Herzog’s omnipotent voice diminishes Treadwell’s excited boyish manner in a way that is unfair to the subject. Treadwell is happy with his mission, thrilled by the world around him, and eager not only to be surrounded by the natural but also to teach others about it through documentation. This is an admirable educational goal.
Throughout the film, before Treadwell’s death, Herzog seems to know things to which the audience is not privy. At the start, I was torn: is Herzog respectful of Treadwell, or is he condescending?
It was condescension. Even the name Grizzly Man is condescending; the way I think that Herzog meant it, it’s almost making fun of Treadwell for wanting to be a bear.
This was confusing to me; Herzog found Treadwell’s story intriguing enough to pursue and of enough worth to make a film! How could he be lacking in respect? I doubted myself. I began to question Herzog’s goal in making this documentary.
Does he want people to fear the wild and to think that we are different from these animals? Is his intention to draw a bolder boundary between humanity and the natural, to cement our existence as the species at the top of an evolutionary hierarchy? If so, that is not the truth, and not what documentary should be.
When someone is gone, they are judged by their legacies, tangible and intangible. Treadwell’s intangible legacy is the spirit of adventure and lust for the natural that he left in many students and people whom he inspired. It is also in his friends and family that remain.
Treadwell’s tangible legacy includes many things, but those things have been largely overrun by one large tangible legacy over which he had no control: Herzog’s Grizzly Man. Herzog’s Grizzly Man. Yes, the clips are Treadwell’s, but the compilation and voice-over are all Herzog’s. The choices, consciously made, are Herzog’s. Look up Timothy Treadwell, Grizzly Man shows up.
That is an immense power to have.
Herzog shaped Treadwell’s legacy. He controlled how the population of this planet remembers someone other than himself. It is essential to remember when watching documentary, especially made by someone about someone other than himself or herself, there is always perspective. This is not always as drastic a problem as it is here, but is always present. This is also important to remember as documentarians; we must apply everything we can in order to help us be impartial, to tell the truth.