I think that's a fair way to describe her. Who else would dump Bryan Brown so callously? ;)
Seriously, tho, I don't believe her behavior ever rose to the level of clinically crazy.
However, the film does a good job of portraying her as a somewhat troubled personality who grew more unstable in the last years of her life. Unlike Jane Goodall, who was a solid scientist, Fossey came to the wild at age 35 more eager to live with gorillas than study them. According to conservationists who worked with her (and as the movie shows), she called the locals wogs and tortured poachers, whipping them with stinging nettles, putting nooses around their necks, kidnapping their children, and burning their belongings (although one source claims she did NOT burn their huts). As one scene (again based on interviews) shows, she terrified poachers into believing she was a sorceress capable of casting spells on them. It got so bad the Rwandan government fined her $600 for torturing a suspected poacher. The movie also fleetingly refers to her loathing of tourists. On one occasion she fired several shots over the heads of a party of Dutch tourists who had come to her Karisoke research center uninvited. She referred condescendingly to the junior researchers working under her as "mtoto", Swahili for "children".
The catalyzing force for such errant behavior was the combined stress of being out in the bush too long and of extreme empathy with the endangered gorillas. Even Fossey's respect predecessor, George Schaller, had gone too far on occasion, as when he allowed tracker Sanweckwe to shoot a cow belonging to the Watusi, whose pastoral encroachments threatened mountain guerrilla habitat. He also threatened to shoot all the Watutsi's cattle if they didn't leave. Other researchers who spent prolonged periods of isolation in the bush reported hypersensivity and overreaction to events which improved when they once again had people with whom to share experiences.
Prolonged isolation, more than anything else, is the likely explanation for Fossey's statement in a letter to the wife of the Rwandan ambassador, that she wished she could have died in Digit's place.
From early adulthood on, Fossey was a chain-smoking misanthrope with an unhappy childhood who preferred animals and young children to adults. According to her ex-lover (the character played by Bryan Brown) she was extremely critical of her own body, neglected her appearance, and claimed to have been emotionally abused by her parents. Toward the end of her life she suffered from emphysema.
But living in the bush so long is probably what cast her over the edge. Alcoholism as well, perhaps, at least in the last years of her life. I was rather surprised that this was not given greater emphasis in the film. By 1973-1974, researchers who were willing to go on record reported that she was going though a case of whiskey a week. And that's when her always mercurial behavior crossed over into the downright bizarre.
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hinebabe8
17 years ago
She was just trying to protect the gorillas.
I thought she was funny, because she was so kind of...crazy, we'll not that crazy just that she had a temper and everyone's got a temper, only i guess her one was worse.
I like Dian, she's a crack up in the movie.
I'm sure she wasn't as bad as you say she was in real life, though.
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hawks-bill
17 years ago
"I'm sure she wasn't as bad as you say she was in real life, though."
How can you be so sure? I can't be sure either, since I never worked with her, but what I've written is based on interviews with conservationists who collaborated with her. If you're interested, I recommend The Dark Romance of Dian Fossey, written by the former editor of Esquire magazine, which identifies its many interview sources, including including State Department cables. Her use of the term wogs is verified in letters and by many friends and acquaintances, several of whom are willing to be mentioned by name. Needless to say, her own heavily re-edited account of her life in Africa, Gorillas in the Mist, is highly selective and contradictory, but helpful.
To cite one example of documented evidence: in 1979 she wrote the US ambassador in Rwanda recommending a shoot-to-kill policy toward poachers as the only means of protecting the mountain gorilla.
Putting aside the allegations of racism, torturing of poachers, and shooting over the heads of tourists, no one can deny that she was contemptuous of the local population. When she ran it, her center did nothing to reach out to them and educate them about the gorillas, and most important, did nothing to ensure the gorilla's long-term future by seeking ways to give locals a financial stake in Virunga conservation efforts. After her death, this policy, or "non-policy" changed and the gorilla population is thriving as never before. To the best of my knowledge, there have been no further "vendetta killings" of gorillas since Fossey's death. (Many researchers, along with US and Rwandan officials, believe the killings of the Group 4 gorillas by poachers were motivated by a desire for revenge against Fossey's humiliations).
Credit should be given where credit is due: she did strive to turn Karisoke into a first-class research center, she made some noteworthy contributions to the study of social behavior among gorillas, and she enlisted the world's sympathy for the plight of mountain gorillas as no one before.
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jr502
17 years ago
I've read The Dark Romance of Dian Fossey and find that it contrasts greatly with other published works about Fossey, more notably (besides her own book) Woman in the Mist. I've read and heard over the years many accounts of her being incredibly cruel to mountain-dwellers, fellow researchers, and countless other people, but I found Dark Romance rather sensationalistic, tending to exaggerate her erratic and anti-social behavior and downplay her positive attributes.
If I recall, the book speculates (with little or no evidence) that Fossey was raped while imprisoned during the civil war, which made her go kinda batty around black men. And, if memory serves, that she was a lesbian, which is why she didn't like people in general. It's as if calling her racist--which, as you point out, is easily verifiable--wasn't enough; they had to add a splash of rape to the mix, to give it that soap opera flare. Not just anti-social (not as easibly verifiable, but she certainly wasn't Miss Congeniality), they had to make her an anti-social lesbian to boot (with no evidence). I prefer Woman in the Mist, personally.
P.S. I could have Dark Romance mixed up with one or more other Fossey sources. If so, I apologize for misrepresenting the book. I read it many, many years ago.
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nightraven_Dk
16 years ago
Just the simple thought of Dian Fossey and her devotion towards these beautiful gorillas sends a chill down my spine. And well...people call her crazy but lets not forget some people realize animals has got the same right to walk and breathe as we humans have. Her behaviour is no different than a mother or a father protecting her children, and yeah maybe she didnt give alot of thoughts towards the locals, but then again she lost her heart to an endangered species and reacted like most with half a heart did.
Crazy...nah...all heart
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reginasloan800
16 years ago
Just a few points, first off. Passionate people frequently are refered to as "crazy". Open racism among people of Fossey's time was not uncommon. Women who choose career over relationships and exhibit "masculine" qualities often get accused of being lesbians, even now when the practice has become more acceptable. I would attribute her antisocial personality to a chemical imbalance, environmental factors from childhood, or a combination of both before I would sexuality. If the alcoholism is true, this was probably more of a bi-product of her erratic behavior, rather than a cause of it. I agree isolation probably played a role. People who have a great love of animals often have a disdain for people. Some turn to animals from being predisposed to a dislike of people and poor treatment of animals by humans exacerbates this. I also agree conservation education of the native people was very important and Fossey was OBVIOUSLY not properly suited for that role, nor the one of managing the center's personel. A PR person, someone with a better understanding and appreciation of the people (ie, minus the racist views) was in order, with Fossey left to excerise her talent in the field research department. I feel this might have aided somewhat in lessing conflict.
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jr502
16 years ago
I'm not so sure I agree with the notion that Fossey was predisposed to disliking people. Remember, she was a physical therapist who worked with disabled children before she went to Africa. I do believe she isolated herself quite a bit, and may have been socially awkward prior to her years in Africa, but her anti-social behavior probably grew from the frustration of fighting an uphill battle with a corrupt government and locals whose traditions were at odds with her work. The growing tourist industry also seemed to piss her off, and further alienated her, but it was probably the only way to make the conservation effort economically feasible. I think one of the things the movie got right was revealing the economic impact on the human population of removing gorillas as a commodity.
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conglomorateman
16 years ago
What crazy woman does not talk about her love for something as the reason behind her actions?
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caganimalover-272-31843
9 years ago
Seems as though you have a fair view of Dian Fossey. What are some of the best factual links to learn more about her?
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dbrockskk1
10 years ago
You sound as though you're in jr high. The whole thing kind of went over your head didn't it?
suzycreamcheese RIP Heath Ledger 1979-2008
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