History Film / GrizzlyMan

* ThirteenIsUnlucky: Treadwell spent 13 summers living with bears and was killed while camping at the wrong place at the wrong time. A rogue grizzly was hunting for food and had fortuitously found their tent in the middle of the night.

** The bear that killed Tim and Amie was killed in order to guarantee that no other human would end up dead, along with a second bear that attacked the ranger party that was trying to recover their bodies. The interviewed experts also point out that rather than "protecting" the bears and foxes as Tim claimed, his continuous presence there just made the animals less inclined to avoid humans, and so ''more'' likely to be killed by poachers, or attack campers for their food.

* DoesNotLikeGuns: Treadwell made a point on never carrying a gun and said he would rather die than harm a bear. He even refused to carry bear repellent because he felt deeply disturbed after using it on a bear once. It crosses into TearJerker territory when you realize that a bear repellent could've very well not only saved his and his girlfriend's lives when a bear invaded their tent, but the life of the ''bear itself'' - what he wanted more than anything - as if they had not been killed, the authorities might have not gone after the dangerous animal.

** In a scene removed from the final cut, Treadwell appears on Creator/DavidLetterman's talk show. During his usual glib, funny banter, Letterman jokes, "Is it gonna happen that one day we read a news article about you being eaten by one of these bears?" [[HarsherInHindsight In hindsight,]] Letterman realized how terrible the random remark was and asked to have it removed from the documentary, although his name is still in the credits, as is a citation of the episode.

** The bear that killed Tim and Amie was killed in order to guarantee another human would end up dead, along with a second bear that attacked the ranger party that was trying to recover their bodies. The interviewed experts also point out that rather than "protecting" the bears and foxes as Tim claimed, his continuous presence there just made the animals less inclined to avoid humans, and so ''more'' likely to be killed by poachers, or attack campers for their food.

** The bear that killed Tim and Amie was killed in order to guarantee another human wouldn't end up dead, along with a second bear that attacked the ranger party that was trying to recover their bodies. The interviewed experts also point out that rather than "protecting" the bears and foxes as Tim claimed, his continuous presence there just made the animals less inclined to avoid humans, and so ''more'' likely to be killed by poachers, or attack campers for their food.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Treadwell was officially diagnosed as Bipolar and it's suggested by his actions in the documentary that he had a God Complex.
## Treadwell believed he did a better job protecting the bears than the park authorities did and that group of poachers saw him as more of a threat than the park services. The documentary also speculated that he wrote messages on rocks for himself to find in his videos so it would look like he was under threat of being murdered by poachers (inflated sense of self-importance).
## He believed he was admired by wild bears and wanted to be seen by the public as a protector of grizzly bears who defended them from poachers (a deep need for admiration).
## His inappropriate and insensitive behaviour towards others (such as saying gay people don't have problems compared to him and he chastises a fly for eating from a dead fox cub in front of him). He refused to acknowledge how dangerous his behaviour was, and he ignored concerns from Amie and the park authorities. He was also highly critical of others, as he interpreted messages from fans as death threats and saw the "Treadwell Rule" as a threat to his work. Finally, he thought little of the park authorities and believed he knew better than them. (lack of empathy).
## He recklessly interacted with bears despite being reprimanded and being warned constantly by the park authorities. As said before, he saw the "Treadwell Rule" as an affront to his work when the park authorities were looking out for his safety. They were simply asking him to move his camp at least a mile away from the animals every seven days since it could put him in danger. He also believed that the park belonged to him and that the authorities were in his territory (entitlement).

** The pilot who has no sympathy for Tim, casually says "he got what he deserved", and used a slur to speculate that Tim was mentally ill/disabled. The only sympathy he has is for Annie being an innocent caught in the crossfire Treadwell put them both in. Say what you will about Treadwell, but ''no one'' deserves to die like that. This is in contrast to the curator of the Alutiiq museum, who stays respectful and only says what needed to be said.

** The pilot who has no sympathy for Tim, casually says "he got what he deserved", and used a slur to speculate that Tim was mentally ill/disabled. Say what you will about Treadwell, but ''no one'' deserves to die like that. This is in contrast to the curator of the Alutiiq museum, who stays respectful and only says what needed to be said.

* AssholeVictim: Conversed. Treadwell was a polarizing figure in his lifetime and regardless of personal opinion, Treadwell and Amie's deaths are deeply devastating to their loved ones and the documentary pulls no punches in showing the sheer tragedy of the attack and the impact it had on Treadwell and Amy's loved ones.

* AssholeVictim: Conversed as Treadwell was a polarizing figure in his lifetime and regardless of personal opinion, Treadwell and Amie's deaths are still tragic and deeply devastating to their loved ones.

* AssholeVictim: Conversed as Treadwell was a polarizing figure in his lifetime and regardless of personal opinion, Treadwell and Amie's deaths are still tragic and devastating. Treadwell's antics were abetted by the public because they were either amused or didn't understand the full weight of his actions. To others, Treadwell was seen as a nuisance for constantly endangering himself and for anthropomorphizing the bears.
** Treadwell's friends and family are devastated by his and Amie's deaths and don't shy away from mourning him on camera. His mother still keeps his room in pristine condition and his friend/former crush is barely restraining her tears when Herzog urges her to destroy the recording of Treadwell's death.

*** The curator of the Alutiiq Museum is visibly uncomfortable speaking ill of Treadwell when pressed by Werner, and emphasizes that his and Amie's deaths were tragic. However, he also doesn't mince words when laying out that Treadwell's beliefs were fundamentally flawed and that he ultimately brought his end upon himself.
*** The only person who shamelessly insults Treadwell on camera is one of the pilots who assisted in recovering Treadwell's remains. Who stated that it was Treadwell's own fault for being so careless, calls him "mentally retarded", and he goes as far as to say "He got what he deserved, in my opinion, the tragedy of it was taking the girl with him."

* LemonyNarrator: Werner Herzog, who alternates between praising Timothy for his ability to capture such beautiful footage, and mourning what he perceived as Timothy's poor judgement.

** The bear that killed Tim and Amie was killed in order to guarantee another human wouldn’t end up dead, along with a second bear that attacked the ranger party that was trying to recover their bodies. The interviewed experts also point out that rather than "protecting" the bears and foxes as Tim claimed, his continuous presence there just made the animals less inclined to avoid humans, and so ''more'' likely to be killed by poachers, or attack campers for their food.

** Downplayed with the curator of the Alutiiq Museum. He’s clearly uncomfortable about trash-talking a dead person, especially one who died horribly. However, once he's prompted for his honest opinion on Treadwell, he admits that the activist had no business or right to interact with the bears in the way he did, he died because he tried to be a bear, and his actions ultimately did more harm than good.

* WindmillCrusader: Treadwell believed he was saving the bears from humans but his actions actually ''endangered'' more bears than he ever realized because Treadwell's actions made the bears lose caution around humans. The search for Amie and Treadwell's bodies caused the deaths of two bears; park rangers had to kill the rogue grizzly to recover their remains from its stomach and to guarantee that the bear wouldn’t attack another human, and the rangers were also forced to kill another bear in self-defence during their search. Treadwell's claims of poacher activities were also proven to be false as there were no records of poacher activities in the park.

* AssholeVictim: Conversed as Treadwell was hated by many but loved by few, Treadwell's antics were abetted by the public because they were either amused or didn't understand the weight of Treadwell's actions. To others, Treadwell was seen as a nuisance for constantly endangering himself and for anthropomorphizing the bears.
** Treadwell's friends and family are devastated by his and Amie's deaths and don't shy away from mourning him on camera.

-->'''Herzog''' (voiceover): 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.

* The tragedy of Timothy Treadwell also emphasizes the importance of not anthropomorphizing wild animals. While Treadwell did show how he was able to tame the bears and interact with their cubs, he made the mistake of dropping his guard around them and assuming they would never hurt him. Treadwell only survived for so long because the bears had access to food and dropped their caution toward humans, the bear that killed Treadwell didn't have access to food and only attacked him out of desperation.

* AssholeVictim: Conversed because Treadwell was a controversial figure, most were amused by his antics on camera while the others weren't fond of him.

** The park rangers hold back their personal dislike towards Treadwell out of respect and their tone of voice imply they weren't surprised when he was finally killed by a bear. They show more pity for Amie for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

* IJustWantToBeSpecial: As a result of Treadwell's mental illnesses, he just wanted to live in solitude and protect the bears from what he thought was maliciousness from humans. Except, the bears were already protected and the park rangers were more than clear that they neither needed nor wanted Treadwell's help because they already knew how to handle the bears. Treadwell repeatedly put himself in harm's way and genuinely believed he had befriended the bears and was able to live with them in harmony. Unfortunately, 13 summers laters, Treadwell would be killed by a bear that was too hungry to be patient with him or too hungry to ignore him.

** The pilot who has NoSympathy for Tim, casually says "he got what he deserved", and used a slur to speculate that Tim was mentally ill/disabled. Say what you will about Treadwell, but ''no one'' deserves to die like that. This is in contrast to the curator of the Alutiiq museum, who stays respectful and only says what needed to be said.

* IJustWantToBeSpecial: As a result of Treadwell's mental illnesses, he just wanted to live in solitude and protect the bears from what he thought was maliciousness from humans. Except, the bears were already protected and the park rangers were more than clear that they neither needed nor wanted Treadwell's help because they already knew how to handle the bears.

** Also, despite the fact that he had his girlfriend with him, he rarely mentioned her in his journal entries and she only appeared three times on-camera, once while crossing a river from afar.

* AnAesop: Respect the nature of the wild and always listen to the authorities. While animals are indeed beautiful and enchanting creatures, the animals themselves still have instincts that drive them for survival.

*** The director of the Alutiiq Museum is visibly uncomfortable speaking ill of Treadwell when pressed by Werner and emphasizes that his and Amie's deaths were tragic. However, he also doesn't mince words when laying out that Treadwell's beliefs were fundamentally flawed and that he ultimately brought his end upon himself.

** The director of the Alutiiq Museum is clearly uncomfortable about speaking ill of the dead, but when asked for his honest opinion on Treadwell, he is almost as blunt: Treadwell had no business interacting with the bears in the way he did, and his actions did more harm than good.

** The pilot who has NoSympathy for Tim, casually says "he got what he deserved", and used a slur to speculate that Tim was mentally ill/disabled. Say what you will about Treadwell, but ''no one'' deserves to die like that. This is in contrast to the director of the Alutiiq museum, who stays respectful and only says what needed to be said.

** Werner Herzog is filmed listening to the audio recording of Treadwell's death. There's no music for this scene, and the audio of the tape cannot be heard, but Herzog turns visibly pale while listening to it, and when he removes the headphones, his hands are trembling. Treadwell's closest friend, Jewel Palovak, is watching the whole time. After Herzog asks her to turn off the tape, he just looks at her for a moment. The viewer cannot see Herzog's face, but Palovak can... and she breaks down crying, whispering "They said it was bad." Herzog tells her, "You must never listen to this tape... If you don't destroy it, it will just be an ElephantInTheRoom for the rest of your life."

* SoundOnlyDeath: During the fatal attack, the camera was turned on with the cap still over the lens and the footage only contained the audio. [[SeenItAll Herzog heard the footage for a while]] before asking the owner to turn it off, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness calmly and unnervingly]] telling her to never listen to its contents and destroy it as soon as possible. The owner has chosen the keep the tapes and refuses to submit it to the public eye.

** Downplayed with the director of the Alutiiq Museum. He’s clearly uncomfortable about trash-talking a dead person, especially one who died horribly. However, once he's prompted for his honest opinion on Treadwell, he admits that the activist had no business or right to interact with the bears in the way he did and his actions ultimately did more harm than good.

*** The director of the Alutiiq Museum is visibly uncomfortable speaking ill of Treadwell when pressed by Werner, and emphasizes that his and Amie's deaths were tragic. However, he also doesn't mince words when laying out that Treadwell's believes were fundamentally flawed and that he ultimately brought his end upon himself.

*** The director of the Alutiiq Museum is clearly uncomfortable speaking ill of Treadwell and emphasizes that his and Amie's deaths were tragic. However, when pressed by Werner he emphasizes that Treadwell ultimately brought his end upon himself; saying that his beliefs were flawed and ultimately did more harm than good.

*** The director of the Alutiiq Museum only talks about Treadwell in a negative way after being pressed by the camera crew, stating that Treadwell had no right to do what he did.

* DoesNotLikeGuns: Treadwell made a point on never carrying a gun and said he would rather die than harm a bear. He even refused to carry bear repellent because he felt deeply disturbed after using it on a bear once. It crosses into TearJerker territory when you realize that a bear repellent could've very well saved his and his girlfriend's lives when a bear invaded their tent...

## He recklessly interacted with bears despite being reprimanded and being warned constantly by the park authorities. As said before, he saw the "Treadwell Rule" as an affront to his work when the park authorities were looking out for his safety. They were simply asking him to move his camp at least a mile away from the animals every seven days since it could put him in danger. (entitlement).

* AssholeVictim: Conversed

* WhatYouAreInTheDark: In the recordings, Treadwell had a low opinion of humanity and believed that only he can protect the bears from poachers and the park rangers who were on "his territory". According to the coroner, when Treadwell knew he was a goner as the bear attacked him, he told Amie to run before he was dragged away and finished off. Amie ultimately refused to run and made an effort to save him by repeatedly bashing the bear over the head with a frying pan but to no avail. Say what you want about either of them, Amie fought a bear the best she could and Treadwell tried to use his final moments to save Amie.

** The park rangers hold back their personal dislike towards Treadwell out of respect and say that they weren't surprised when he was finally killed by a bear. They show more pity for Amie for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

* HeroicSacrifice: The coroner who examined the remains of Tim and Amie posits that Tim tried to distract the bear so that Amie could escape. If this was the case then he was tragically unsuccessful.

## Treadwell believed he protected the animals better than the park authorities and that poachers saw him as more of a threat than the authorities (inflated sense of self-importance).
## He believed he was admired by wild bears and wanted to be seen by the public as their protector (a deep need for admiration)
## His inappropriate and insensitive behaviour towards others, his refusal to acknowledge how dangerous his behaviour was, and he ignored concerns from Amie and the park authorities. He was also highly critical of others, as he saw a message on a rock as a threat from a poacher when it could have just been from a fan. He also thought little of the park authorities and believed he knew better than them (lack of empathy).
## He recklessly interacted with bears despite being reprimanded and being warned constantly by the park authorities (entitlement).

* AssholeVictim: Conversed, Treadwell's friends and family are devastated by his and Amie's deaths and don't shy away from mourning him on camera. The park rangers hold back their personal dislike towards Treadwell out of respect and only go as far as to say that they weren't surprised when he was finally killed by a bear due to his antics. They show more pity for Amie for being in the worst possible place at the worst possible time.
** The director of the Alutiiq Museum only talks about Treadwell in a negative way after being pressed by the camera crew, stating that Treadwell had no right to do what he did.
** The only person who openly insults Treadwell on camera is one of the pilots who assisted in recovering Treadwell's remains, stating that it was his own fault for being so careless.

** The director of the Alutiiq Museum is clearly uncomfortable about trash-talking a dead person, especially one who died horribly. However, once he's prompted for his honest opinion on Treadwell, he admits that the activist had no business or right to interact with the bears in the way he did and his actions ultimately did more harm than good.