When The Lines Of Human & Non-Human Blur

This week's topic was Human and Non-Human cinema and in class we watched the movie Grizzly Man. I didn't know what to expect before watching the movie but I did have a weird thought of some man living with bears for so long that he completely behaved like one as well as grow his hair to resemble one too. The movie began and my experience of the understanding human and non-human began to merge.

The movie started and we watched this young man spend thirteen summers with the bears up until their hibernation period begins. Instantly I was hoping that he wasn't doing that for the hell of it, however, he was doing it to support awareness for the safety of the bears but also to satisfy an odd personal fetish of living vicariously through the bears. Throughout the film we saw different accounts of the young man cohabiting with the bears, in a dangerous fashion. In the film they brought people like his ex-girlfriend, family, and loved ones to talk about him and his adventures with the bears.

There were times in the film where we got a chance to see nature at it's finest; seeing the foxes play, the bears play and tussle, as well as light interactions between him and the bears. On the other hand, we also did witness the other side of nature; the wild-side. We observed the young man interact with the bears very closely, which is dangerous, knowing that they are wild grizzly bears and not contained in a zoo. We witnessed a vicious bear fight and the death of the young man and his girlfriend. The other people in the film described how the bear that ate them and the attack within itself. I didn't have much remorse for them because when you live in those conditions, you concede with the possible circumstances you'll encounter. But it was rather interesting seeing how from the beginning to the end of the movie we saw him transform from slightly human to an inhumane human.

In the reading Emerson had some interesting arguments that really stood out from both the movies, Grizzly Man and The Life of Pi. He said,

"Nature never wears a mean appearance. Neither does the wisest man extort her secret, and lose his
curiosity by finding out all her perfection. Nature never became a toy to a wise spirit... I am the lover of uncontained and immortal beauty. In the wilderness, I find something more dear and connate than in streets or villages. In the tranquil landscape, and especially in the distant line of the horizon, man beholds somewhat as beautiful as his own nature."

In the first couple of sentences, Emerson talks about how the wisest man doesn't extort her secret and lose his curiosity by finding out all her perfection. He really highlights what we watched in Grizzly Man. I feel as if he touched on how the young man wasn't being wise in becoming so intimate with mother nature. When he brought up that nature never became a toy to a wise spirit; Emerson was touching on how mankind should give mother nature her respect and space while admiring her beauty by preserving her.

In the Life of Pi, which is one of my favorite books and the movie was done beautifully, Pi was stranded on a life boat and had an encounter with God in three different ways. The way Pi felt about the animals in the Zoo and the relationship with them; he shared a moment that Emerson describes himself very well. He said he loved nature and its uncontained and immortal beauty, as well as, man beholding somewhat as beautiful as his own nature. Pi loved animals and while being stranded on the life boat he took in many experiences that would have anyone at awe, feeling as you've had an encounter with God himself. What I find interesting in both movies, both main characters see themselves as animals. Pi was Richard Parker, the tiger, and the young man in Grizzly Man saw himself as one of the bears. Which leads to the question I'll pose to my visitors; How is it so easy for some of mankind to loose touch with civilization and be raptured up into the wildlife? As civilized beings, do we yearn to tap into our primal side and hunt? reproduce? mark our territory? or it is just something weird in people? Something to think about....