Torn

I thought I was sure of how I felt about Grizzly Man, the film by Werner Herzog, until I thought about how I spent my summers as a child.  Every year since I can remember up until freshman year, my family and I went to Clark's Trained Bears in the summer and everything I know about bears comes from these shows.  It was clear to me at these shows that the bears were no threat to the trainers, which never occurred to me until watching Timothy Treadwell that these interactions don't translate to the wild.

I think the difference between Clark's and Grizzly Man is in the nurture of the bears.  I know from going to Clark's so often that bear cubs are born mid-winter and don't come out of hibernation unless dehydrated, in which case they leave, "drink" some snow, and return to their den.  The bears at Clark's are generally orphans rescued before they get a chance to be raised as "wild animals," found in the winter or spring, raised in a home as to get used to humans, then trained over the next year or two to perform in the show.  The young bears Treadwell is with have a few months before he arrives in the summer to be trained in self-defense and are taught how to fight, creating an environment which would be dangerous towards Timothy.

As far as the movie discusses, Timothy has no experience with bears before he decides to live with the bears.  He was never trained how to act around the bears and never learned to respect the bears the way others had for centuries before, as explained in the film by the Alaskan native.  The trainers at Clark's grew up at the post their great-grandparents began and were raised knowing how to behave around them in order to keep themselves and the animals safe.

I don't blame Timothy for his death.  I think that places like Clark's give altered visions of reality and nature and, while interesting, may be harmful.  The bears are never mistreated, but I fear that others may, like Timothy, think that what is done there is easy and can be done with an adult bear found in the wild.

Timothy's addictive personality couldn't have helped his condition, either.  The bears saved him from a dark place of alcoholism and drug addiction.  He once stated that he "promised the bears if [he] looked over them would they please help [him] be a better person" and they did just that.  Even on the day of his death, he stressed that he wanted nothing but to live and die with the bears.  This became his lifelong wish and was fulfilled, possibly sooner than he thought, but that it was granted is more than many of us will be able to say.