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| Timothy Treadwell (right) |
One of the questions raised about this film was "Did Treadwell get what he deserved?".
I strongly believe that one's faults are mostly in their intentions, rather than their actions. After viewing this film, Treadwell seemed to have the best intentions for these animals, despite the issues people saw with the execution of his actions. (i.e invading a wild habitat and introducing animals to human exposure) I then realized- do I really know the intentions Treadwell had?
I only had a mere glimpse into this mans life, and the side of Tim that I saw was the side that he wanted the to world to see. Not only is it possible that Tim acted very differently when his camera was rolling, but it is also possible that Herzog portrayed Tim the way that he wanted to as a film maker. Herzog had thousands of hours of footage to use, but he specifically simmered it down to 100 minutes.
Tim said a million and one times: "I love these animals more than anything in the world". I have no doubt that Tim felt a deep connection to these animals, but as seen in the movie, Tim could rant about the government one second, and then suddenly switch back to being a "kind warrior" the next. He may have loved the bears more than life itself, but perhaps his intentions were not to love and save these animals, but to become famous for saying so. It is naive to automatically assume that Tim Treadwell was a selfless man just because he proclaimed himself as such.
Due to the fact that I don't know what Treadwell really felt, it is hard to say whether he "got what he deserved". Even though I don't agree with the way Tim "saved" these animals, it doesn't mean his unconventional life deserved to be ended. His dream was atypical, but who am I to say that it was wrong? Although I don't know how Tim truly felt, it would be ridiculous to say that a man who only wanted to give, deserved to be taken.
I could never say that Tim deserved to die but I don't think that his love for the bears was the reason for his treks into the Alaskan wilderness. The movie mentioned that Tim drank heavily and that Tim himself was aware and was trying to stop before it killed him. I believe that Tim ran away from society and used the bears as a reason to stop drinking. He wanted to create a new reality for himself and find a distraction. I believe that he originally went and lived with the bears in order to escape his problems. I think he wanted to protect the bears because the bears had protected him from his problems.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you focused on his intentions, not his fate. I think the nature of his death is what everyone seems to remember. Furthermore, you focused on the many different ways one could interpret his intentions. I believe that he really did love those bears, but how can we really know?
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