Comparison Of Grizzly Man And My Octopus Teacher

Both Grizzly Man and My Octopus Teacher showcase human interactions with wild animals in the wildlife’s respective habitats and propose the notion of adapting certain human behaviors to possibly live alongside the animals. Each documentary has its own unique methods of conveying these ideas of animal-human interactions, but both inarguably indicate that there is a certain bond that wild animals can possibly have with humans, ultimately illustrating their importance to human lives. This alone could put forward the belief that humans and wild animals, no matter the species, can do more than simply co-exist. While I personally feel that the interactions depicted in Grizzly Man are quite farfetched, I believe one may be moved by the footage shown

Prior to watching the documentary, I expected more footage of Treadwell directly interacting with the Alaskan Kodiaks. Treadwell claimed that he wanted to spread knowledge and awareness about the bears to young viewers, but his footage mostly showed bears in the distance with Treadwell chiming in to further explain the behaviors exhibited on camera. Because of this camera footage, it felt as if the bears merely tolerated Treadwell’s presence in their native habitat. To me, it seemed like Treadwell mostly kept his distance from where the bears actively slept and hunted, and instead, only showed their interactions when he would just so happen to come across one or two out in the open. Much of his footage seemed to show him

While this film shows a human developing a certain bond with a wild creature, it undoubtedly has a different feeling, tone, and approach than Grizzly Man that I personally believe make it more convincing as a whole. To elaborate upon this, the primary reason for the documentary is to demonstrate how this singular aquatic animal was able to completely change Craig Foster’s outlook on life after he experienced severe burn-out. This was similar to Treadwell and his frustrations with life and humans, but after viewing both documentaries, I wholeheartedly found Foster to be much more introspective, compelling, and convincing than Treadwell. Foster intentionally researched octopi, including their behaviors and habits, to mimic their actions to establish rapport and trust with the creature. This alone felt more convincing because it indicated that Foster was trying to establish a genuine relationship with the octopus rather than allowing the octopus to simply tolerate his location in its natural habitat. Furthermore, the camera and video technology used by Foster was much better than Treadwell’s equipment. Not to fault Treadwell, given that his footage is from roughly two decades ago, but Foster’s modern videography capabilities allow him to show more close-ups of sea life, making the documentary incredibly more immersive