Not everyone knows this, though.
Some folks just can’t seem to get it through their thick skulls no matter what happens.
Here’s a double feature with the true stories of two men who went to Alaska thinking that they could do anything they wanted.
But Nature had a different idea.
GRIZZLY MAN (2005)
Written and directed by Werner Herzog
The Grizzly Man is Timothy Treadwell and, as much as he loved grizzly bears, he certainly didn’t respect their power.
Timothy went to the wilds of Alaska to hang out with a sleuth of bears. (No, really. That’s what they’re called.) It was the same sleuth every time. He got to know these bears. He lived with them for months at a time every year, just living and playing with them, really thinking that they were his best friends.
At some point he started bringing his girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, out camping with him. She wasn’t nearly as into the bears as he was, but that didn’t really matter. He loved these bears more than he loved just about anything else in the world.
And then they killed him and Amie. One night, they got into his tent and slaughtered both of them.
Timothy was, according to everyone interviewed, a fun-loving, life-affirming guy. Everything was great with him. He occasionally had a temper, but nothing too terrible. He just loved everything around him. Most of all, he loved those bears. He was an activist who wanted to preserve the bears’ way of life, but he disturbed their way of life a bit too much. (Actually, the bears weren’t in a lot of danger in the first place since they were protected by Alaskan law, but whatever.
What makes this not just a snuff film is Herzog’s heartfelt voiceover. He knows that Timothy was a bit crazy, but he at times seems to identify with him.
He was just a man who had an insane dream…something Herzog has had since day one of his career. Just take a look at Fitzcarraldo. (Come to think of it, Burden Of Dreams would probably make a good double feature with Grizzly Man, too.)
Herzog definitely sees the crazy in Timothy, too. His droll voice speaks volumes. “And what haunts me is that in all the faces of all the bears that Treadwell ever filmed, I discover no kinship. No understanding. No mercy. I see only the overwhelming indifference of nature. To me there is no such thing as a secret world of the bears. And this blank stare speaks only of a half-bored interest in food. But for Timothy Treadwell, this bear was a friend. A savior.”
Treadwell filmed everything out there in the wild. Even, inadvertently, his own death. Herzog does not let us listen to those tapes (there is only audio), but that is the biggest blessing of the film.
We know how the story ends, but we do not want to see it or hear it.
INTO THE WILD (2007)
Written and directed by Sean Penn
Based on a book by Jon Krakauer
Chris McCandless (Emile Hirsch) dropped everything, even his name, to go live in the wilds of Alaska. Maybe he met up with Timothy Treadwell at some point? No, I doubt he made it that far.) The self-named Alexander Supertramp burned all of his money, crashed his car and gave up all of his possessions just to hitchhike his way across the US and Canada and find a “real life.”
What he doesn’t realize is that it’s vary hard to live like that. Especially if you’re not the sharpest tool in the shed.
Just before this film came out, I went on a trip across the country. Half to “find myself” and half to see parts of the US that I had never seen.
It was amazing and beautiful and something that I would suggest to anyone with the brains to do it. What I did not do was give up my money and my truck. I also made sure that I had a home to come home to. When I saw the previews for Into The Wild, I was already well into my three month trip. I knew that I had to see the movie because I identified with the character that I thought Chris was.
Don’t get me wrong. I love the film. I think it’s amazing from beginning to end with great performances throughout, especially Hirsch.
I own a copy of it and I plan on reading the book at some point. That does not, however, mean that I really respect Chris McCandless. I think he was a bit of a fool who had no idea what he was doing. I completely understand what he TRIED to do, but he had absolutely no respect for the fact that what he was doing was incredibly dangerous. He just did it seemingly with no preparation and no thought as to how the hell he was going to get out of it if something awful happened.
To me, as great as the film is, it’s more of a cautionary tale than it is a portrait of some kind of hero. He was certainly an interesting guy and his story is a tragedy.
But, like Timothy Treadwell, he is no one to imitate.
Nature is completely unforgiving.
That’s what you tend to learn from movies. She can maim you, kill you, drive you insane…sometimes all three at the same time.
As much as I love nature, I know all of this. That’s why I treat her with respect.
I’ve never been to Alaska, but I know that all of this is doubly true in the wilds of our biggest state.
