[pct-l] "Grizzly Man" on TV tonight

[wayneskraft at comcast.net (Wayne Kraft)]

Donna, now we're talking.  I have not yet seen this film, but I have  
here in my hand a copy of the book, One Man's Wilderness, An Alaskan  
Odyssey by Sam Keith from the journals and photographs of Richard  
Proenneke.  On page 68 of this paperback version there is a  
photograph of a stack of pancakes drizzled in Proenekke's homemade  
wild blueberry syrup and topped with a few pieces of bacon.  This is  
the most beautiful photograph, no, the most beautiful image of any  
kind that I have ever seen.  It should be hanging in the Louvre,  
perhaps with a plaque inscribed with a brief message in French,  
consoling the French people for the culinary failure of their crepes  
as compared to these flapjacks.  I have attempted without success to  
replicate this image in my own kitchen on any number of Saturday  
mornings.  Near my home stands the original pancake house.  I am  
referring here to the original, and possibly the only, restaurant  
devoted entirely to serving pancakes and pancakes only all the time.   
There is always a long wait to get a table. This is a pancake house  
so special that my wife and I chose to consume the first breakfast of  
our married life therein.   I am thinking that I should take them a  
copy of this photograph and tell them, "See, here, THESE are  
flapjacks."  I believe they would bow their heads in silent homage.   
I guess I'll have to get a hold of a copy of this film about  
Proenneke, but I have a question:  Does the film version, by any  
chance, have pancakes in it?

Wayne Kraft


On Feb 4, 2006, at 7:50 PM, dsaufley wrote:

> Oh, I was so looking forward to the commentary about the truly  
> pathetic,
> egocentric, delusional liar Treadwell, and you've summed it up so  
> perfectly,
> Wayne.  I just couldn't take any more of his self-absorbed posing and
> blubbering and quit watching before it was over, gorgeous bears,  
> foxes, and
> scenery notwithstanding.
>
> For a really great look at Alaska and it's wildlife, I recommend  
> watching
> "Alone in the Wilderness", the true story of Dick Proenneke (a man  
> who I
> count as a personal hero) who built a log cabin with his hands and  
> lived
> alone in a remote area for 43 years until the age of 83.  It's  
> available
> through Bob Swerer Productions, at www.dickproenneke.com , or y'all  
> can
> watch it anytime at Hiker Heaven.
>
> L-Rod
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net
> [mailto:pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net] On Behalf Of Wayne  
> Kraft
> Sent: Saturday, February 04, 2006 12:30 PM
> To: pctl pctl
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] "Grizzly Man" on TV tonight
>
> I watched it, too.  It was definitely a cinematic study of a bipolar,
> paranoid, addictive personality rather than bears.  I suppose
> studying such personalities is valuable to the extent that it might
> enable us to bring cure or comfort to such tortured souls, but
> Herzog's "study" of Treadwell was no more scientific or useful than
> Treadwell's "study" of Grizzlies. In fact there seems to be a
> striking parallel between Herzog's rapt fascination with Treadwell
> and Treadwell's similar fixation on the Grizzlies.  Likewise, Herzog
> seemed to insert himself into this film in somewhat the same way
> Treadwell featured himself in his footage.  Herzog was not obtrusive
> exactly, but how many director's appear at all in their films?
> Herzog found himself on screen quite a bit here.  The irony of it
> seemed obvious enough to me that I concluded that it could not have
> been unintentional.
>
> I was also puzzled by what people thought Treadwell was
> "protecting."  I am willing to agree that Treadwell thought he was
> protecting the bears from something, but he was crazy. The bears are
> already protected by government regulation and their own isolation.
> Treadwell violated both with impunity.  The only danger attributable
> to the outside world identified in the film was that "poachers" were
> killing the bears. The official position was that poaching was not a
> significant problem here.  In the epilogue, Herzog allowed two of
> Treadwell's friends to gather around a grizzly carcass and claim that
> the dead bear and others had been killed by poachers since
> Treadwell's death, but Herzog presented this as the flimsiest of
> speculations.  Was there any actual evidence of the cause of this
> bear's death, that other bears had died and, if so, what had caused
> their deaths?  Presumably, if there was even a shred of evidence to
> show that Treadwell's absence has resulted in a poaching epidemic,
> Herzog would have presented it.  Yet people were willing to
> contribute financially to Treadwell's endeavor and allow him to make
> presentations to impressionable children without a shred of proof
> that anything of value was being accomplished. It always amazes me
> how easy it is to get people to take their place in the Koolaid line.
>
> So Treadwell failed to fascinate me and I found myself trying to see
> around this blonde buffoon for a look at the bears.  Ultimately, I
> have to agree with Herzog and
> Doc Holliday in his post that the Grizzly bears, while starkly
> beautiful animals, are creatures best left the heck alone.  Now, the
> foxes on the other hand, the foxes are another story.  Oh, what a
> fine thing it would be to have a fox for your friend!  Does anyone
> know if there is a fox sanctuary somewhere?  I could go there and
> befriend them and film them and become their protector.  Then someone
> could make a film about me.  The Fox Man.  I could travel the globe
> spreading cayenne pepper on the ground in front of the dogs in the
> fox hunts, springing foxes from traps and fox ranches and sneaking
> foxes into hen houses. Oh, what a life it would be!
>
> Wayne Kraft
>
>
>
>
>
> On Feb 4, 2006, at 10:41 AM, Scott Herriott wrote:
>
>> Doc Holiday wrote:
>>
>> <Not really! I watched this last night, and was quite
>> dissapointed. I
>> expected to see a documentary about grizzly bears, and
>> instead was
>> assaulted by a documentary of a self aggrandizing,
>> mis-guided, self
>> absorbing, naive young man who pushed the boundaries
>> of human interaction with a
>> very wild and dangerous animal.>
>>
>>
>> Well, if I guess it was supposed to be exclusively
>> about grizzly bears they may have called it "Grizzly
>> Bear" instead of "Grizzly Man".  The film's focus WAS
>> Treadwell and, as you correctly point out, his "self
>> aggrandizing, mis-guided" attempt at what he was doing
>> up in Alaska.  But I also felt it had, as the director
>> Werner Herzog points out in the film, some
>> extraordinary footage of grizzlies, probably only
>> attainable by what Treadwell was doing, however
>> misguided and ultimately tragic it turned out to be.
>>
>>
>> Squatch
>> www.walkpct.com
>>
>>
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