Response to Grizzly Films & Russel's Response
By Tanasa Slovin (05/09/10 19:40:22)
The two films, “Walking With Giants” and “Grizzly Man” were filmed in very different ways that depicted the nature of the bears, Timothy Treadwell and Charlie Russell in a diverse manner. With “Grizzly Man”, I am not sure just how to view the true Mr. Treadwell seeing as it is so controversial with Charlie’s response to Timothy and the way that Herzog depicted the film. Who really knows how Treadwell wanted to be viewed or what he personally would have liked to be leaked to the public, etc. Bottom line is what’s done is done and no one will ever really know the truth behind the raw footage that only Herzog holds. Herzog definitely was successful in portraying the entertainment aspect of the film and showing the quirky, flamboyant, yet brave personality of Treadwell. With the film “Walking With Giants”, I personally did not like the fact that Charlie Russell used electric fences to confine the bears and protect himself. Bottom line is you don’t mess with nature and animals that are dangerous. Russell said it himself in the film, “One of our greatest concerns is that the cubs become too dependent on us.” I think it’s selfish of humans to act as though these bears are their pets- even though I know that that is exactly what Russell & Maureen did not want to do or portray. I think that if these people really want to learn about bears and observe them than that’s all that they should do... meaning that humans should only look but not touch. In response to Charlie’s response to Timothy, I think it’s absurd to focus so much on whether or not Timothy used pepper spray or an electric fence, obviously hurting bears was the last thing Timothy wanted to do, even if it put his life at risk. I personally do not think one should put themselves in the position of being killed simply to want to interact with these animals. If you love an animal so much you will leave it alone. Having this crave to want to interact with animals whom are so ferocious and using something like pepper spray in defense just completely goes against Russell’s love for the bears. I think it’s appropriate to study, observe and learn from them but I think Russell and everyone else with this passion should do it at a distance and respect their land, space and lifestyle.

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