A.I.

I decided to watch the film I, Robot. In this film, actor Will Smith chases what he presumes to be a robot that killed a human. He feels as some of us did in class. He feels that artificial intelligence will essentially outgrow us and take over society. This concept was not displayed in the movie we watched in class, but it was certainly a possibility that it could. In the movie we watched in class, the programs outgrew us, but they moved into their own "world." This is crazy because as the creators of the programs, we should be the ones leaving them or outgrowing them. Though they learn at a much faster rate, it still remains to be seen as to why we cannot learn just as fast, or at least store information at the rate and complexity they do. Artificial intelligence is a subject that can be scary depending on how you look at it. The robots in the film were controlled by another robot. Robots are a part of us already, just not to the extremity shown. It is amazing how their intelligence can cause them to be so ahead of us in both reality and society. The integration of advancing technology is such a tricky thing. If I ever had the choice of choosing in life between being a robot like creature and human, I would choose human every time.

Artificial Intelligence, Religion, and Progress

Throughout the film Transcendence, Dr. Will Caster asks questions similar to those we’ve asked in class.  In the beginning of the film while he is alive as a human, he asks if there is a soul.  If so, where does the soul reside?  These questions incited anger in some because he was undermining the Judeo-Christian idea of God.  His killer accuses Will of creating his own god; to which he replies “Isn’t that what man has always done?”  Will is murdered, and there are attacks among A.I. labs across the country.  His consciousness is uploaded into a system to be stored and later becomes a 2.0 version of him.  Later, Joseph Tagger (Morgan Freeman) asks this projection of Will to prove that he’s aware.  Rather than do so, Will asks Joseph to prove he is aware.  It is human nature to question the realness, consciousness, or awareness of other existences, but perhaps we should question what we know or thoughtlessly assume about our own existence.

Artificial intelligence and technological advancements that suggest different forms of human life contradict religious ideologies that claim humans are made by a god.  There are debates over the moral conditions surrounding artificial intelligence, but some disagree with creating beings or intelligence to any extent altogether.  In The Most Human Human, computer program Deep Blue’s chess victory caused Garry Kasparov to have self-doubt and question his human identity.  The thought of artificial intelligence or computer programming outshining human thought and strategy scares many.  For example, most religions embrace a traditional point of view that does not leave room for advancement; therefore, some religious people do not support the idea of manmade programs or programs being smarter than man. 

When Holy texts were written, technology was rocks and spears.  No one in history could have accurately predicted the technology we have today; we cannot entirely predict the technology that will come.  Religion must have some flexibility because the world is ever-changing. There will continuously be controversy between technological advancements and religion, but ultimately, religion will have to adjust to rapidly changing technology, because further advancements are inevitable. 

Buffering

Plug and Pray by Jens Schanze and Judith Malek-Madhavi is a documentary about the advances and goals of researchers working in the field of A.I. technology. Among the exploration of the developments in Artificial Intelligence, Raymond Kurzweil and Hiroshi Ishiguro discuss their lofty visions in human development and the inevitability of the merge between machine and biology. This future, and these goals raise a number of ethical questions, some of which are brought up and discussed Joseph Weizenbaum, an early pioneer in computer technology.

The pursuit of technology, specifically the pursuit of Artificial Intelligence, is relatively new to the world and advances exponentially faster than that of biology and nature. Where biology develops slowly via random mutations in trial and error type fashion, technology developments occur in real time. Once a problem is observed, the researcher can manipulate the technology and correct the problem and try again. This is unlike the development of biological organism who have to wait for a random mutation that happens to be beneficial and more compatible with the environment, thus giving the new organism an edge over the previous. Having such a direct hand over the control and development over machinery as attracted intelligent minds since Galileo. However prior to the pursuit of artificial intelligence, machines and computers were designed to serve as aids while being monitored and operated by humans. Artificial intelligence aims to create technology that monitors and operates itself. This raises questions of who is responsible for the machines action and upon the successful creation of a fully functioning humanoid, and what does this accomplishment imply for the current understanding of what it is to be human?

As suggested by The Most Human Human, attempts at artificial intelligence has yet to operate in the same way that humans do. Because computers are based around measurable and quantitative data, they do not make decisions the same way humans do. Humans have an entire additional hemisphere that affects our drives, decision making, and creativity. For this reason when computers are programmed to complete complex human-type tasks, it seems to be insufficient or even ruin the task. For example, when a computer program beat a world famous chess player, chess was declared to be dead. This decision was declared under the context that once the task of chess and been reduced to the computation of quantitative data, it stifled the creative, imperfect strategies, that made the game “human.” This gap in worldview is one of the major conflicts that distinguishes between that which is human and that which is machine.

Kurzweil is correct in claiming the merging of biology and machinery is inevitable, assuming that computer technology continues as it is now. On the other hand, Weizenbaum is correct in claiming that we have control of the development and exploration of technologies. The only inevitability lies within the context of a technological community where the research and funding of technological advances are not regulated. We currently live in a time fueled by technological lust. Our desire for the newest, next best thing is not curved by reason or concern for balance. Much like many other developing fields before it, such as modern medicine and the international market, the technological market will grow fast, be abused regularly, then we will likely suffer the consequences of our lusts. Hopefully, we will be able initiate suitable reforms in the wake of our blunders. However, artificial intelligence creates a domain where the boundaries of our control are blurred. The ultimate destination of the endeavors of leading A.I. researchers has not yet been decided. The greater majority is buffering, waiting for either the culmination or regulation of Artificial Intelligence.

Artificial Intelligence being Possible Human Downfall

Artificial Intelligence is something so powerful that it can stomp the human mind.  In the film, Her, Theodore learned the hard way that artificial intelligence (through Samantha) can surpass what it was originally created for.  Samantha became so real through the film that I actually began to believe that she was her own person.  Her program was so in depth that she actually seemed like she cared about Theodore as in a way normal human beings are believed to live.  She actually seemed more likeable that ninety-five percent of the people I know.

I, Robot on the other hand proved the problem of Robots actually being dangerous and taking over. People became so reliant on the technology that they lost sight of life without it.  What the fascinating aspect of it was to me as well is that it was set in 2035, nearly only 20 years from now. 

Humans in most segments of the world are so reliant on the use of technology to perform simple daily tasks.  From waking up, to reminders, to communications, the addiction to technology human beings have now could certainly lead to sole independence on future advancements in upgrading technology. Including Robots or OS systems that seem so real that even the viewers get attached. 

In The Most Human, Human, Brian Christian recalls an experiment where people have to communicate with a computer and eventually it has to guess who that person is. This concept of gathering information to expand that software is the same thing Samantha successfully accomplishes in Her.  She gains emotions, executes them, and can pull any information from the Internet in less than a nana second.  Samantha’s “brain” is limitless. I place quotes around brain because realistically she doesn’t have a natural brain, which makes me ask does having this certain large muscle in our skull possibly have a limit to learning?

Now, as well in I, Robot, their bodies do not have brains.  Unlike Samantha they can actually physically affect the human race.  Eventually they do by the end of the movie until Will Smith comes in and saves the day.  These robots make life and death decisions not based on morals (because they lack them) but based of statistical analysis in certain scenarios. 

How could the human race continue without morals, the knowing from right and wrong, not what scientific reasoning will succeed.  Once the robots develop and start multiplying in our world, what good can they really do besides turn us into liabilities?

Beyond the Normal or Physical Level

The idea of an artificial intelligence, AI, or singularity has always interested scientist. This is what the whole book of The Most Human, Human was about. In Transcendence at the beginning of the movie, Max says that "Technology collided with man".  This is the constant struggle that we find in movies such as Terminator where the technology and man have this war for who is in control, the creator or the created. What differs in this movie is that the creator is the created.

"Man has always tried to create a God" says Will Caster. This is thought of to be creating something that can help explain to us the un-explainable which we do not understand. This is a paradox. What we create only knows the sum of information that we know. If at this moment there is no person who is able to explain it, then how do we expect a program that is created by a person who does not know to know. What both the movies Her and Transcendence have in common is that they have artificial intelligence in them that has no strings on them. Samantha and Will are connected to the internet and have unlimited information that can be accessed all simultaneously.

A principle that i noticed in the film that is not stated is 'patience'. Doctor Evelyn does not have patience and is constantly trying to get things done to help her husband. Also, the extremist is impatient when demanding that Max upload the virus when he is incapable. This is a virtue that is not held by many in today's society it seems. We always want the newest thing right when it comes out and are willing to pay more even when the device that we have is working perfectly. Will, on the other hand, has patience. Even though he does not have a body, working with PINN, will creates new technology and helps people and know exactly when to let people in on the secret and when not to. He even allows a video of his healed person to be uploaded online when he has the capability to take it down.

Until the last part of the film I was tricked. It seemed like PINN was in control the whole time just using the voice and face of Will to get what it wanted. When asked by the Doctor, "Can you prove you're self aware"? Will responds "Can you?", which is the same response that PINN said when asked before Professor Will Caster died. This gave the illusion that Will was never in the picture. It is only later that we see that Will has always been the system and is accomplishing what his wife always wanted because his life's goal is complete.

People fear what they don't understand. This has always been the case throughout time and is a main reason for many conflicts that have occurred. Hopefully whatever intelligence that we create will be smart enough like Will and care about the world and our welfare.

It Could Happen to You

I have always subconsciously asked the question “Why horror?” because it is difficult for me to watch. According to Carroll, “Works of horror cannot be construed as either completely repelling or completely attractive.” I understand the attraction toward excitement and stimulation, but they have typically had a lasting effect on my psyche.  Personally, the exception has been shark movies: I am able to watch them without fear because I am in control of whether or not I am near sharks.  I watched Open Water because mass murderers and paranormal activity are plausible while sharks are completely avoidable.  Shark movies are notorious for their dramatic music which eliminates the element of surprise.  You simply know it’s coming. Open Water shows the “based on a true story” side of shark movies and emphasizes the human demise rather than shark attacks.

Horror is sought by some in order to experience awe, but there are various arguments about why people subject themselves to horror: “Cosmic fear may be relevant in explaining why some works of horror attract their audience, but it is not fundamental enough to explain the attractiveness of horror across the board” (162-164).  Horror is typically based in a narrative form: the plot is typical until something or someone bad happens upon it – the fact that these monsters exist in a seemingly normal world entices people (181). The curiosity and fascination that monsters and evil lives among us lures people to horror.  It is similar to the car wreck effect and rubbernecking; although the site is gruesome or simply unfortunate, people end up in massive traffic jams because of the temptation to look.  Horror is attractive because it defies Hollywood’s stereotype of "happily ever after." The viewer may keep looking for a rescue boat or helicopter destined to save the struggling couple, but it never comes.

In Open Water, the plot began with a serene vacation.  Daniel and Susan’s inevitable mental breakdown and eventual hopelessness of rescue exposes human vulnerability.  Their fate is realistic: the movie is filmed in a documentary type framing which enforces this idea. Vast oceans make up most of our world yet we are ignorant to their depth: horrific ocean films satisfy part of this unknown. Similarly, movies with murderers and demons offer aspects of human life that most never encounter.  BUT, characters are average, from all walks of life, encouraging the notion that it could happen to you.

This picture is a hoax but talk about chills?!

Not so funny without blood

Our views on the genre of horror have evolved. After all, we fear the most that of which we can relate to, so it is understandable that more and more horror movies deal with themes and scenarios relatively plausible to happen. Yet one undeniable thing is the growing explicitness in horror films. It is such, that movies from 30 years ago do not have the same effect in the newer generations as they did when they first were released. Our desire for horror and fear keeps pushing boundaries that we have become immune to a degree of violence and horror. In Funny Games, director Micheal Haneke tries to prove such point. That we as spectators cheer for violence and horror, that they in fact are entertainment for us. That a scenario where 2 psychopaths capture hostage a "classic white suburban upper class" family, we find it dull without the violence, that though is not explicitly showed in many occasions, we assume it to happen in our minds in order for things to be entertaining.

In The Paradox of Horror we are asked the question "how can people be attracted by what is repulsive?" Indeed, why do we find pleasure or desire for horror? Why do we seek for that of which we fear, and wish to avoid? How can we answer the paradox of horror?

H. P. Lovecraft argues that our attraction for horror is based on an attraction for awe, "Humans, it appears, are born with a kind of fear of the unknown which verges on awe. Thus, the attraction of supernatural horror is that it provokes a sense of awe which confirms a deep-seated human conviction about the world, viz., that it contains vast unknown forces." Hume claims is "pleased in proportion as they are afflicted" Yet none of them answer the why we are attracted by what is repulsive. They both simply state that we find enjoyment or awe in horror.

Could it be possible that we are by nature violent beings, but by virtue of being conscious and intelligent beings, we deny this nature over our sense of morality, and thus we find this attractiveness in the gore and gruesome of horror? Of being able to experience that of which by our rules of coexistence we are unable to do so?
To me personally horror movies give me a reality check of what humans are capable of doing. That though in my reality have not existed, does not mean that cannot happen.

Don't Read This Blog

The fear and horror concerning Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining are surrounded by the topics of insanity and paranormal realities. These elements are first shown through the abilities of Danny, the son, and Dick Hollerann’s, the hotel manager, ability to communicate telepathically. In the scene following the first display of this ability, the hotel manager takes Danny to get ice cream and explains the nature of their ability in simple terms. He terms their ability as “the shining.” He also explains how some buildings are similar to people with the shining and hold memories and footprints of previous activities that occurred at the location. From this point forward, paranormal activity and the mental stress of cabin fever began to take their tole on the Torrance family.

This film brings attention to both the comparison and contrast of insanity and paranormal/ demonic behavior. Early in the film, when Danny describes the nature of Toni, the voice that lives in his mouth, to a doctor, it is made rather apparent that Danny was schizophrenic. This marked him as a potential threat to the Torrance family within the context of a horror film. However, Toni displayed is ability to accurately predict the future on several occasions. This in not a characteristic of schizophrenia and blurred the lines between mental illness and the paranormal. At this point, the audience is forced to abandon the logical notion of Danny being and schizophrenic child trying to understand his mental illness, and accept “the shining” explanation proposed by Dick Hollerann.

Once the paranormal explanation is accepted, the fear of the unknown plays it’s role on the audience as a source of horror. In a clever fashion, the audience succumbs to the paradox of horror as they are attracted to a repulsive story of The Shining in the same way that Johnny Torrance succumbs to the will of the Overlook Hotel and its hauntings. The paradox of horror explains the phenomenon of how “normally aversive events and objects can give rise to pleasure or can compel our [the audience’s]  interests,” (Carroll, 161). The paradox of horror usually describes the artistic presentation of horrific events. However in Johnny’s case, he flirts with the paradox of horror as he interacts with the paranormal inside of the Outlook Hotel. This ultimately leads him to begin wielding an axe with the thirst to murder his small family. With one dead and the ongoing pursuit of a nearly defenseless woman and child, the audience continues to watch from the edge of their seat as the desperate are hunted. The paradox of horror successfully exploits the fatal flaw of man. It exploits the curiosity as it lures us into greater tragedies than we originally wished to witness.

IT MUST BE AN OMEN

For myself, i am not to fond of the Horror genre. I have never been one to want to intentionally become scared or frightened to build up my adrenaline. With that being said, I did watch The Omen, namely because it was a very old movie. This did, in my opinion, set it apart from some of the other Horror movies that were on the list.

The movie did a good job in representing a real world setting that any person could be a part of, which drew myself and possibly other viewers in. The entire movie is surrounded around Damion, the son of the Prime Minister of the United States who lives in Britian now, while also being the son of the Devil. Many movies will play on this idea that the son of the devil is a child who goes around killing and killing and killing. It was not his doing that the people died, but the work of his guardians, or demons. For being a movie that took place back in the 1960s, there was not the amount of special effects that could have been done to amp up the movie like there are now. What the director did very well in my opinion was set the mood.

What i did like about this horror movie was the simplicity of it. The very first horror movies were not about how gruesome or Devilish the creatures could look, but the "What if". If there is the idea that this could happen and may be happening to one of us, it scares the hell out of you. (Not pun intended)

Most all Horror movies have a general theme to theme that runs through them. Generally they are scary, hence the Horror Theme. But what a director can do that really sets the movie off is uses the sense of the viewer against himself. For the Omen, the music was constantly telling of a bad action that was about to happen that kept you wondering. The score had no sound so that it would not draw away from the attention given to the fear about the occur. Along with this, the pause of action builds suspense for Terror/Thriller movies, along with the cinematography that makes the viewer question hi/her own senses.

What i did enjoy about this movie which is an interesting point that i brought up a week or two back in class, is that Damion, the anti-Christ or antagonist of the movie, actually wins.  Not many movies will end with the bad guy coming out victories because it does not sit well with the audience. I really did respect the director for doing that since Damion did have way more power than anyone in the movie.

Staying Far Away from the Woods

Horror and Fear are part of the genres most popular in today's movie industry. Movies like Sinister, Annabelle, The Conjuring, The Green Inferno, Paranormal Activity, The Omen, The Exorcist, The Blair Witch Project and the list goes on and on. Naturally if any of these situations being portrayed in film happened to the person watching it, it wouldn't be entertaining at all (for the victim(s)). Yet, day after day people are indulging themselves into these films of blood, death, and fear. There are a plethora of theories on why viewers watch these, but the main point that really relates to why I enjoy them is because of my attraction of power.  In The Omen, the powerful Antichrist child Damien, is the main power and fear source of the movie. His own adoptive father is so fearful of him he going on a hunt to figure out what is going on with his son.  Or in The Blair Witch Project, where there is legend of this old crazy witch that haunts the woods that these young people go to research and film a quick documentary in. Assumably at the end of the film, all three have met their demise at the hands of this powerful unknown beast.  They go without food for days, constantly trying to find their way out of the woods but always seeming to end up at the same night before.
These two movies the whole time have the viewers so captivated and wanting to see what terrible occurrence is going to happen next. As this is happening, viewers are eagerly awaiting the next suspenseful moment to be answered.  Knowing death and/or pain is lurking right around the corner for these characters. When these moments finally occur,  we as viewers become almost sympathetic for some, and wanting something terrible to happen to another.  For example, in Blair Witch Project, personally I became sympathetic for Mike, who just wanted to do the minimum to get the documentary completed and get out of the woods. Yet Heather was the person I didn't sympathize with because her confidence was her downfall.
A factor of fear embodied in Blair Witch Project, as they both lose their sanity, bringing them closer, knowing the fear that loiters in the nighttime. Their "sticking together for survival" was the factor that helped them last longer but yet it also aided to their demise. This applies to the Paradox of Fear because it enticed our pleasure, for the reason that you can sense that their end is near.  As well in The Omen, after Robert grabs Damien and brings him to the church, you can sense the end is near for Robert because he is battling with Satan Jr.
We are a world filled with strong believers in "oh that won't happen to me" and the high level of love for these horror and fear movies in the world really proves that.

Man on Wire

"We also gain our ability to have ecstatic experiences of truth through the Sublime, through which we are able to elevate ourselves over nature." (Herzog). The documentary Man on Wire primarily focuses on a man, Phillipe Petit, fabricating a reality that was once merely a dream. Herzog speaks on how fiction is so captivating based on impossibilities being implicated into a sense of reality. Upon watching this documentary, Petit's and his team's actions are so outrageous that they almost seem false. But Petit is so determined to follow his passion that he turns an impossible dream into his reality. Petit's reality was difficult for others to grasp at different times throughout his journey. His teammates had concerns for his safety and had doubts of his ability to fulfill his dream without the cost of death. Then, when he was on the wire, spectators were unable to understand what they were looking at when Petit's then girlfriend starts pointing him out in the sky. Like in Allegory of the Cave, these spectators are blind to certain truths or to things they have never experienced and have difficulty figuring out what is happening when a Petit starts his walk. Much to Petit's disappointment, many Americans would ask him why he chose to walk between the Twin Towers. He could think of no fathomable reason because, simply put, performing the walk was Petit's reality. He had internal yearnings to follow through with the walk, knowing that his truth was to fulfill his daring feat. With his determination, he practiced and planned out his walk meticulously until the day came to follow through. His passion led him to overcome nature and overcome his fears to create his reality. He overcame seeming impossibilities and showed an exciting and beautiful new reality to the world by overcoming natural and legal forces to accomplish his walk. And by doing so, Petit opened new possibilities for his future, for his new reality. Like those in Plato's cave, most could only imagine the reality of doom that would overcome Petit if he attempted his walk, but Petit was able to see past that and drive his dream forward through passion. So, when others saw him walking across the wire, they would have looked on with disbelief because they could not envision such a reality where a person could overcome something so implausible. And because of this, everyone looked in awe; they were in the midst of an extreme reality in the making. 

Everything is bigger in America

Super Size Me attempts to give an insight to the dangers of fast food industry, with an special focus on McDonalds, being the largest fast food company in the world. Oddly enough, the health risks associated with fast food are not breaking news. The dangers of fast food are widespread and commonly known, they are choose to be ignored or overlooked. The underlying truth I see is: consumerism. While we see the transformation of Spurlock in his journey of 30 days of McDonalds diet, we cannot overlook his main outtake, which is the nature of fast food companies, and the basis of the United States culture which is consumerism. Spurlock understand this, and in a very clever way portraits this message grabbing the audience's attention by impressing them with the tremendous effects consumerism of fast food has on the person's physically, emotionally, and psychologically health, while giving insight of the deep of the rabbit hole. a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a1 a

In Plato's The Allegory of the cave,  Plato reasons that we our blind of truth, we see and believe through shadows the reality of the world. We do not understand that it is merely the product of our imagination what he speak to be real or truth, for we do not have the ability to turn our heads and see that that of what we had spoken is not it, but its shadow. In the same way, we are bombed with advertisement, at every moment, we are told how things are, we do not seem them, we only see it's shadow. We have been conditioned to consume. Every time more and more, and bigger and bigger, one of the many examples in Super Size Me was the change in size of the fries or sodas or meals, going from a unique size (that is now consider small or kids) to large, even super size. This change is motivated by monetary revenue, to increase consumerism. But consumerism conveys a higher price than just monetary. What I found scary is that fast food industries in order to increase consumerism, can go to make their food addictive. Spurlock became addicted to McDonalds, Spurlock said "i eat some, and the after a little while latter I will be hungry again and wanting to eat more" he feel depressed and tired unless he was eating McDonalds, but the effect was only temporary.

We can choose to keep believing the shadows, or we can try to set us free, so that we can turn and see the light that creates the shadows, so that we can understand reality, or we can always go super size.

Man off Why

Man on Wire is a documentary that reveals the story behind a tightrope walker named Phillippe Petit who managed to pull off the illegal tightrope walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. His story is both compelling and inspiring as it leads the audience through the ups and downs of his journey. The documentary does a good job of revealing the truth of the absolute impossible nature of Phillippe's dream. After several years of practice, and multiple flights to the United States to research the coming and goings of the World Trade centers, Phillippe and his crew finally developed a plan that was just barely thorough enough to give them as single shot at setting up a tight rope at the top of the Twin towers and walking between them. 

The truth is Phillippe Petit's journey was found in the details of his story. The way they had to hide from security guard for hours, shoot an arrow with a wire on it from one tower to the next, pull the slack of the heavy wire for hours, all to barely get one shot at Phillippe's dreams. It should also be noted that all his preparation and work hinged the commitment and motivation of Phillippe's team, which was made up of friends, strangers, and an unanticipated contact at the top of the towers. Other than revealing the truth of the story and the impossible nature of their tasks, Man on Wire holds the elements of an "ecstatic truth." Herzog's ecstatic truth is a term that refers to a truth that is “mysterious and can only be grasped with effort; one attains it through vision, style, and craft.” This type of truth was scene in the success of the goal as it pertained to Phillipe's enthusiasm and fearless ambition to chase his dreams. The documentary went further as to reveal the truth about the effect that completing Phillippe's dreams had on his friendships and relationships.

In Man on Wire, relationship nuances that did not entirely pertain to the completion of Phillipe's goal were revealed. Some of which included his relationship with a long-term lover and the way their relationship ended shortly after the completion of such a large and beautiful goal. Phillips also grew apart from his other good friends who fulfilled essential roles in the planning and completion of his dream. The truth to be determined from these aspects is dependent on the interpretation of the audience. The termination of Phillipe's relationships could have been due to the fact that their friendships were around the premise of effectively doing something as beautiful as it was impossible. It could have also been a result of the lustful nature of ambitious desire and success. Man on Wire creatively made the connection between lust and ambition by including the part of the story where Phillippe went home with and had sex with an admirer upon being released from prison. The rewards of lust and ambition are very similar and play a large role in motivating people to attempt the assumedly impossible. 

However, as Phillippe explained at the end of the documentary, although it is interesting to speculate "why" people do what they are passionate about, the "why" doesn't matter. The only thing that does matter is the truth in knowing something that beautiful "did" happen. 

Grizzly Con Man

Timothy Treadwell's passion for grizzly bears was unlike that of anyone else. He attempted to live among these massive creatures as one of them. Although he portrayed his mission as a selfless mission to protect and serve the bears, further inspection revealed otherwise. In his documentary, Grizzly Man, Herzog subtly reveals the truth hidden in the margins of the story as it was originally depicted. He uses methods such as allowing the camera to just a few moments longer than the last question of the interview. In theses moments, the audience gets a peek back stage where the facades of the people being interviewed are framed by reality rather than the drama of the documentary. This comparison gave the audience grounds to base the claims made by Treadwell's friends and colleagues. 

Where Timothy Treadwell suggested magic and wonder in the light of a selfless act, Herzog revealed mild disinterest of a large predatory animal and the self motivated pursuit of a misdirected disgruntled man. Treadwell's relationship with the grizzlies was equally as manipulative and dangerous as his relationships with women. In a poetic form of truth, Treadwell's selfish drive to get as close to grizzly bears as possible terminated with his own death, the death of his girlfriend and of a grizzly bear. This ending illustrates the way manipulative relationships ultimately damage the object of love or lust as much as the manipulator, if not more. 

Not only did he reveal the truth behind Timothy Treadwell's motives and the nature of his relationships, Herzog managed to reveal truths regards Jewel Palovak through the use of his clever filming techniques. At one point in his interview with Palovak, Herzog listens to the audio footage of Treadwell and his girlfriend's death. In response his response to hearing the audio footage, Herzog says, "Jewel, you must never listen to this." He even goes further and suggests her to destroy it. As written by David T. Johnson in his analysis of the documentary, "Herzog need not prompt us any further in sensing the scene's importance, which accounts for minimalist aesthetics (the long pauses, the relatively static camera)," (Johnson, 509). These aspects of Herzog's style of filming exposed truth in Jewel Palovak's otherwise fabricated responses. She seemed to be lying when she suggested that she agreed with Herzog's advice. In a great form of dramatic irony, the present day audience would be well aware that Palovak was putting on a front in this scene, as it is currently known that this audio footage has been leaked onto the internet. Considering Palovak had the only copy of this tape (the original tape that Herzog advised her to destroy), it is fairly easy to assume that she did not destroy the tape and likely had a hand in the internet leak. All of this current knowledge, further supports the truth Herzog revealed or even predicted at the time he created Grizzly Man.