"Man" and "Nature"
Saanika Joshi
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Humans have been a part of nature since there conception. Humans evolved from nature and are a part of it. However, since the industrial revolution and mass colonization and technological advancement, humans have very quickly become one of the largest and most invasive species, greatly reducing biodiversity, on earth (McKee et al., 2004). This begs the question: How has the relationship between “man” and “nature” changed? Here we will explore how films like Grizzly Man show our modern relationship to nature and how some of these perspectives can work to increase conservation efforts or further damage the reputation nature has among humans.
Some of the earliest civilizations are now diminished groups of indigenous peoples all across the world. They lived lives closely connected to the natural world, where only resources necessary at the time were utilized from nature. For example, Native Americans hunted bison and other game, used every part of the animal, and only hunted when they needed food. They understood boundaries in nature that should not be crossed. As David Rich Lewis writes, “They recognized a unity in their physical and spiritual universes, the union of natural and supernatural… They acknowledged the earth’s power and the reciprocal obligation between hunter and hunted” (Lewis, 1995). Since the start of colonization and imperialism, native and indigenous peoples, their cultures, and their lifestyles have systematically been wiped out. Peoples that once populated the Americas in the millions now barely make 100,000 people (Jalata, 2013). With this, the connection to nature, the appreciation and respect for nature has diminished as well. With little regard for our effects on our environments, we have pumped hundreds of millions of tons of pollutants into the atmosphere and into ecosystems around the world (Bradford, 2018). Unfortunately, animals and plants cannot adapt fast enough to adjust to our rapidly changing environments, leaving them vulnerable to poaching, hunting, and death by human caused pollution and effects of global warming and climate change.
There have been many films, documentaries, and series that comment on the impact humans are having on the environment. In turn, each of these films can be analyzed in how "man" and "nature" interact and communicate, their relationship, whether that be the subject of the work or how the work was filmed. Works of ecocinema that place "man" and "nature" in the same context or plane allow the audience to observe our modern relationship with nature, both the good and the bad. The documentary Grizzly Man, for example, addresses this relationship and the dangers that can come from anthropomorphic (conscious or unconscious) conservationist perspectives.
Grizzly Man is a documentary film by Werner Herzog that comments on the life and work of environmentalist Timothy Treadwell. Treadwell is a self-proclaimed environmentalist and educator who conducted numerous studies on wild grizzly bears for 13 summers on a remote Alaskan reserve national park. The film is a mix of interviews by people who were familiar with Treadwell and/or his work and footage that Treadwell shot himself while working with the bears. It gives contradicting views of Treadwell with an underlying understanding that the film is about Treadwell’s psyche and how that leads to his own death. In 2003, during his 13th summer/fall in Alaska, Treadwell and his girlfriend Amy Huguenard were mauled to death by a grizzly bear that wasn’t a member of the group that Treadwell was studying.
Treadwell was a well-intendtioned person looking to gain a connection with grizzly bears, provide information and close footage of bear behavior, educate people about grizzly bears, and protect the bears. He was able to capture footage of behaviors of grizzly bears that had never been seen before while also increasing awareness of conservation for the bears and their environments.
Treadwell giving commentary in front of a grizzly
Treadwell petting a fox.
Despite this, Grizzly Man brings up ethical arguments of Treadwell’s work. Treadwell anthropomorphizes the grizzly bears and foxes he lived with and around. He would name all the animals and even talk to the foxes as if they were his personal pets. He would physically interact with the bear cubs and foxes as well, exposing them to human behavior. On top of this, it almost seems as though Treadwell sexualizes the grizzly bears, where in one scene he is touching the feces of one of the female bears saying, “This was just inside of her. My girl… I know it may seem weird that I touched her poop, but it was inside of her, it’s her life”; in another scene, Treadwell is discussing a fight that happened between two bears over a mate with Treadwell saying, “If Saturn [female bear] was a female human, I can see how beautiful she is as a bear, whoo! I’ve always called her the Michelle Pfeiffer of bears out here.” With this, his attitude and actions towards the bears indicate that he may not have researched their behavior prior to attempting to studying them. He blatantly ignores the national park guidelines about distance away from the animals and moving camp every few days to a different location.
Treadwell has a hero or savior mindset towards the bears, as if the bears can only survive in his care, despite the bears being on protected natural land. While discussing the land and animals he is studying he says,
They’re challenging everything, including me. It goes with the territory. If I show weakness, if I retreat, I may be hurt, I may be killed. I must hold my own if I’m going to stay within this land. For, once there is weakness, they will exploit it, they will take me out, they will decapitate me, they will chop me into bits and pieces. I’m dead. But so far, I persevere. Persevere. Most times I’m a kind warrior out here. Most times, I am gentle, I am like a flower, I’m like a fly on the wall, observing, noncommittal, noninvasive in any way. Occasionally, I am challenged. And in that case, the kind warrior must, must, must become a samurai, must become so formidable, so fearless of death… that he will win. Even the bears will believe that you are more powerful. And in a sense, you must be more powerful if you are to survive in this land with the bear… if I am weak, I will go down. I love them with all my heart. I will protect them. I will die for them, but I will not die at their claws and paws… I will be the master. But still a kind warrior.
It is interesting to hear Treadwell discuss this because it becomes obvious, he is still heavily attached to the idea that humans are the superior species, responsible for protecting the world, above nature. Jack Turner, famous environmental philosopher and author, wrote about how important our perception of nature is to having effective conservation. In a chapter titled “In Wildness is the Preservation of the World” from his novel The Abstract Wild, Turner writes, “Human beings are no longer residents of wild nature, hence we no longer consider ourselves part of a biological order” (83). Despite Treadwell’s good-intentions, he harbors an unconscious bias and attachment to human civilization, clouding his research. As mentioned, he anthropomorphizes the bears and foxes to such an extent that his research became unethical. He was brave for his work, but he crossed a boundary in nature that even indigenous people would not cross, as noted in the film.
Timothy Treadwell is one example of how man tends to cross boundaries in an effort to protect nature. It is not impossible for man to have an intimate relationship with nature while having the perception that they too are a part of nature and must function in its balance. In fact, Treadwell’s case and other similar cases are not a majority of situations in regards to conservation. One slightly similar situation was in Jane Goodall’s research, as detailed in the film Jane. Goodall also named the chimpanzees she worked with while also luring them close to her with copious supplies of bananas. Her mindset going into her research in Gombe was that she was a part of nature and that nature would not harm her. Her mindset changed and she realized just how dangerous chimpanzees could get, thus creating appropriate boundaries, unlike Treadwell.
Chimp eating from a banana storage container set up for the chimps.
Grizzly Man is one of many films that accurately shows how important a balance between man and nature must be, both in a conservation perspective and in a conservationist/environmentalist perspective. “Man” and “nature” can exist together and “man” within “nature” can exist as well; however, this can only be achieved with an understanding of the balance between “man” and “nature”. Humans cannot survive without nature, but nature can survive without humans. This is something we must remember when exploring our relationship with nature.
Works Cited
Bradford, Alina. “Pollution Facts & Types of Pollution.” Livescience.Com, https://www.livescience.com/22728-pollution-facts.html. Accessed 2 Feb. 2021.
Jalata, Asafa. “The Impacts of English Colonial Terrorism and Genocide on Indigenous/Black Australians.” SAGE Open, vol. 3, no. 3, SAGE Publications, July 2013, p. 2158244013499143. SAGE Journals, doi:10.1177/2158244013499143.
Lewis, David Rich. “Native Americans and the Environment: A Survey of Twentieth-Century Issues.” American Indian Quarterly, vol. 19, no. 3, University of Nebraska Press, 1995, pp. 423–50. JSTOR, doi:10.2307/1185599.
McKee, Jeffrey K., et al. “Forecasting Global Biodiversity Threats Associated with Human Population Growth.” Biological Conservation, vol. 115, no. 1, Jan. 2004, pp. 161–64. ScienceDirect, doi:10.1016/S0006-3207(03)00099-5.
Turner, Jack. The Abstract Wild. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1996. Internet resource.
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