Timothy Treadwell.

His story has a grip on my psyche that is almost obsessive in its magnitude.

For those unaware of his story, he is ‘The Grizzly Man”. He spent over a dozen summers in Alaska, living among brown bears in nothing but a tent. No guns, no bear spray, no electric fences. His film and photography can only be described as amazing. He ‘loved’ ‘his bears’. He felt they were misunderstood as dangerous man-killers. He taught children this message. He took risks no sane man would take. He and a female companion were killed and eaten by ‘his bears’.

Part of the attraction of Mr. Treadwell and his story for me is that I can see the allure. I can understand his fascination. I have more than a few times come upon bears in the wild and each event has been an experience I will never forget. There is a rawness to the meetings. A closeness to nature and the natural world that is hard to describe. A realization that this creature you are staring down can end your life at a moment’s whim.And when it does not, feelings of closeness and awe overtake you. Of being a part of the environment rather than something from the outside. It is a kinship with nature. I am sure this was one aspect of the addiction Timothy Treadwell developed while living in the last frontier.

But my obsession with Mr. Treadwell comes less from the nature of the world than from the nature of the man.

You see, Timothy Treadwell was the quintessential Liberal. I willingly admit that I do not know this man’s politics. But this matters little. It is in his actions that I find the perfect case study. And this is what this man’s life has become for me. A study in the Liberal mind.

I have devoured every book I could find on his life and his unfortunate demise. I have watched all or parts of Werner Hertzog’s documentary “The Grizzly Man” nearly a half dozen times. Seen the reactions of his associates to the documentary. Read numerous articles and blog posts on the subject. Spent literally hours in thought on the mental processes of this man’s mind.

And here is what I have found.

Mr. Treadwell exhibited all of the mental aspects that are the building blocks of the Liberal psyche.

There was his simmering anger at ‘the establishment’ for not recognizing his obvious talents. Treadwell endeavored many times to get his ‘scientific’ study of the brown bears of Alaska recognized by the academic community. He was often at odds with the Alaskan Park Service over his claims of poaching and his ‘protection’ of ‘his bears’. His anger boils over at one point in “The Grizzly Man” when he goes on an extended tirade against ‘the establishment’ and how he is the true protector of ‘his bears’.

Which brings us to the next aspect of the Liberal mind. Narcissism. Treadwell truly believed he alone stood between the bears and their ultimate annihilation. That he was their sole savior.

He longed to be a star. His friends freely admitted his lust to be viewed as ‘a rock star’. He reveled in his appearances on the Letterman and Rosie O’Donnell shows.

In his younger years, if he felt the story of his life was not exciting enough, he would merely change the facts to make it so.

One need only watch his self-important blustering and posturing on nearly every frame of “The Grizzly Man” film to get the point here. ‘Hey look at me, I’m Timothy!’ Like a child crying for attention.

And here we have the next point, a child like naivete. I use the term ‘naivete’ here with reservation as it refers to a lack of understanding of the facts. I feel Treadwell understood the dangers present in his endeavors but either consciously or subconsciously chose to ignore them. His reality would crumble if the truth of the nature of the grizzly were to rise to the surface of his mind.

And every meeting with the bears that did not end in his death simply reinforced this reality for him. He felt no need for the protections most other outdoorsmen in bear country would consider merely common sense…things such as guns, bear spray, electric fences around one’s tent. He felt these things could injure the bears he loved, and childishly refused to use them.

His was a life of activism, another Liberal attribute. Activism is described here as an uncritical, irrational drive toward a particular goal.

Mr. Treadwell saw in his life a chance to prove brown bears were misunderstood as dangerous wild animals. He was driven to make this contention so, the facts be damned. He paid the ultimate price for his dismissal of reality in the advancing of his cause.

Let me close with these last thoughts. I can not deny that Treadwell had a pair of brass ones. No matter the mental meanderings one must enforce upon one’s own psyche, to live among brown and grizzly bears for months at a time alone in the wilderness takes a man of no small mettle. For this he can be admired. But his knowing disassociation with reality always seems to creep back into any honest discussion on the subject. For his life cannot be truly understood without the acknowledgment of the facts of his death. He felt the reason for his life(his activism) was to show the world that it misunderstood ‘his bears’.

The facts of his death proved otherwise. He felt it was his life’s work to protect all ‘his bears’. The deaths of the bears found feeding on his corpse gave lie to this, as well.

Yet in the last moments of Treadwell’s life something happened. While in the jaws of a grizzly, he shouted to his female companion to run. He understood his life was over and tried to save hers. In the final seconds of his existence he left ‘Timothy’ behind and grew up.

Crossposted @ Sticks and Stones

Said Glen @ 9:04 am | Permalink   

1. Glen, what an awesome post and a most awesome last sentence. You put a point on the story that no one else has come close to. Thanks!

   Comment by GM — 2/26/2006 @ 9:31 am

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2. While an interesting take, you are so completely off the mark as far as labeling Timothy. a) They were not brass. That is a very important point for those who get it. This is why he could live out with the bears as no one else has, nor likely ever will. b) Although you’ve reviewed all that’s out there about this complicated soul…in th end…you know little. There’s so much you don’t know. So much untold.

   I think Timothy’s portrait as you know it has made for good use by you in your rambles much the same as Tim’s very private footage was sorted through and ultimately abused to shuttle Herzog forward along his own egomaniacal path.

   Comment by rebecca — 2/26/2006 @ 11:12 am

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3. Awesome post… What a treat to read…Engaging and relevant and entertaining and …well I could go on but you get the drift: I liked it…a great deal

   Comment by Crystal — 2/26/2006 @ 5:10 pm

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4. Portraying Timothy as a liberal is like portraying Dick Cheney as a conservative… The brush is to broad a stroke my friend, and why is it, politics that you inject into a story that quite frankly draws interests to those of us with the morbid facination of one of the most ferocious predatory acts against humans…

   Face it, the reason we are even getting involved in these discussions are because Timothy Treadwell and Amy’s Huguenard death is sensational…

   I think there are a myriad of reasons that Timothy didnt have pepper spray or put an electric fence around his site that are perfectly logical…

   He placed his tents near fox dens, why? Maybe to use them as an early warning system to getting surprised by a bear???

   What would an electric fence do to foxes?

   Pepper Spray didnt save the life of Vitaly Nikolayenko (Russian Bear Observer/Biologist) who spent 25 years with Brown (Grizzly) Bears, with far more experience in close proximity of bears that Timothy…

   Characterizations of Timothy for most of us who did not know him and did not understand his method of bear observation that kept him alive for over 12 years really in the end only reflects our own character, our own projections, doesn’t it…

   The truth is we dont know anything about him other than some of his accomplishments, and what little information that is out there that have peaked our curiousity…

   One thing that was evident was that he loved the study of those Bears and risked his life to get near them.

   You can only hope the highs of his abrupt but exciting life, somehow compensated for his tragic ending…

   I think he would have said “it did”…

   Comment by Scott — 3/1/2006 @ 8:29 pm

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5. Timothy Treadwell was a sick person. He was an Alcoholic / drug addict who was borderline something mentally. I don’t think he deserves any excuse for this, in fact I think he is responsible for murder of his female companion. To put a tag of Liberal on him is stupid and misses many points.

   I could just as easily spend time working on an argument on how he was the ultimate Goldwater Republican. Who could not stand to have any government messing with his life. Big government was the enemy and he showed how one man was so much more efficient (like the private sector) than these bunches of high paid government workers….You can see how you could twist this into any set of beliefs.

   You also missed the point of the movie which is about a man and truth. Hertzog has even said he did not respect what Treadwell was doing but that without knowing it Treadwell was really a great filmmaker and he had captured that “Esthetic Truth” Hertzog has spent his life trying to find. Like so many artist in our time I may hate Treadwell but you have to respect his filmmaking ability.

   I just wish he had done his long term white knuckling sober vacation alone. Because he did not, he got his girlfriend killed.

   Two better Hertzog films are “Little Dieter needs to fly” ( about a true American hero, terrible title) and “My Best Fiend” ( about his relationship with Kinski)

   Also on Feb 3 2006 HERTZOG WAS SHOT WHILE IN HOLLYWOOD BY A CRAZED SNIPER FAN. He was giving a interview to the BBC at the time so you can see the film of this. He was hit with a air rifle shot. He just quietly says, ” they are shooting at us we must move” He then refuses to stop the interview even though he is bleeding. 12 hours later he saves Qu Phoenix ( Johhny Cash ) who had just crashed his car and flipped it upside down into a little valley. Hertzogs life is like one long movie. I would pay money just to watch him for a day now that would be a cool reality tv show. But I degress.

   Comment by Digby — 3/2/2006 @ 1:48 am

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6. later he saves Qu Phoenix ( Johhny Cash ) who had just crashed his car and flipped it upside down into a little valley. Hertzogs life is like one long movie. I would pay money just to watch him for a day now that would be a cool reality tv show.

   Comment by Digby — 3/2/2006 @ 1:51 am

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7. I thank you, Scott, for your sane and thoughtful comments. They are so few and far between in this day and age.
   My interest in Mr. Treadwell goes beyond the ’sensational’ You see, I am an outdoorsman. I am drawn to the wilderness and I share that with him. His is a study in what not to do in order to survive there. Which is where the paradox which is this man enters the story…he survived many years living among these great creatures. A testament as much to their patience for humans as to his abilities.
   His reasons for not using bear spray come from his own words. He used it once and felt it hurt the bear too much and refused to use it again.
   In the ‘grizzly maze’ he purposely set up his camp at the bottleneck of wildlife trails which then lead down to the area of the salmon run.
   Electric fences are not made to keep foxes away. They are not a threat to life. He put his tent next to their dens because he enjoyed their company…but this was not while in ‘the maze’.
   But your end point is well taken and I agree wholeheartedly.

   Comment by Glen — 3/2/2006 @ 6:50 am

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8. Well as a person who is also facinated with his story, I too have spent my time in the outdoors. I have had close encounters with bears (black bears) but will tell you right now, I would have never had the conviction to do what Tim did…

   One can easily make the argument that mountaineering is far more hazardous by sheer numbers of fatalities than bear watching.

   That can be validated by a comparison of a risk to injury rate. The greater the risk, the higher the chances are your going to be injured or killed…

   But people have climbed all of the worlds tallest peaks, without oxygen, and some have even done it by solo venture (reinhold messner)…

   Why? Because they had a deep love, conviction and commitment to what they enjoyed, simular how Tim loved what he did…

   What I find interesting with the Tim Treadwell story is that, here is a person who got off his butt and decided he was going to study Grizzlies…

   Think about this, he wasnt a specialized zoologist/biologist lucky to get selected for field study because of years of schooling experience, financed by a foundation that provided, all the resources, a complete camera crew and protection…

   Tim did it for years with a 35mm camera on a shoestring budget anyone of us have the capability of putting together provided we had such strong convictions…

   That is what facinates me about this man, regardless of how one might feel about his views or technics about his method or reasons for his study, this guy is/was a working class hero in my opinion…

   He lived his dream, and that in itself is respectful…

   Comment by Scott — 3/2/2006 @ 2:36 pm

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9. Oh, one more point, let me add more clarity to my comparison of mountaineering -vs- bear observation…

   Both have risks associated to them…

   It seems as if most people are too quick to chastise those who sanely decide to deal with the risks and put themselves in potential harms way when observing bears or other dangerous predators while there is a standard comfort in the fact that climbing mountains sometimes kill the climbers, especially when greater risks are taken…

   My point is, “aren’t we being a little hard on Tim Treadwell when very famous Mountaineers who have died while tempting fate on the worlds tallest peaks for their causes are considered hero’s?

   Comment by Scott — 3/2/2006 @ 2:54 pm

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10. Well said, Scott. But I would have just as much of a problem with a climber who, though knowing the proper technique, chose a more dangerous course.
    Setting aside Mr. Treadwell’s misunderstanding of the unpredictability of any wild animal, he was well aware of safety measures he could have employed.

    Comment by Glen — 3/2/2006 @ 5:31 pm

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11. Then you would have a problem with George Mallory and Andrew Irvin, two legendary climbers who attempted to be the first to climb Everest and died trying… With the logic when do you feel you have the proper saftey measures in before you decide to take the risk? All of their climbing gear was that of 1924… Should they have not attempted to climb until someone deemed the route safe?

    What I am saying is that Tim Treadwell did something very few people have done, by lving and studying in such close proximity of Bears. And I again point out that Vitaly Nikolayenko did have and used Bear Mace and still died by the Grizzly. Oh well I dont want to beat this subject to death (so to speak) thanks for the conversation…

    Comment by Scott — 3/2/2006 @ 6:47 pm

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12. Glen, There is a big difference between “Liberalism” and “Mental Illness”. Although there may be parties that align both on the same plane.
    I more or less agree that Tim was a wig-nut a few cards short of a full deck.
    That does not mean he wasn’t a nice guy or beautiful person. However, he was protecting Bears that were living in a sanctuary, there had only been 3 known bear deaths attributable to hunting. I mean if I were going to protect some Tigers I wouldn’t set up a camp at the zoo, to ward off hunters. I do agree that from the move the bush pilot who said Tim was lucky for 13 seasons’ was dead balls accurate. Those bears could figure Tim out. He behaved like no human or animal they ever have encountered and they tolerated him, until one got hungry enough to devour him.

    You know though, in the Maine wilderness where I come from, we tend not to try and ride the moose. Tim thought that wild animals at the top of the food chain could feel compassion, and feeling. I guess we really don’t know if they do. What we do know is that any compassion and understanding that may exist is wiped out by the desire to eat. That’s the difference between humans and all other species. Animals all non domesticated forms have evolved to suit a specific purpose. For Bears they have perfected only 3 things. Eating leering and making baby bears. That’s it. They can only tolerate humans and are never happy to see us. The area of the brain that responds to such stimuli in a bear brain is the size of a walnut in a bear and the size of a baseball in a human. They have no comprehension of remembering Tim, by how he looked or behaved. They only remembered how he smelled and associated there behavior instinctively to that which allowed them to survive other chance encounters.

    Just saw the film and feel it to be more of a case study in manic depression, bi-polar disorder and likely repressed latent homosexuality.

    Although, I feel for the guy as it appears his heart was in the right place, his methods were utter madness. He certainly was not a Scientist or aven an Environmentalist

    However, I guess, what Mr. Treadwell was really looking for in these woods was Tim Treadwell.

    He certainly was searching for himself. I suspect and hope that in those last 6 minutes he finally did, as he surly must have had some feeligs of remorse listening to the brutal and savage attack upon his young naive companion.

    You know for the first 15 minutes of the film I thought him to be an Environmentalist until I saw the Malibu tag and realized that he was making a movie. He was an Actor. I mean please he is combing his long blonde locks in nearly every scene, and is pathetically re-shooting footage of himself jumping out of the shrubs. Did I hear him yell, “Cut”.

    I don’t agree that he got what he deserved though. Who deserves to be ripped apart by a bear and eaten for supper?

    However, I leave you all with this little tidbit, Do you wonder if the bears killed within the park the summer after the Treadwell tragedy were lured to within point blank range of hunters rifles by only the all to familiar whisper “Don’t worry. You’re beautiful. I love you.”

    Comment by Michael Freebird — 5/10/2006 @ 8:04 am

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13. I think that Mr. tredwell had a very large empty space in his heart. by living in the grizzly
    world helped to fill some of the void I understand his fascination.the grizzly is one strong
    and beautiful animal and just sleeping outside under the stars can give a person insight
    into ones soul and helps to open up the mind .no matter what anyone has to say about
    Tim he was fighting for the bears in a way that was brave and it made you think about
    grizzlies and that they need the help of a few brave people that will stand beside them so
    that they will be noticed after he was gone that next summer a lot of bears were killed for
    body parts not one was killed when Tim was there what does that tell you.ROCK ON GRIZZLY MAN I understand i just wish that your life would not be so misunderstood

    Comment by mel collins — 7/23/2006 @ 4:59 pm

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14. I think Amie was an adult who chose to go live in these conditions, Timothy did not force her. This blaming makes Amie look like a love sick follower, (if you read anything about her you would know it is completely false.) She was a very educated woman who had her own mind.

    Comment by Kelly Summers — 7/25/2006 @ 7:40 am

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15. Timothy Treadwell Was a paranoid Schizophrenic.

    Comment by Jim gibson — 8/20/2006 @ 11:56 pm

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16. I wish he took Hillary Clinton with him.

    Comment by Goodman Brown — 8/21/2006 @ 12:01 am

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17. I just saw Grizzly Man. And clearly the tragic narrative of Timothy Treadwell’s love-affair with bears, as well as the commentaries above, is more about absurd human nature than the nature of bears. Mr. Treadwell was a man of paradoxes: physically and mentally strong enough to camp in the wilderness alone among grizzly bears, yet strikingly naive in his anthromorphism of the bears and nature; loving bears enough to promote a conservationist concern for them, but professing to “protect” them in Katmai National Park, one of the largest bear protection areas in the world; recognizing the lethal dangers posed by bears, and yet fatalistically relying, not on proven deterrents like electrical fencing, or pepper spray (to say nothing of guns) but on merely establishing a bear-like “dominance” toward the wild bears; anti-establishment in his attitude, but wholly dependent on the establishment for his funding, travel, recognition, and even the setting aside of the National Park in which he could research his bears. But in his contradictoriness, he was quintessentially human–absurdly limited in his powers to understand himself, let alone the bears he sought to undertand, love, and protect; just as limited in his understanding of the world he wanted to make different; and as limited in the powers he wielded to actually make a difference. But he tried. And I think, in his limited way, he did make a difference. Not that, in the end, human encroachment on nature will cease, or bear populations survive human destruction, but he made us more aware of the bears and their plight at the hands of humans, and thus, in his limited way, made a difference. That is all any of us in this absurdity that is the human condition can hope will be our epitaph.

    Comment by Jay — 12/28/2006 @ 8:32 pm

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18. This is one of the most arrogant, pointless, hateful, and ridiculous things I have ever read.

    What possible difference could the politics of a mentally unbalanced individual make to anyone, anywhere?

    I’m inclined to believe the author of this is a little off himself.

    Comment by Matt — 3/31/2007 @ 9:49 am

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19. “Right-wing nutjob” is a oft-used cliche for a reason.

    Comment by Me again! — 3/31/2007 @ 9:52 am

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20. Way to censor your blog pussies.

    Comment by Me again! — 3/31/2007 @ 9:53 am

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21. And it was written in 2006. Maybe you should get yourself a pair of reading glasses and a brain.

    Comment by Cao — 3/31/2007 @ 6:56 pm

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22. Timothy Treadwell was a lonely failure in live desperate for fame. The bears and his living among them got him national recognition for the first time in his live. I do believe however, Timothy was an incredible loving person who cared for all living things. I remember seeing the scene of his documentary showing him crying over the death of a butterfly. Sure, his lovingness was extreme, and was not the most logical. But those that blame him for th death of his girlfriend, are pathetic fools! Nobody forced her to be there. It was her decision to be there, and she too loved not only Timothy, but his passion for wildlife as well. Obviously, Timothy was not the most stable guy, but even in his dying moments he still thought of others. You cannot argue his kindness and loving spirit, although it may have been a factor of his untimely death. Rest in peace Tim.

    Comment by Diesel — 4/29/2007 @ 7:16 pm

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23. The whole Tim Treadwell thing is fascinating in a way that watching any horrific event is. It’s a complex situation and probably all of the things people say above about him, both negative and positive, apply to some degree.

    But for me, at the bottom of it all is an intense sadness.

    I don’t like many people but for some reason even though he did some incredibly stupid things, and maybe I didn’t like his ani-establishment views and such, but I think I’d have still liked Tim if I met him. The way the story ends is just incredibly sad.

    Comment by bill — 8/12/2007 @ 4:46 pm

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24. Hmmm …. okay …

    And I guess by your logic Ted Bundy would be the quintessential Republican.

    Comment by Bill — 12/29/2007 @ 4:20 pm

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25. You got the Ted part right. Just replace the “Bundy” with “Nugent”.

    Comment by Glen Blagg — 12/30/2007 @ 9:12 am

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26. I’m no an educated person by no means, but what exactly was the “research” that Mr. Treadwell did with “his bears”? Is it all in the little movies he made of himself? Because that’s all they were. I didn’t learn a thing about bears from him. Not one thing. If this is considered “research” i’ll kiss your ass.
    He was a closet gay trying to get famous!! That’s all!!

    Comment by nancy — 1/22/2008 @ 2:28 pm

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27. The dude was a whack and out of his league, 13 or whatever years he spent in the field. It was reckless. To bad Amie died, it must have been a horrible death.

    Wild animals are just that, wild. They aren’t your “buddies”.

    Comment by ron — 7/8/2008 @ 10:36 pm

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