Chapman has taught me well.
As I watched "Grizzly Man", my mind often strayed from focusing on Timothy's view of nature to his own nature. I viewed his willingness to live with bears as the result of some sort of mental deficit. His condition became increasingly apparent to me after viewing his manic excitement (as if he was "high on life") toward the bears, and his crushing depression after coming upon the severed limb of a cub. As Werner Herzog would agree, I believe that Timothy Treadwell had the condition called manic depression, or Bipolar disorder. I saw Timothy's view of nature as a simple delusion. Both Werner and I agree that Timothy seemed to think of nature as a peaceful place in which no wrong could be done, but his delusional thinking ultimately clouded his mind from the harsh and dangerous reality of nature and the bears he lived with.
I believe that Laura Damato’s observation of the duality of his behavior is spot on. Timothy views nature primarily through the thought processes of his right brain, while he uses his left brain sparingly for various tasks. Viewing nature only through his emotional right brain is a large contribution to Timothy’s disastrous end. In order to fully appreciate nature, the right brain would be the best to analyze it with, but the left brain must also be used. In a wilderness full of bears, it is not safe to believe that everything is peaceful and just. One must use the left brain to logically interpret the dangers and to plan ahead in time to avoid losing oneself in a fantasy world of emotion.
Danny, your writing brings up some good point and many questions to be asked. I do wonder how different the world would be if in fact, we were beings that utilized our right brains to drive our everyday lives. Timothy Treadwell may have seemed loopy to us as "normal" viewers, but I really do think he was opening up a whole new way of living life. If it was outrageous and living on the edge or true intelligence and intrest, I am not sure. But in the end, he died with a legend put in place because of the way he used his right brain to connect him with things "normal" people would only dream of connecting with.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you looked at this. Some people call it bravery, others call it manic depression. I think that you looked at this in an interesting way, with the links to the different sides of the brain. Was it his depression that caused him to look at nature the way he did and to disregaurd logic? Do you think that if he was diagonosed and medicated that he might still be alive now?
ReplyDeleteI like how you analyzed Treadwell's mind as having right-brained thoughts on ideas of nature. Treadwell really did treat the bears as if they were cute little stuffed animals instead of realizing the eminent threat of constantly being around them. I believe most of us are at least partly left-brained, so I agree that it's hard to believe he didn't have some kind of mental disorder. Treadwell definitely had passion for the bears he visited, it's unfortunate he didn't see the bears in their nature to be a threat to him.
ReplyDeleteAs has been said already, I like the way you analyze Treadwell's mind. I would have to agree with all of the points you've made, especially with the idea that Treadwell may have been manic depressive. This idea was briefly talked about in the film, but it focused on the alcoholism. My question is: is Treadwell blocking the ideas of the left hemisphere to fend off the feelings of depression he has, covering them with both mania and an encompassing love of the natural world?
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ReplyDeleteIt's very fun to read your POV on things. Timothy Treadwell was just a fun, loony guy until you diagnosed him with a mental disorder.
ReplyDeleteIf Treadwell really did have a mental disorder, I don't think he could or should be medicated. Perhaps that would have helped him see the logic of not living with grizzly bears, but so much of his life was involved in those extreme emotions he was feeling. Would he be the inspiring person he was if someone gave him pills? Would he be happy if his emotion was stunted through a haze of medication? Many great artists and writers were bipolar. But through this they were able to create beauty. Although people with manic depression find it harder to get by in life, I don't know how one could take away the depth of emotion s/he feels.