Another misconception is that Timothy Treadwell forced his girlfriend into staying with him in the midst of the grizzly bears. He was alone most of the summers that he spent with the grizzlies in Alaska. His girlfriend did not operate the camera or do anything with the bears. In fact, she was frightened of the bears and stayed away most of the time. She only appeared on camera once, and that time it was a mistake.
I think I read somewhere that Treadwell was either bi-polar/manic depressive or had some other disorder. Someone who watched the movie said that they could tell he had some condition because he rambled on and on, had some sort of mania, was self-absorbed.
Yes, he knew the bears were dangerous, he had been warned the bears were dangerous, so what was his excuse to keep approaching them when they are at their most dangerous? That's the major reason people called him craxy.
I hadn't heard he forced his girlfriend to do anything. Actually I read that she was there quite willingly but was terrified for Timothy, knowing what danger he was putting himself into on a daily basis. Sad for her that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.