The Grizzly Man

The Grizzly man failed at his mission in life because his beliefs about bears were inaccurate. He believed that bears are harmless creatures that are misunderstood. As a result, he began promoting awareness of this issue. Although it is a noble cause, he crossed the boundary between humans and animals.

There were several flaws in his way of promoting awareness. Crossing the boundary put the bears at risk. If they became habituated to humans, they would begin to approach them more, exposing humans and themselves to danger. In addition, he treated the bears as though they were domesticated animals that could understand human emotions. His behavior communicated to the viewers and children whom he lectured that it is not dangerous to approach and pet a bear. He probably did not consider the fact that bears have less advanced cognitive abilities and have instincts that could put humans at risk. He probably did not understand that bears have dramatically different ways of life than humans; therefore, it is impossible to adapt to their lifestyle in order to prove his point. Finally, his death undermined his efforts; it supported the idea that bears can be life-threatening.