The reactions this movie generates are funny - Into the Wild (2007) Discussion

[–] alaninho 8 years ago

Negative Heismean. The only part that feels foreign to me is his selfishness and abandonment of all others. Is he a hero because he rejects the constraints of society? No. Anybody can do that. I think Americans are more shocked by his actions than any other nationality because of how constraining their society is.

In some ways it is a good film. I don't see the main character as anything but self-centred though.

reply

[–] jhill804 8 years ago

I think Americans are more shocked by his actions than any other nationality because of how constraining their society is

And I think you need to think harder.

This is an American movie, made by Americans about America.

The U.S. alone is made up of over 300 million people. It is by far the most diverse nation in the world. How you can so grossly stereotype/misrepresent people in this way is rather pathetic, yet quite common among those who know nothing of which they speak. I don't know why I'm still surprised.

Sure, more Americans dislike this movie than any other country. But more Americans like this movie than any other country as well.

I didn't care for this film because I didn't care for the main character. He was a tiresome meatsack. It had nothing to do with my supposedly "constraining society." I've traveled to seventeen countries, I've lived for over a year in five of them, I've spent much time camping, fishing, growing/preserving fruits/vegetables, raising/hunting/butchering/preserving animals for food, etc, etc.

This guy merely gyrates around for two hours to the humdrum sounds of an Eddie Vedder soundtrack. Chris had a passion. He didn't know what it was. He wanted to do something. He didn't know how. He ventured out "into the wild." And it was remarkably tame. He wasn't an inspiration. He was a bum. Nothing more.

Personally, the only thing I was "shocked" by was how high the IMDB score was.

reply

[–] fede_4488 7 years ago

Is he a hero because he rejects the constraints of society? No. Anybody can do that.

Nah.

reply

[–] JordanPLL (15) 6 years ago

[deleted]

[–] KennethWasHere 8 years ago

But its ideas of purposeful isolation, the abandonment of society, of rejecting career, family, etc. really offend people in a huge way.

But that's it - it's less that these ideas are offensive on their own terms (except for maybe the callousness towards ones own family, which might be perfectly dickish on its own merits), than that it's offensive to hear this philosophy delivered with such monumental smugness by a naive, privileged little twerp. It's that he thought his alienation made him special in some way. It's that he dealt with his disillusionment like an idiot and inflicted grief on his family in the process.

The final offense, much more importantly, is the cult following that St. Chris McCandless has inspired, those who won't hear any criticism of the martyr and Savior, who are probably going to harm their families and themselves (not to mention the disturbance that their naivety will probably inflict on wildlife and ecosystems) when they seek to emulate St. Chris.

That son of a bitch! Don't get me wrong, he's a fine writer.

reply

[–] Ichawiduma 7 years ago

it's offensive to hear this philosophy delivered with such monumental smugness by a naive, privileged little twerp. It's that he thought his alienation made him special in some way.

This pretty much hits the nail on the head. He's not the first or only person who has experienced a sense of alienation, and it's incredibly annoying to see him portrayed as some sort of revolutionary free-spirit whose stupidity was noble because he it was in pursuit of being a non-conformist. Until he set out to Alaska and got himself killed, I don't have a problem with what he did (except for not informing his parents, that was a horrible thing to do) because it was his life and he was free to do what he pleased with it as long as he was willing to accept the consequences of his actions. But if you separate yourself from society, it means that you are on own and that help isn't likely to come if you need it, so you better make sure you have the knowledge and the means to take care of yourself before you set out. He did not, and he died because of it. He wasn't an idiot because he died; he was an idiot because he set out without the proper means to survive and he died a needless death. It's not necessarily what he did that annoys people, it's seeing him idolized for his actions that ultimately led to his completely unnecessary and avoidable death that annoys people.

reply

[–] chell-glados 8 years ago

I can "vaguely" understand his alienation. But at the same time it's daft.

I mean the vast majority of people are unhappy in their jobs and only live for the weekend. We don't all go sprinting off into a forest to hide. It's just childish.

I feel sad for him but I will never truly understand how or why he would do something like that, especially to his family.

reply

[–] Metatron_Fallen 8 years ago

One thing that has always struck me about this story is imagine: he just barely survives his experience but retains all the wisdom he gained from realizing he needed to share his life with others.

The whole story would be different and I believe people's reactions to his actions would be different.

Imagine he comes back from that experience in Alaska, almost having starved to death, and is able to pass on some of his wisdom to someone who is on the verge of disconnecting from life and helps them. Imagine he is able to put his experiences to positive use somehow.

I understand why he did the things he did. My only gripe with him is for not being better prepared for his big adventure. But people do stupid stuff quite often that results in them dying. Better, perhaps, he died like this than driving a car off a road while drunk.

reply

[–] fede_4488 7 years ago

We don't all go sprinting off into a forest to hide. It's just childish.

Wrong.

reply

[–] i_love_evanesence 7 years ago

So, according to you, everyone is now in the woods hiding from the world?

Dude I think they might just be avoiding you xD

reply

[–] fede_4488 7 years ago

There's nothing childish about not wanting the daily routine in a big city and live an unhappy life.

So, according to you, everyone is now in the woods hiding from the world?

No, because not everyone wants to do what Chris did even if they are miserable in their office jobs. It actually takes guts

Dude I think they might just be avoiding you xD

Speaking of being childish...

reply

[–] whoanelly (1564) 4 years ago

It takes guts to carry on with life in society and not run away from your problems. It takes guts to face your family and tell them you’re leaving town and traveling alone. It takes guts to call your family and tell them where you are. It takes guts to face your family’s problems and try to deal with them in a constructive way. It takes guts to Admit when you’re wrong.

reply

[–] fede_4488 7 years ago

You nailed it, OP. You either relate to Chris or you think he was an idiot. There doesn't seem to be a middle ground with him.

reply

[–] Otter (24464) 3 years ago

I both relate to Chris... AND I think he was an idiot! See, there IS a middle ground!

Yes, a lot of humans suck, and the events of the last few years have made me really fed up with humanity as a whole, and the idea of vanishing into the wilderness has more emotional appeal than ever. But anyone who wants to actually *survive* in the wilderness needs to study the land, build up the necessary skills, carry necessary supplies with them, plan ahead for contingencies such as illness and winter, and get their head on straight before they go out there - there's no room for error or weakness out there. Anyone who wants to go Into The Wild needs to be like Robyn Davidson, the heroine of the 2013 film "Tracks", she traveled 2000 miles across the deadly western Australian desert, she did exactly what she'd planned to do and lived to sell the movie rights, because she learned what she needed to learn before she set out and had her head together.

Frankly, anyone who idolizes McCandless has a death wish, probably the teenage version where the primary impulse is to make everyone feel sorry for being so mean.

reply

[–] Slim (108) 2 years ago

Spot on , he knew few bushcraft skills, nowhere near enough to live how he wanted. He lacked insight into what it would take to survive and believed you could just survive with small bits of information gained from other ppl. Jeez I don't think he was even a boy scout. I had a basic field craft training in the Army a few weeks on exercise in basic training and you soon realized that in the field a slight mistake in how you looked after yourself & your equipment (such as a wet sleeping bag) you paid a heavy price thankfully your NCO's there to train you have got your back.

reply

[–] Otter (24464) 2 years ago

McCandless was an idiot, but a pitiable idiot. And for a long time, a magnet for other idiots!

But Robyn Davidson is a personal hero of mine.

reply

[–] TwoThousandOneMark 7 years ago

His family life seemed near imprisonment, enough that he finally literally walked away from it.
He wasn't going to stay in Alaska past the summer, as he didn't trek up north until summer either. Though he probably would've settled into a minimalist life somewhere on the Pacific coast, probably a small town or something. Maybe even living like Holbrook's character, except enjoying it- making stuff for ppl & for revenue to live off.

...my essential 50 http://www.imdb.com/list/ls056413299/

reply

[–] whoanelly (1564) 4 years ago

His family life was utterly toxic. So much abuse and manipulation at the hand of his parents. They really are quite the pair of pathetic twisted phukks.

reply

[–] liscarkat (17106) 4 years ago

I'm not offended, but I find it funny that so many people think this idiot was some kind of martyr or hero of a great cause. He was a pathetic, self-absorbed clown who didn't have enough sense to live. Croaking alone in a rotted out old bus in the middle of BFE is not a glorious end. It's just sad and pointless.

reply

[–] whoanelly (1564) 3 years ago

Actually, I think he was a very broken, very lost soul, damaged by years of abuse. His parents are pieces of shit.

If you can, do try to see the PBS documentary, Return to the Wild: The Chris McCandless Story (2014).

reply

[–] stickman38 (3032) 2 years ago

I watched most of this documentary, let me see if I have this right, Chris abandoned society to live alone in the wilderness because his father abused his mother?

He really showed his father...

To be honest, after watching this I don't think he was trying take his own life, I think he genuinely just didn't know what he was doing. One part of the documentary says there was a cable crossing a half mile away from him, he could have gotten across the river but he didn't have any maps of the area to know this.

There is also a possibility that he did know this but decided to die in the wild. Either way, I don't like what he did. It's just dumb to call him a hero. You could say he was misunderstood and I would be okay with this but 'hero' is stretching it a bit.

Also noted in the doc, Chris changed his name to Alexander Supertramp before he went into the wild. Ummm... to some extent, I think he was trolling people and just being rebellious in my opinion. And his father is also in this doc, and of course he denies any abuse towards the mother. So, it does seem like a case of word against word. Maybe the father was an asshole, maybe be wasn't, I don't know, but for him to change his name to "Supertramp" speaks volumes.

Whatever his reasons were will remain a mystery and I get it, people die doing stupid shit all the time but I'm going to have to chalk this up as just another example of stupidity causing someone's death, which adds to the long list of incidents like this. Perhaps in the end we can all learn something from this....

It is better to face your problems than it is to die alone in the wilderness...

reply

[–] BeaSouth (2945) 2 years ago

I think of all the anonymous heroes in the military who’ve given their lives in these interminable wars and did their duty for their comrades or country and I can’t help but wonder how Alexander Supertramp rated hagiographies in literature and the movies.

reply

[–] stickman38 (3032) 2 years ago

Something tells me that he rarely thought of this.

I think he just didn't like society and his hatred for it cost him his life. Shame really because had he survived, his story might have been somewhat interesting.

reply

[–] whoanelly (1564) 2 years ago

Not just his dad, but his mom, too. They were both abusive. The mother might even be worse than the father. His sister is pretty messed up, too. I read her book. I kept throwing it across the room, and picking back up and reading. No matter how many shitty, cray-cray-crazy things her parents pulled, she kept going back to them. And I honestly believe it was because she was unable to walk away from the lifestyle she could afford when they were in her life. Toxic, twisted, despicable. No wonder Chris wanted to drop off the grid and run away.

And I agree that he wasn’t trying to kill himself. He was just running away from his shitty life and over estimated his abilities while underestimating the dangers of the environment he ran away to.

reply

[–] stickman38 (3032) 2 years ago

Usually I get a little suspicious when people write a "tell all" book because there is profit motive behind it.

I didn't get any vibes that the mother was that bad from just watching the documentary on PBS but again, neither one of them confirmed the stories told in the book. Of course, that is a typical response to any negative thing someone writes or says about you. So, again, I honestly don't know what their home life was like. It could have been terrible, or it could have been good or maybe it was something in between.

However, after watching the documentary, none of them seemed like people I would call "scarred for life" because of domestic abuse. That's not to say it never happened but I honestly don't know. The parents actually come off as rather nice people in the doc. So, who knows...

reply

[–] Esterhowse (468) 3 years ago

" But its ideas of purposeful isolation, the abandonment of society, of rejecting career, family, etc. really offend people in a huge way."

Except none of that happened in the movie. IF anything McCandless did the exact opposite of that.

reply

[–] TheArgentinian (6647) 3 years ago

Christopher McCandless is a goddamn hero. He actually went through with what a lot of people wish they could: leave this rotten society. He just got unlucky at the end. Bless his soul.

reply