Is This Kansas: Claim

Eula Biss believes that the University of Iowa, and its students do not have the midwestern hospitality that she expected. Biss argues that the university doesn't care for anything more than itself, and that the students are too wrapped up in their college life. When the community is hit by a storm, Biss writes, "It was a version of the usual Thursday-night carnival, but set against the backdrop, this time, of disaster. And that backdrop revealed the carnival for what it was." Biss had some negative views against the type of community she found herself living in. In Is This Kansas, Eula Biss uses tone, imagery, and narration to describe her experiences and observations in Iowa City.

Grizzly Man

1. I believe that Herzog revealed Treadwell's death early in the film because it makes the viewer question what led up to this. It also changed the outline of the film. Herzog keeps information about Treadwell's life growing up until much later, because it allows the viewers to make their own assumptions before his credibility was questioned.
2. Using "I believe" as Herzog narrates the film makes his credibility questionable because he doesn't sound sure in himself. He enters the film when he listens to the audio of Treadwell's death, and by his reaction the viewers can tell how horrible it is.
3. Some of Treadwell's friends saw him as a mentally unstable guy, while others thought he was smarter than he was given credit for. The opinions about Treadwell were back and forth, much like Treadwell's personality. Herzog questioned Treadwell's intentions several times throughout the film which made Treadwell seem weird.
4. Treadwell thought he was "protecting" the bears, and doing good, but I think he was causing harm. Treadwell stayed in an area where the bears were protected, because it was a national state park. He made the bears think all humans were nice and wouldn't harm them, which could one day be the reason they die. Treadwell also violated several park rules, which could have harmed the bears as well. I believe Herzog made this film partially as a tribute to Treadwell, but also to show what he was doing wasn't helping.
5. Through the film you could tell that Treadwell was clearly more comfortable in the wild with the bears. Amie knew the difference between the human world and the animal world, but never brought him back before his death. Treadwell clearly crossed many lines that are unspoken between the human world and the animal world.
6.  "I believe the common denominator of the universe is not harmony, but chaos, hostility, and murder." The world will always have hostility and murder, but that is what keeps the world in equilibrium. While Treadwell spent time with the bears you could tell he never thought anything bad would happen to his "friends." It was almost as if he failed to recognize predators.  He knew the human world was imperfect, but he wanted the bear world to be perfect which is impossible. This ties into the movie because although he felt things were better in the wild, Treadwell became part of the life cycle out there.
7. They didn't release the audio because it would be too emotional and horrible to listen to. There are certain people in this world that never need to hear it, and as viewers it isn't our place to hear Treadwell's and Amie's last minutes. Herzog presented the tape by him listening to it, and the coroner describing what was on it.
8. We learned the Treadwell had a safe upbringing, and when he was young he loved bears.  Once he went off to college things changed.  He began to take on different personas and spiraled out of control after he wasn't casted on Cheers. The fact that he had a normal upbringing and ended up being weird doesn't surprise me. As I was viewing this film I could tell he was mentally unstable. Herzog waited so long to show this because it questioned Treadwell's credibility.