You are referring to Timothy Tredwell, and despite visiting Alaska during 13 different Summers and claiming to be an authority on bears, he was an idiot tourist from San Francisco who knew absolutely nothing about bears. On his thirteenth visit to the State the moron brought his girlfriend and then set up camp in the middle of a game trail. He had no real protection, but he did have a can of bear-spray.
Treadwell was a classic example of what Alaskans call a "Touron" = Tourist + Moron. It is usually a fatal combination in Alaska. We also had a tourist walk directly up to the face of a landlocked glacier near Seward, only to have about 10,000 tons of glacial ice calve on his empty head. He would also qualify as a Touron.
I have never heard of black bears ripping doors off of vehicles, but I have seen grizzlies using their 6" claws to pop out windshields of empty pick-up trucks in order to get the lunches that were left inside the vehicles while the maintenance crews were working.
Bears are indeed very smart, with a sense of smell equal to that of a dog, and they also have a great sense of humor. However, that doesn't mean humans should ever approach one. Bears are also terribly near-sighted. If you are more than a few dozen yards away, you appear very blurry to them. Which is why it is important to wave your arms and talk to the bear in a calm voice in order to help the bear identify you as human.
As long as you don't surprise them, pay close attention to your surroundings, and keep a respectful distance away, you should not have any issues with brown bears. Black bears are different. They are more of a nuisance than a threat. Our bear-proof trashcans are specifically designed with black bears in mind. I still don't use them, it is too tempting. Instead I keep my non-burnable household trash in a bear-proof shed and haul it to the landfill personally every 6 to 8 weeks.
I have not had any issues with bears on my property, but I have had some issues with mink and ermine. Normally they are not a problem, but if the mouse, vole, and shrew count is particular low for a given year, they had a tendency to dig into places they don't belong. I have caught them sneaking into the garage through the doggie-door and stealing dog food on a couple of occasions, and they have chewed holes into my garbage shed.