Contribution to Book
“Grisly Man, Gods, and Monsters,”
Death in Classic Cinema, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).
(2014)
Abstract
“Grisly Man, Gods, and Monsters” by Kirby Farrell,
Werner Herzog’s documentary Grizzly Man (2005) examines the fatal infatuation of Timothy William Dexter (Treadwell) with Alaskan grizzly bears.
A failed actor and recovering addict, Dexter reinvented himself as
Timothy Treadwell, the “grizzly man,” using the camera and his charismatic
personality to promote a vision of the lone hero taming a savage but
mysteriously – even religiously - “perfect” nature. In 2004 a grizzly mauled
and ate the increasingly reckless Treadwell and his girlfriend Amie Hugenaard.
Treadwell’s self-exposure to the bears acted out sacrificial and suicidal
themes and can be understood in terms of religious motives and conventional ego psychology. But in another dimension of that psychology he can be seen playing out an ambiguously manipulative version of the Frankenstein story, in which the hero defies death by creating and pursuing a tragically alienated, lovable yet fatal “hungry” monster that destroys him and his “bride.” In different ways both Treadwell’s and Herzog’s movies use fantasies about death as an artistic tool to enthrall audiences. In his personal life the “grizzly man” uses death as a tool to substantiate and manage a dangerously conflicted identity.
Keywords
- psychology,
- idemtity,
- heroism,
- alienation,
- monstrosity,
- inhibition,
- wildness
Disciplines
Publication Date
2014
Editor
Daniel Sullivan et al
Publisher
Palgrave Macmillan
Citation Information
Author''s draft