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Did anyone here watch Grizzly Man last night?
#21
Yes they did leave and come back and it was stated very clearly that his girlfriend at the time was scared of these bears and not as into this as he was.

Sorry guys, those of you who defend this whacko have your sympathy misplaced.

This was a person who was obsessed with himself and trying to up his stature via these bears. They were a convenient vehicle for him and he seized it and used them.

First of all, there is NO reason for him to appear so much on his own films at all, except maybe to point out things like the incredible damage the two bears did to the ground when they were fighting. Appearances such as those are valuable for the purpose of showing scale, a human size reference. He could have narrated off camera or later in post production...and much more effectively. his grandiose appearances were rambling, chaotic and redundant, peppered with statements about how great he was for doing this...crazy.

Yeah, maybe he didnt "deserve" to be eaten...but hey...you have to think that those bears probably were threatened by his constant presence...Bears can eat you when they feel threatened.

I dont buy this crap about him being there to protect the bears. Sorry If I come across as callous but I have several friends that are bi-polar...after awhile that sort of behaviour is intolerable. These people are master manipulators and in case you mightn't have realized...if you fell for this guys mask of being a genuine conservator, you have been manipulated.

The film was compelling, very well done and, IMHO, was the portrait of master manipulator who seemd to be trying to prove to the world that he was a hero...he said it over and over...crediting himself for all the good he is doing, slapping himself on the back. It disgusted me. Real hero's dont have this need, they go about there biz quietly and dont try to snatch credit.

Ugh..I changed my mind...you go messing with bears, year after year, getting in their face, trying to touch them (this clearly pissed the particular bear off) invading their turf AND in as he called it.."the maze" a dangerous place...then you could deserve to be eaten, you can at least expect it at some point.. It's bogus, as is he, The Grizzly Man.

His parents should have stepped in and put a lid on their childs craziness. If anything in the world was worthy of an intervention, this was it.

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#22
Werner Herzog is one of my all-time favorite directors. Does an amazing job with the tragic/flawed/narcissistic protagonists, so I felt this documentary wasn't far off at all in comparison to his classic movies from the 70s and 80s. Treadwell was a guy who could fit right alongside the fictional Aguirre.

Funny how someone posted about Klaus Kinski in another thread a couple of weeks back, as Kinski and Herzog worked together on most of his best films (Fitzcarraldo, Aguirre Wrath of God, &c) and they had a very tempestuous relationship.

Oh, and Treadwell would have made a very annoying barkeep on Cheers. Good thing they picked Woody Harrelson over him, but it is very striking how a life can totally change over a decision like that.
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#23
kraniac...I agree with much of what you said re: he shouldn't be seen as any sort of hero. However, if you have friends that are bi-polar and have seen them off their meds (i'm fairly certain he was bi-polar, but i'm still assuming), then you know what they are like. They are so far from logic, it's hard to watch - just like his nonsensical ramblings were like in the movie. If he was mentally ill, then he didn't "deserve" it..he was sick and untreated.

It takes a *lot* for the state or family to 'step in' with a mentally ill, non med-compliant adult. Most of the time, they end up homeless or living on the edge of society. There really isn't much people can do. However, all that knew him are somewhat complicit, in that they appeared to encourage him and, heck, even flew him into the area, knowing what he was doing.

I think you can debate the merits/damage of what he did endlessly. The fact remains that he was likely mentally ill and, for that, we should have *some* compassion for him. He wasn't thinking clearly. I'd have been *very* curious to have seen him talk about his bear trips after a good trial of depakote or lithium to see if he came around to some reasonableness...

It would be nice if his bi-polar diagnosis was well-documented and then this debilitating illness can be talked about whenever the movie is brought up. The more I write about it, the more curious I am to know whether or not he truly was bi-polar...

kiva
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#24
read more: http://outside.away.com/outside/news/200...ers_1.html


What's wrong with having compassion for this guy? Sure, you can argue all you want that he was narcisstic, but does that mean he spent time with these bears JUST for his own sake? No, not at all. He may not have gone about it in the right way, but he obviously DID care about these bears & that's what's admirable.
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#25
LOTS of commercial interruptions on Discovery. too many to make it watchable, i'll probably check it out on DVD sometime in the future.

did he remind anyone else of Jeff Daniels in Dumb & Dumber?
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#26
"did he remind anyone else of Jeff Daniels in Dumb & Dumber?"

Reminded me more of Richard Simmons. Maybe bears weren't the only thing he was deluding himself about.
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#27
Mike, well as he stated at some point in the documentary, he really liked girls. He was sorta lamenting that he WASN'T gay.
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#28
Yeah, I know, and boasting of his prowess in bed too. It struck me as a little strange and sounded like was protesting too much. Lamenting he wasn't gay was unintentionally funny in that context.
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#29
yeah, Mike...it was. Smile

I think he was just one of those guys that HAS a decent love life but still thinks his sucks. I had friends like that.
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#30
another possible diagnosis: narcissitic personality disorder on Axis II and Bipolar II on axis I..

:-)

kiva
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