the minimal view of
Treadwell Herzog allows us to see, it is clear that Treadwell has many issues,
whether they are psychological or what have it is unknown, but perhaps his time
with the bears is not so much for their safety, but for it. Treadwell clearly finds peace and
serenity in Alaska amongst the bears, and it seems that while he argues his
presence is aiding in their safety, perhaps it is truly a coping mechanism for
Treadwell to deal with whatever ghosts and skeletons that are deeply troubling
him.
While Treadwell chooses to place
himself amidst the wild and nature, Susan Barton of Foe was thrown into the unfortunate circumstances of a castaway
after a series of ill-fated events.
Foe opens up in a peculiar
manner. The reader is thrown into
the middle of a story, disoriented and confused which parallels how Susan must
be feeling as she washes up on the shore of the island. There is a running stream of thought and
dialogue that I found hard to follow.
Coetzee offers up important details to the story line only ever so often
and neatly folded into the thoughts of Susan and her dialogue with Cruso. The opening of Foe was abrupt and unsettling, yet foreshadows the theme of what is
to come.
I felt very similarly when watching Grizzlyman. In fact, I was frustrated with Herzog's disposition of Timothy and disappointed in his portrayal of him. It made me think back to other documentary's I have watched and if they were as biased as Grizzlyman. I can not think of many that are as outwardly biased as Herzog was, but maybe I simply did not recognize the bias. Likewise, I did not initially pick up on the bias in Foe. I completely agree that the beginning was "abrupt and unsettling" however it felt more relaxed and carefree than the beginning of Grizzlyman.
ReplyDeleteNora, you bring up the fact that Timothy has many demons and that possibly his desire for the bears’ safety is the desire for his own safety. It seems evident to me that Susan, like Treadwell, is seeking safety for herself. She obviously has many demons with her relationship with her daughter. Like Treadwell, she crafts a story to shield her true motivations. For Treadwell, protecting the bears was arguably a cover for him to retreat from the confines of a society where he didn’t fit; he was passed up by acting jobs and women, and found solace through drugs and alcohol. As for Susan, she was seen as a whore or a “free woman” as she likes to call it in Bahia. She was “castaway” in a literal sense, while Treadwell was “castaway” in a more figurative sense by society. Nonetheless, they both found a mix of danger and comfort on their islands, and always had a strong desire to go back when they were away. Susan Barton seems to embody so many characteristics of Treadwell that I wonder if she too is truly “crazy” as Timothy was presented to us.
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