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  • Accidental Aesop:
    • The documentary is supposed to be a lesson on why nature is dangerous when underestimated, the other lesson can be interpreted as "Popularity and fame are corrupting influences that can enable a person's worst habits". While Treadwell did indeed manage to survive his trips and physically interacted with bears and their cubs, the attention from the media and the public more than likely encouraged his antics by treating him like a celebrity and treating his dangerous behavior as just wacky shenanigans, and probably contributed to the self-mythologizing behavior that would eventually lead to his death.
    • In the documentary, Treadwell is revealed to have Bipolar Disorder and that he deliberately stopped taking his medication because he hated the effect it was having on his emotions. Considering how the rest of the documentary would play out, another lesson for the movie is that you shouldn't go off your medications unless a licensed GP tells you to do so and you should consult a doctor about alternative medicines if you're concerned about the type of medicine you're taking rather than going cold turkey.
  • Alternative Character Interpretation: Was Tim a devoted environmentalist who gave himself to a worthy cause, albeit to an extreme extent? A broken unhappy individual desperately clinging to the only meaningful thing in his life? A naive self-involved fool who crossed a line no one should and paid for his mistake with his and his girlfriend's life? A little of all of the above?
  • Awesome Music: The score, by Richard Thompson. The DVD extras contains a making-of special on the soundtrack, showing Thompson and the other musicians in the studio. At one point, Thompson and cellist Danielle DeGruttola start improvising, and what they come up with has the recording engineers speechless. It made it into the soundtrack, under the title "Parents."
    • The closing music, "Coyotes" by Don Edwards, can also count.
  • Captain Obvious Aesop: Nature and wildlife are indeed beautiful and enchanting, but the animals themselves still have instincts that drive them for survival. The documentary shows that while Treadwell's actions were indeed awe-inspiring, he still put himself in danger and refused to acknowledge how dangerous his own actions were.
  • Diagnosed by the Audience: Treadwell was officially diagnosed as Bipolar. His actions in the documentary suggest that he had a God Complex.
    1. 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).
    2. 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).
    3. His inappropriate and insensitive behavior towards others (such as saying gay people don't have problems compared to him, chastising a fly for eating from a dead fox cub in front of him). He refused to acknowledge how dangerous his behavior 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).
    4. 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).
  • Harsher in Hindsight: In-Universe, the pilot's insults towards Treadwell, including calling him "retarded" and that "he got what he deserved", are really difficult to forgive after the film continues to explain just how bad it was. It also doesn't help that Treadwell was actually mentally ill, making the ableist slur even more harsh and unnecessary, and that the coroner report showed that Treadwell did everything he could to save Amie from the bear that killed them. This is brought home with the scene where Herzog listens to the tape, and is so horrified that he has to turn it off. It's made clear by this that no one deserves to die like that, and that the pilot was absolutely wrong to say this.
  • Narm:
    • Timothy screaming at the sky, trying to make it rain.
    • The eccentric coroner's description of Timothy and Amie's last moments alternates between this and Nightmare Fuel.
    • Treadwell primping for the camera and asking how his hair looked.
    • The bear fight that ended with one of them taking a dump mid-attack. (While this is normal, it can be pretty funny who those who aren't overly familiar with animal behavior.)
  • Narm Charm: Treadwell's friend Willy Fulton flying his plane and singing along to "Coyotes", changing the last line to "And Treadwell is gone." It's silly, but the sincerity is undeniable, and it serves as a reminder that whatever your stance on Treadwell's behavior might be, he was a whole lot of something. The world lost a rare human being, warts and all.
  • Paranoia Fuel:
    • Even if you believe those "evil poachers" left the carved messages (some think they were made by Treadwell himself or his girlfriend), it takes a very high level of paranoia to consider "Hi Timothy Treadwell - See you next summer" and a freaking smiley face as death threats.
    • He also made several claims that he was a wanted man and that the park ranger helicopters that flew overhead periodically were meant for him. As is, the rangers didn't know he was out there at first and when they found out, they weren't exactly on a manhunt (although they were concerned about his safety and wanted to convince him to go home).

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