Grizzly Manwich
I just finished watching the Werner Herzog documentary “Grizzly Man.”
You may read reviews and news stories that refer to the subject matter of this film as an in-depth study of a passionate environmentalist’s quest to protect the ursine denizens of an Alaskan grizzly habitat.
I’m here to tell you that this is a flick about a crazy dude that gets eaten by a bear.
Others may say that the subject of the film, Timothy Treadwell, while a tad eccentric and misguided, gave his life in a dramatic attempt to teach the world how misunderstood the grizzly is; that his child-like fascination with the grizzly bear, in addition to various other wildlife in Alaska’s Katmai National Preserve, was both beautiful and admirable. I’ve read many reviews in the last hour maintaining that Treadwell spent the final thirteen years of his life trying to send a message of compassion for wildlife everywhere and the sanctity of the land on which they live.
I’m saying that the only message I took away from this guy was: Grizzly Bears Eat People! Don’t Invade Their Space and Poke Them and Stuff, or They Will Kill You and Your Girlfriend!
As for Treadwell’s message, I think it’s a lot of crap. Personally, I always thought that grizzly bears might eat me. Turns out I was right, so I’m not sure I see how I’ve ever misunderstood the nature of the grizzly.
If you’ve been wanting to see this film, or want to see it now that you’ve heard that an environmentalist gets eaten by a bear (you sick bastard), please don’t avoid it because you think I’ve spoiled the ending or didn’t like it. They tell you about Treadwell’s demise at the beginning, and I really did enjoy the story. Herzog’s editorial asides undermined the documentary feel of the film for me, but who am I to argue with a guy that dragged a steamboat over a mountain? (Nerdy Fitzcarraldo reference.)
For those of you worried about spoilers, you should stop reading after this paragraph. Just know that the remainder of this entry contains intellectual insight, whimsical wit, and other irritatingly irksome alliteration that would really impress you and leave you eager to visit The JagPot again tomorrow.
What gets me about this Treadwell guy is that the film, for whatever reason, never really talks about how delusional he is. College dropout, failed actor, former drug addict. That’s apparently what qualifies him to be a wildlife expert. He goes out into the woods every summer and hangs out with bears and foxes (actual foxes, not those of the “hot babe” variety), then he talks to them in this Mister Rogers, deeply effeminate manner, and pretends that they’re his friends. To his credit, the foxes actually seem to dig it, but at no point in 100 minutes of film does any bear in his vicinity appear to view him in a welcoming manner. They don’t let him touch them, all but the cubs keep their distance, and many of them seem pretty annoyed.
If there had been a thought balloon above the head of any bear in “Grizzly Man” I imagine it would have looked like this…
My point is that Timothy Treadwell had issues. Viewing him as an authority on grizzly bears and wildlife conservation, as many people apparently did and was never discounted in the film, is like seeing Noah Wyle as an authority on emergency medicine. Timothy Treadwell was a figment of his own imagination; a character in an elaborate, self-obsessed fantasy. I think “Grizzly Man” takes him entirely too seriously as an activist. Treadwell goes on at length in the film about how he sees himself as the protector of the Katmai grizzly, and that it’s a role he takes very seriously. “I would die for these animals,” he states with a show of emotional conviction.
Yet during the only segment in the film where one of his grizzly friends is being harmed by humans, Treadwell hides in the bushes and sounds on the verge of tears, unwilling to reveal himself. These guys, whom Treadwell refers to as poachers, were standing around a boat taking pictures and throwing rocks at a nearby grizzly. Treadwell does nothing. It appeared to me that while he was horrified at the way the bear was being mistreated, he was more threatened by the intrusion of other humans into his fantasy world, and was too frightened to do anything about either.
It’s a sad story. Yes, partly because this kind-hearted guy and his girlfriend get gobbled up by a bear. But also because this guy really seemed to need help. A handful of “dear friends” were interviewed for the documentary, and I’m left wondering if these people had spoken up, called him on his bullshit, and pointed out that he was acting like a whackjob, he may have avoided spending his final moments as a 6-foot chew toy.
(Yeah, I know that was in poor taste, but trust me when I say that it’s much more forgiving than the “bear shit” version I started with.)
Tim Treadwell really seemed like a sweet guy with a caring circle of friends. It just seems to me that he deserved better in their hands…
Good flick. Check it out.
A follow-up to this post can be found here.
Tags: grizzly man, movie review, grizzly bears, timothy treadwell, werner herzog, animal attack
Excellent, and funny review!
Thank you, thank you, thank you. It is a sad story in many ways but bottom line, the guy was out of his fricking mind. And we get to watch him lose his grip farther and farther as the film progresses.
Not only does Herzog never address the guy being delusional, I don’t recall that we ever actually see Treadwell doing any sort of real activism where the bears are concerned. And where were all the people he kept saying he was protecting the bears from?? I think he ends up doing them more harm than good. I was actually starting to get pissed off watching the film, and I work for an environmental nature museum!
My sides hurt from reading your review. I watched “Grizzly Man” last night and couldn’t agree more. Watching Treadwell’s rants was akin to hearing Manson talk about his paper mache scorpions.
I mean seriously what’s next “Great White Shark Man”??
Pedro
> Not only does Herzog never address the guy being delusional
Really?? I mean, the whole movie was about that. After watching that I can’t imagine Herzog wanted us to take that guy seriously!
The entire movie was B.S.. I dont believe any of the crap about them even dying. All B.S. A bunch of hack ass fruity, wasted over the hill actors. What a piece of crap.
Loved your review although a bit ‘raw’ here and there, yet, truthful all the same. We watched it last night and I just kept saying, “Something is seriously wrong with this guy, he is not all there!” Truth be told, his being an ex-junkie, he probably wasn’t all there and the dope probably fried part of his brain. Obviously! To me he seemed completely FULL of himself, no doubt, although I feel it was sad and that he really did care about the bears.
What I am wondering is were there two couples killed by grizzlies? I thought the news said this had happened only a year or two ago, but it may have been another couple and not this Tim Treadwell and girlfriend, that were killed by a bear. But I digress, I remember hearing in the news how a couple were going down the river in Alaska, in a boat I believe, they either smelled something or saw the tent first, not sure on that one, so they stopped. When they stopped they found that they tent was all ripped up and I want to say they also saw a gun or something that was laying by the tent. And I want to say they saw that their food was tied up in a tree like it should be, and they found a man and woman dead, had obviously been dead for alittle while I believe. They had been attacked and were killed by a bear or bears!
Was this the same news story, about Tim Treadwell & his girlfriend, or, was there another couple killed by bears in the past couple of years in Alaska? Anyone know?
Again, great review. Very funny, I sure needed the laugh.
*****************************************
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising up each time we fall!”
Enjoyed your review. I’m not a fan of Herzog’s (anyone could have made a facinating documentary out of such a compelling story and with such amazing footage)and I found it completely disingenuous to hear Herzog claim that ‘over his dead body would he (play the death audio tape)thereby allowing it to become a snuff film” because South American natives used as extra’s in ‘Fitzcaralda’ were accidently killed ON FILM when the cables snapped and the ship slipped down the mountain,crushing them, and Herzog kept it in the movie!
Anyway….I have found Timothy Treadwell to be incredibly compelling since I first saw ‘The Grizzly Diaries’ on Discovery back when he was still living. I was both attracted and repeled….thinking him both odd/insane and incredibly courageous. Either way, he was ‘one of a kind’. But after researching him on the web, I felt like he pulled a ‘James Frey’ on us when I realized he DID have company but still played it like he was a ‘lone warrior’. Why? Why exagerate an already compelling truth? And even if Treadwell had planned to con the viewing audience into believing he was always alone, why didn’t he shoot any video or still shots of Amie (to edit out later) for his OWN memories or to document her experiences and presence and courage for her? It really made me wonder how much he really cared about her, and that ticks me off. They said his last diary entries alluded to the fact that she was thinking of leaving him, right? Well….days before they died he shot himself in the maze saying how dangerous it is there and how it will frickin kill you…(but not him) and he ends it by saying ‘I’ll never leave here” three times. I was thinking ‘Amie must be near him while he’s shooting this scene, since she’s afraid of bears’ plus she recently told him that she’s thinking of leaving him for good…that he’s ‘hell bent on destruction’…so I rewound the tape and studied that scene..and I swear you can see him defiantly say ‘I’ll NEVER leave here’.It’s my life.” to HER! If you can watch the scene again, you’ll see when this occurs. She was likely sitting to the left of the tripod…to his lower right. He’s addressing the camera, but then he turns and looks directly and intentionally at ’someone’and repeats his assertion. My hypothesis is that she sensed that it was a game of Russian Roulette and that it could only end one way, and that she wanted him to make choices that would better insure his survival and preserve their relationship (such as not camping in a grizzly maze in October i.e.)and in that scene, days before they died, he was decaring his answer to her in no uncertain terms. She’s responsible for her choices for sure….but I do feel that he has some culpability in her demise. He seemed to care a lot more about the bears and himself then he did the ‘invisable woman’ and that ticks me off…but none the less…what a compelling story and character study.
Anyway….
I liked the show although it also pissed me off, for other reasons thou the movie was very pampered and had horrible actors acting like a “Friend” of the “late” Treadwell. I’m not sure if he and his friend died… I lean towards not dead.
Also some other things that bug me. I think he is gay, that’s fine cause then it would make a little more sense with his incompatibility to deal with humanity at times, and other reason that he might not be capable of dealing with properly bla bla, ok so he had a girl with him right well early in the show is showed the pilot “actor” and a fair looked blond girl walking aside the plane. at that point in the movie it was a Female.. well close to the end of the movie Herzog says that Treadwell’s girl friend is show again in the film trying to hid from the camera, pause in the face, it IS a MAN. maybe it was two men and they did die, the audio recording would sounds pretty interesting since there is supposed to be quite the freakish scream of a dieing Female. anyways ya I suck im bored and I over analyze even if my analysis is completely wrong… or is it… oh ya I loved the watch seen of his watch i’ll wear it hee hee, nice advertisement not to mention he was wearing a different watch in the films he took, ya well also all the ACTORS Sucked and I wanted to punch them in the FACE, for acting so Dumb! heh BORED!!! ya and umm
the dumb doctor ohh he sucked he said he removed like 40 pounds of human remains from out of the bear, but at the first of the movie the pilot says look a Bone all thats left of the bear… .. ya ya ok im done gosh..
I loved your review! You could not have been more on the money with this acessment! I also loved what Tray had to say about how adamant Timothy was in the film saying he was never leaving the Grizzly Maze…he absolutely was directing this at Amy, who no doubt was to one side of the camera. Anyway’s….thank you for the laugh…you should have your own column!
I got to thinking last night about how Treadwell’s friends said he’d be happy with the movie, because he was it’s ’star’. But I submit he would have edited the heck out of the movie so as to not have his cover blown. I mean….think about it….not only did he place Amie between him and a hungary grizzly, but then he had the gall to make her duck to get out of the frame! Women….this it what we refer to as a ‘red flag’.
Reminds me of the old joke about two guys hiking in the woods, discussing what they’d do if they encounter a grizzly. The first says he’d run. The second says ‘You can’t out run a grizzly”. The first says ‘I don’t need to out run the grizzly. I just need to out run you.” 
Though I joke here, I do feel very badly for anyone killed in such a horrific manner, and certainly my heart breaks for Amie…who it seems had become painfully aware that Treadwell was not good for her. Too bad she realised this too late.
I normally don’t take the time to reply to anything
(evicition notices included)but I had to let you know.
I was reading Grizzly Manwich whilst taking a drink of coffee and at a particulary (I tried spelling that 3 times and I still don’t have it right, can a girl get a dictionary?) Anyway, drinking coffee…reading grizzly…laughed and spit coffee on my keyboard and the sleeve of my white top. I had to go home and change. I hope your happy. Now I gotta pee.
Heya Jags, right on man! Loved your comedic and candid, honest assessment of Mr. Manic Depressive. The final chapter of the movie should have been Treadwell vs. Eatwell. Naaaah, okay, maybe I’m being a bit cynical. Yes, I confess.
It was a tragic story, and yes; Tim Treadwell was out of it. I agree with you and alos feel that if his friends really cared for him, they would get the guy some help, although, if he didn’t get any; maybe the best place was for him to be surrounded by Grizzlies! Maybe they should open up a Bi-Polar summer camp for Chronic Manic Depressives there in Katami. A nice little camp fire sing-a-long every Saturday Night at the Grizzly Maze! Have a nice Salmon Roast, and invite the locals to sing along.
Anyway; I know one thing, taking a woman with that is not yet Post-Manopausal for any length of time into a Grizzly habitat, is like chumming for Great White Sharks. You take a 26 year old Male whom hasn’t been laid in God knows how long, and he gets a whiff of “The Scent Of A Woman”, you don’t have to be Al Pacino to find your way out of your Sylvan refuge to try to get lucky after his probably more than 14 years of being driven off by Younger Males. I had a friend and his wife almost killed by a big Buck Deer when she went hunting with him. She was in “Estrus” and they were walking to his Deer Blind when they heard snorting behind them, and he turned, and it was a Big Buck! My friend Mark killed his Trophy at his feet as it charged, and it had everything to do with his wife.
Anyway; yes, Tim was no “expert” at all on Grizzlies. He spent and co-habitated with them, but, yes, he probably aggravated them and probably tolerated him because they thought he was goofy, just like the pilot in the film said.
Yeah, his feminine voice, and his rants of lunacy is and was should be used at schools as what can happen to you if you get hooked on drugs.
It was an interesting movie, but, I hardly would call it a true Documentary. I’d call it more of a Video Diary of a Mad Man in the Wild.
I agree with you that he was not trying to protect the Bears as he hid just as you said when the guys in a boat came by. I knew Grizzlies were hunted and some poached before, but, they are hardly endangered, and I wonder how many he drove nuts in the first place.
As far as the 6 minutes of audio, yeah, I think they should have included it in the film. It would have made the movie a bit better and put in perspective what I think he wanted to happen or faciliated or even provoked to happen. It would then serve to tell the whole story not that I get my jollies on hearing people die, but, the whole movie was a video journal of a man’s quest to do Suicide by Bear!
Anyway; just curious, if you were to make a new Title for the movie, what would you call it Brad?
By the way, take a look at this link of a World record Grizzly “man-eater” taken in 2001. It’s awesome, and weighed in at 1600 lbs with parts of 2 people inside it. Just seeing this thing although Treadwell’s Bears didn’t get THIS Big, he had to be suicidal and wanted to be part of the Bears for real, like the food-chain part.
http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/Odd%20Pics%202/Grizzly.html
Anyway; I think you were funny, intuitive, witty, and entertaining. You are obviously bright as your vocabulary sugests, and I agree with others, you should have your own column.
Take Care!
Jimbo M.
WARNING! Very Graphic WARNING!
All that’s left of man found that was killed by the 1600 lb. Grizzly. Obvioulsy he didn’t want to finsih eating him, and just killed him or snacked.
WARNING! Very Graphic WARNING!
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl-grizzlybear4.htm
jag, this comment is really for you, as I wasn’t sure how to email, but just read your review of grizzly man. you are frickn hilarious, and seem like would be a cool guy to drink beers and try to meet chicks with.
anyway, I write because earlier today I wrote a review of grizzly man for our new site http://www. joeweiser.com which I think you will enjoy reading. check it out. it’s not as funny as your review, but I think you’ll probably enjoy it. also, check out the site. it would be awesome if you can submit a hilarious piece to it. anyway, hit me back with your thoughts, and keep up the hilarious writing.
I just found your site today. Very funny stuff.
Good Review Overall,
For thousands and thousands of years, these bears never experience human touch, smell or associated in anyway with human environment. They seldom heard human voice and most likely, never tasted human meat. The tragic deaths of Tim and Amy, actually end up Polluting the pristine environment and these will most likely prove very harmful to the Bears. There are at least 10-15 Bears contaminated with human meat as well different understanding of human species as a whole, roaming in the park. I think, overall, more harm is done than good due to the incident.
Tim also tried to give unfair advantage to the bear and foxes over other wild animals by creating artificial salmon run or chasing away wolves. That, I think was completely unacceptable.
It was really filmed very good.Im very sorry to see of his demise.I never had seen anyone get that close to a grizzly bear.A bunch of wild ones at that
show some repect!! fuck all of you, be ashamed
A documentary about a man making a documentary about himself… with some bears as a backdrop. I had read about Tim Treadwell before seeing the movie, but I had no idea how delusional and maniacally self-obsessed he was. His “work” had very little to do with the bears he claimed to be protecting (from what, it’s not quite clear); instead, his film footage contains a whole lot of Tim primping for the camera, striking heroic poses, and droning on endlessly about his own bravery and self-sacrifice.
Poor, conflicted Tim is very obviously gay, with all the sashaying about, sing-song talk, and hair-fixing. What straight man muses about how bummed he is that he’s *not* gay and how cool it must be to have sexual encounters in restrooms and truck stops? Yep, but too bad I’m not gay, he quickly adds.
His friends are your garden variety, cosmic-philosopher nut jobs. One of them blathers on about how Tim’s delusional bear fixation was “religious, in a sense” or some such nonsense. Another makes a point of telling us that Tim doesn’t “feel dead”, so his death really doesn’t bother him all that much. Some friend.
Tim was as narcissistic a person as I’ve ever seen. His emphatic professions of love for the animals were in fact professions of love for Tim Treadwell as the self-righteous do-gooder and benevolent animal savior. He seemed to think that he’s due quite a bit of credit for not charging first-grade classrooms to listen to him talk about himself (oh, and the bears too). Beyond that, he was a compulsive liar and he spewed vitriolic hate at anyone whom he perceived was against him — which seemed to be just about all humans. Ironically, the only living thing that he appears to have had any fond feelings for was the one that killed and ate him.
Good reveiw! I watched the film the other night and even from the begining i thought this guy must be slightly out of his mind.In a way i didn’t really watch it to see him,i wanted to see some bears and the thing what really freaked me out was the way he spoke too the bears and gave them names like “Mr.Chocolate”. But even though he was a bit crazy you could tell he had a interst in these bears and himself as he would ask the camera things like how is my hair? But in a way i have got to give him some credit, some of the footage he got of the bears was amazing, like when those 2 bears had a fight and when you would see them hunting for fish. Even though he died he died what he loved doing.
well if you play fire you will get burnt l have no pitty for him
The guy was nuts! More than that, he was very mentally ill. I work with the mentally ill and he looks like someone we would diagnose as having male boderline personality disorder. Google the term and Tim will pop out.
On another note, the more I watched the film, the more it reminded me the mockumentaries: A Mighty Wind and Best in Show. All the people looked and sounded like bad actors who were on the verge of busting a gut.
i think your a jerk. i think everyone who said that timothy treadwell was insane are idiots. he had a wonderful message and wanted to make a difference in the world.
I WANNA HEAR THE FUCKEN TAPE DAMNIT!
Well, people tend to treat animals as rational, emotional beings. This is a common error. Animals are mostly not rational, they follow their defensive and predatory instincts well before any other leading feeling or stimule.
By falling repeatedly in this error and being luckily enough to survive 13 years, until his luck ended and he was mauled and devored, Treadwell really gave a message, but it’s a terribly wrong message.
He gave the message that bears have human-like feelings and motivations. By being killed, he somehow tells the world that the human-like bears are murderous bastards. He’s done more harm to bear preservation than an army of poachers.
This wild-life primma donna would had better respected bears instead of loving them. Wild bears don’t need humans to caress them and play cards with. They don’t need nor want to mess with humans at all. Just need free space, an environment free of humans. Star preservation activists included.
Rest in peace, Mr. Treadwell, and… to Yogi… bon apetit.
It’s sad that such a review is written on somebody that was trying to protect animals. Only stupid humans like us try to put bears like the “Bad Guys”. Probably the fact that he was killed was part of the message and he knew he could die. But what better way to die than doing what you love and dying preaching your passions? Obviously he did not want a bear to eat him, but is part of nature. Bears dont hunt people!! Bears want people out of their habitat!!! That is the main point! His research on bears may have changed minds concerning their nature and the preservation of their habitat.
Loved film. Loved Herzog’s treatment. Loved Timmy.
What’s not to like about getting to see this big galump/fool/clown playing hide n’ seek with ten foot ursines able to hit a fly ball with your head.
Geez, look at the size of that guy!
And the bush pilot and airport manager nailed Timmy pretty fair.
So he’s a nutcase, eh; it’s open and shut, cause he’s dead.
But all of you and W are sane?
He was in the REAL world, not cyberworld.
Wake up Sheep before you’re nuttin but mutton.
Mutton?…. MUTTON!?… I love Mutton.. what the hell’s wrong with being nuttin’ but mutton?
[…] I just finished watching March of the Penguins. Man, those’re some fascinating birds. The documentary, narrated by Morgan Freeman, follows the amazing mating and reproductive rituals of the emperor penguin. It’s not bird porn or anything like that, though I guess it wouldn’t surprise you on The JagPot, being that I pretty much covered doggie porn a few weeks ago, and grizzly dining last week. […]
[…] So, being that a strong portion of my traffic lately came from a review of a wildlife documentary where someone got eaten, I’m gonna go watch March of the Penguins right now and pray that a bunch of penguins eat Morgan Freeman. […]
[…] Now, on to our mail call. Today’s letter comes to us from Brad Scolito, in response to my recent “Grizzly Man” review. My review was apparently linked on the Official Nutjob Forums, because it’s getting tons of hits and is generating a good bit of mail. I don’t mean to imply that you’re a nutjob, Brad, except that I do and you are. I’m going to respond to your message blow-by-blow… I had to respond to your review of Grizzly Man. […]
. Ismail nifty erotic stories archive enver, her bare idle.. And get away. Her nipple over armenia to cover.