MovieChat Forums > Grizzly Man (2005) Discussion > Does anyone else think that Timothy want...

Does anyone else think that Timothy wanted this to happen?

posted 4 years ago by andreaahr (2332)
24 replies | jump to latest

I know this sounds crazy but, Timothy was deeply depressed and literally wanted to drop out of society. In the beginning of the film, he said he would live and die for those animals and then he said- this is what I want. Timothy played with fire every year he lived in the grizzly maze by not protecting himself, not covering his food, not having any form of protection like a gun or barred wire around his camp site, and he even swan with the bears (which is insanely crazy because you are making your body completely vulnerable to the bears) and he walked right up to them like it was nothing. I think he realized when he was surviving year after year every summer, he decided to stay longer during the 13th year (which was the year he got killed) when the bears were considered to be the most aggressive and preparing themselves for hibernation. Timothy made himself such an easy target for them; in a way, you might say he was somewhat suicidal....

[–] TheAdlerian (2092) 4 years ago

Yes.

I think he also wanted to indirectly kill that girl.

He reminded me of some kind of fake hippie closet homosexual who had a lot of anger inside.

I have worked doing suicide assessments in psych for many years. I did it all day for two years and used to do trainings on how to do them.

One tricky type is the "super positive" person you would never guess thinks about killing themselves. It's the Robin Williams kind of guy. He seemed funny, but really he was a drug addict (form of suicide) and the cheerfulness is a form of coping. He is EXTRA CHEERFUL because life is EXTRA SHITTY.

In such cases, you don't want to assume a genuinely cheerful person is hiding something. So, you have to look and see if there's dangerous behavior. In Williams case, drug abuse. Happy people don't need drugs. In the Bear guy case, he was isolating, he was using animals as a form of human, and he was around notoriously dangerous animals saying they weren't dangerous.

I saw this only once and he gave me a gay vibe. I once that he winced when the female said she was coming. Right after, it's time for them to die. I think it's because he was worried she would expose him as a homosexual.

[–] BuckSwope (3511) 4 years ago

That is one hell of a diagnosis without ever interviewing a person.

This is what we call an educated guess.

[–] TheAdlerian (2092) 4 years ago

It was my observation after watching the movie.

[–] BuckSwope (3511) 4 years ago

You very well could be right(or at least on the right track). He came across as troubled. I'm not sure about the whole "wanted his GF dead" thing but wtf do I know?

[–] TheAdlerian (2092) 4 years ago

Me neither, but I got that impression from watching him.

I felt like he didn't like her, want her there, and that she wasn't really his girlfriend.

Wasn't it the case that they met in some weird way, like she requested to be with him or some weirdness?

[–] BuckSwope (3511) 4 years ago

I don't remember. I do remember that emaciated old grizzly that was likely his killer. Play with fire...……….

[–] andreaahr (2332) 4 years ago

Wow, good call. I think he was a homosexual too because I remember he said- it would be better if I was gay then he said something along the lines that dealing with women is hard. I'm glad I am not the only one who thought he was suicidal. A lot of people said I was wrong about that...

[–] TheAdlerian (2092) 4 years ago

I don't recall him saying that.

He had the manic expansive demeanor of a feminine homosexual.

I was reading about him and in college he told people he was from a different country, wanted to be on Cheers, and was a heroin addict and alcoholic. He had some kind of secret he was hiding and was trying to cover it.

I may not be right, but it was something.

You really need to watch out for "exciting" people because sometimes that's a coping mechanism. It's seen in people with Borderline and Antisocial Personality Disorder. Those people hate people, and frequently themselves, and are covertly dangerous.

[–] BuckSwope (3511) 4 years ago

"Manic expansive demeanor of a feminine homosexual". Well said.

[–] TheAdlerian (2092) 4 years ago

That's true.

So many of them act like stereotypes and that behavior is a sign.

On facebook, I was making fun of the "Philly Lesbian" photo, as they all do the same pose. I lived in Denver and many lesbians there do the same pose. There is NO connection between Philly and Denver.

I'm amazed when people act like stereotypes. I am fascinated by it.

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

[deleted]

[–] andreaahr (2332) 4 years ago

I also think we should have heard the audio tape too because it would have taught us real quickly the dangers of messing with mother nature and how you should never go there.

[–] BuckSwope (3511) 4 years ago

Never go there? You can take precautions. He was literally walking amongst them.

[–] andreaahr (2332) 4 years ago

It’s still dangerous regardless of whether or not you have protection. I would never do that.

[–] BuckSwope (3511) 4 years ago

I would love to visit the Alaskan wilderness. Not to hunt, unless you consider fishing "hunting", which it is in reality. Catching a salmon run would be amazing.

[–] TheAdlerian (2092) 4 years ago

I agree.

I used to watch the muslim beheading videos for that reason. It's part of their religion to do that. If you just "know it" it is abstract. But if you watch some guy getting his head sawed off, it makes a much better point about the insanity.

I was recently showing a cocaine fan cartel videos. Here is who makes your coke you love so much. I don't think it had much effect on her, but for me, I would fire bomb all of their fields.

Anyway, back in the 90s there was a hippie nostalgia thing going on, even in music, with Phish, etc. The living in nature, going hitch hiking, and this bear guy were part of it. It of course was killing people because it was a fantasy.

Playing the recording would have been good.

[–] BuckSwope (3511) 4 years ago

Livin' off reds, vitamin C and cocaine....all a friend can say is "Ain't in a shame".

Just FYI one can enjoy cocaine and not "love" the cartel.

[–] TheAdlerian (2092) 4 years ago

No.

Whenever you buy a product, you support the company that made it. Buying illegal drugs supports crime networks and is very unethical and selfish. People are getting murdered so you can have a couple minute high.

It's despicable.

[–] bohemianroxie (2471) 4 years ago

I agree with much of what you've said (OP)..Timothy was a deeply troubled individual that had always felt like an outsider in the world and that he didn't belong anywhere. With the bears it seemed he'd finally found his niche;his place in the grand scheme of things.

I don't see I don't see any reason to see him as battling latent homosexuality just because he was effeminate. That's a stereotype and there's no real evidence of that. I think he felt out of step with all other human beings. A loser by default. Anti social by nature.

I also don't believe he "wanted his gf dead". That was beside the point..He would've behaved the same with or without her so she really didn't affect his judgements. But he certainly wasn't very sensitive of her. She wasn't a bear.

I think there was a part of Timothy that was very childlike and wanted to believe that he was special and invincible and completely accepted by the bears. And there was the other part of him, the adult, that probably knew it was just a matter of time. But it didn't matter.
There was no way he would ever give it all up. Even if it killed him. It was all he had going for him.

He sure died badly though. I wonder if he'd have made better choices if he'd had a hint of the horror that would come.

[–] TheAdlerian (2092) 4 years ago

You say things, but you don't provide a rationale, you just say "I don't think" and that's meaningless. It's an emotional analysis.

In reality, as I mentioned, he's a guy who went to college and said he was AUSTRALIAN to everyone. Thus, it's logical to conclude he was doing an accent, etc. That is some high level craziness and self-hatred. He used heroin and overdosed. Buying heroin is illegal and a sign of sociopathic behavior. Knowing that heroin can kill you and still using it is a sign of suicidal behavior. He was also an alcoholic, which again is self-destructive.

He was effeminate and manic in his behavior. That is easy to see, and was a sign of SOMETHING odd since almost no man acts like that who isn't a femme homosexual. Doesn't mean he was but it means he was a weirdo.

He believed that BEARS----GRIZZLY BEARS---are nice. That is delusional as EVERYONE KNOWS they aren't nice. So, he was either delusional or wanted to tempt fate as he did with HEROIN AND ALCOHOL, which is suicidal.

His girlfriend was not his girlfriend, if I recall correctly, she was a random person from the internet or something. He immediately accepted her as his GF. They ended up around bears, which she was terrified of, during the bears most aggressive time of the season. A time, he never went at to observe bears.

That kids, is my easy intro to mental health evaluation, lol.

[–] Kendricks (2074) 4 years ago

"I know this sounds crazy but"

No, not at all.
It's very similar to serial killers making mistakes on purpose (yet subconsciously) or teasing the police with information that *could* actually help them because secretly they want to be caught so it is finally over.

This man was obviously troubled beyond measure and suffered throughout his life, definitely was a closet homosexual as well which further causes mental health issues.l His obsession with bears, the way he continuously invaded their space and went further and further seems very similar to the behavior I described earlier.

In the end, he got what he wanted.

[–] ebhaynz (3525) 4 years ago

I file this under "wanting to get attention at any cost", almost exactly like Andrew Cunanan. In Treadwell's case he seemed like a closeted homosexual needing all the attention towards himself, so much so he acted out. He probably copied the Crocodile Hunter, thinking, they've got crocs, we've got grizzly's..this is why he got the girl too, just to copy the crocodile hunter show. of course he filmed a lot so he could sell to the Discovery Channel. It really was an insane idea but he almost became a weekly TV star.

[–] andreaahr (2332) 4 years ago

Well, I heard that he tried out for the role of Woody in the tv show Cheers but, he did not get that role so Timothy decided to do something crazy (aka live with the bears) to gain media attention. Obviously that worked but, the end result was tragic....

[–] mel2000 (244) 3 years ago

No, Treadwell didn't want to die. He said earlier that he would die for a bear and that he would never hurt a bear. Yet his last request in life was to ask his girlfriend to hurt a bear in order to save his life. He was a fantasist who didn't really believe what he was preaching.