Werner Herzog’s 2005 documentary Grizzly Man encapsulates the life of Timothy Treadwell, from his immense devotion to protecting grizzly bears, to his untimely death in 2003. Herzog’s decision to portray Treadwell through a rhetorical form appeals the audience to empathise with him. In particular, the entire documentary features, and is directed and narrated by Herzog himself.

His use of a mix of archival footage and interviews presents a synthetic approach to the portrait film. The various interviewees combine both subjectivity and objectivity. Subjective in the interviews with Treadwell’s loved ones, while being objective in investigating the death of both him and his girlfriend when interviewing the coroner and other professionals. This combination of his narration with Treadwell’s video footage enables the audience to empathise with Treadwell and provide a philosophical element to the narrative of the film. Beginning the film with video footage of Treadwell without any narration, allows the viewers to make up their own assumptions on Treadwell with Herzog’s aim to change or maintain that perception until its conclusion.

Although documentaries feature real-life events and subjects, it can still be subjectively one-sided in its portrayal. Treadwell became the basis to presenting what Herzog analyses and firmly believes in. He recognises Treadwell’s belief that the universe is balanced with harmony, but then Herzog contradicts this by saying that he “believe(s) the common denominator of the universe is not harmony, but chaos, hostility, and murder”. Herzog ultimately portrayed Treadwell’s persona as a man who was misunderstood and, thus, to an extent, who lost his faith in humanity.

Below is an extract from my Rhetorics & Politics in the Contemporary World essay in analysing how power is presented within the education system.

According to Foucault, “power is not an asset… [but] flows through relationships” (Gauntlett, 2008, p. 181) and is particularly exemplified through the education system. Through the utilisation of the institute of the classroom, authorities are able to govern the mental health of the Australian youth through non-coercion and “soft” power. However, as the values within families and students are developing and are progressively mismatching with the values that are held by religious and government authorities through an outdated curriculum, the “many opportunities” to mobilise rather than dominate students can only be achieved to a certain extent.

Ultimately, the institution of the classroom itself allows teachers and parents to regulate and govern the students even before the implementation of the Safe Schools Program. Often the public affairs of domestic governing can overshadow the importance of private affairs in ensuring the mental health of young people. A variety of pupils derive from “single parent families, blended families and, above all, same-sex parented families” (Anderson, 2016), thus develop values of acceptance and tolerance. On the contrary, parents can mobilise their child from participating in Safe School activities. Furthermore, the students themselves can “self-regulate” themselves or be influenced by their fellow peers due to being “caught in those stages of their emotional development where they want to make decisions based on information” and their own experiences (Anderson, 2016).

Although the Coalition government and religious authorities do “frequently (find) themselves in powerful positions” and invest in such “opportunities”, it is the fluidity of power that is exhibited through “interactions (and) relationships” that highlight the significance of private affairs over legislation. Thus, the mobilising of a vulnerable demographic through the education system only constitutes towards a range of non-one dimensional resistances that reflects in the contemporary political world.

References:  Gauntlett, D. (2008) “Foucault on Power” and “Power and Resistance”, in Media, Gender and Identity: An Introduction, London and New York, Routledge, p. 129, 131, 132, 181

Anderson, S. (2016) “Tony Abbott calls for Safe Schools ‘social engineering program’ to be axed”, ABC News, Date accessed 20 March 2016
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-01/abbott-calls-for-end-to-safe-schools/7209766