A Guy Walks Into the Wild, But Doesn’t Walk Out
October 22nd, 2007 ·
Did you hear the one about the guy who gives his money to a charity that feeds people, walks into the wild, and then starves to death? Chris McCandless. He grew up in an upper-middle class environment in the suburbs of Washington, DC. After graduating from college, he donates his $24,000 trust fund to Oxfam, gets into his car, drives away, and doesn’t tell anyone where he’s going. For nearly two years, he’s gone. He changes his name to “Alex Supertramp” and hitchhikes through the US like a vagabond. Why? He wants to go to Alaska so that he can live off the land.
And, live there he does. For 113 days.
Chris McCandless’ body was found by moose hunters. He had walked into the wild without telling anyone exactly where he was going, with no formal outdoors training, and with no foolproof plan to provide food, shelter and clothing for himself. It appeared that he had starved to death out there in the wilderness. “McCandless was not something special,” says a ranger, Peter Christian, who worked in the park near where Chris McCandless died. Ranger Christian says that he’s used to young men coming to “America’s last frontier” without properly preparing themselves. He calls McCandless death “just stupid, tragic, and inconsiderate … If he had a good map he could have walked out of his predicament.”
McCandless’ story brings the word hubris to mind. A Greek word, hubris is arrogance boosted by excessive pride. It’s exactly the kind of overconfidence that leads to a person’s downfall. If Chris McCandless was alive, two days before next Valentine’s day, he might have gathered with his friends, family, and loved ones as he filled his cheeks with air to blow out the candles on his 40th birthday cake. But, he’s not alive. Fifteen years ago, he died at the age of 24 somewhere near the Denali National Park in Alaska.
As tragic as Chris McCandeless story is, it’s also inspiring. (Hell, who doesn’t want to run away and completely escape from all of the world’s bullshit every now and then, right?) Posthumorously, McCandeless inspires writer Jon Krakauer to create a brilliantly-crafted article titled, “Death of an Innocent”. Krakauer developes the article into a book titled “Into the Wild”. Sean Penn (yep, that Sean Penn) turns the book into a screenplay for the movie that I saw last week. See how that works? It goes from Chris McCandless to Jon Krakauer to Sean Penn to the big screen and, here on funkybrownchick.com, it goes from me to you. Chris McCandless is today’s Manly Monday pick. Feel free to use the comment section to share your thoughts on Chris McCandless’ decision to chuck it all and live in the wilderness: Sad and stupid? Or, sad and inspiring?
October 22nd, 2007 ·
October 22nd, 2007 | 
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I think his decision is strange combination of contradictions. It takes courage to live off the land, at the same time, I feel that it’s rather cowardly and selfish to run away from everything. It was generous for him to donate his money to charity, yet selfish to dissapear from his family and friends.
I need to check this film out sometime.
A brave and courageous man does not run away from his life to chase some fantasy. Instead, he stays and battles with the problems of everyday life, honours the committments he has made until he achieves something real that he and his family can be proud of.
Sounds like there were some mental problems going on.
I guess Nemesis was out there too.
Not inspiring. Stupidity never is. This guy’s story should be a Dawrin Award winner - more a subject of a cautionary after-school special that a heroic Hollywood feature.
This week I guess it’s “Moron Monday” instead of “Manly”.
Wacko.
I liken it to people who foolishly jump out of a perfectly good airplane, without checking thier parachute….
Sounds arrogant to me.
I read the book and had some respect for the conviction with which Chris McCandless pursued his desire. However, as others have stated, it was extremely selfish of him to leave his family in the dark. He wrote postcards to others he met along his trip. Why not send a line to mom? Moms worry about their kids until death, mom’s or the kid’s.
I was just having a conversation about this story tonight. My conversational companion was practically drooling over the idea of a guy leaving it all behind and running off into the woods. However inspiring it might be - it was selfish, I can’t imagine that his family could have done something so awful that they deserved to never hear from him again.
@ Leon: Wow. That’s kind of deep. I hadn’t really thought about it contradictions and stuff. And, yeah, check out the movie if you get a chance. It was definitely interesting.
@ Ella: Love your British spelling of “honours” :)
@ KrisTLove: Who knows what this guy’s story was. The movie touched on some of the family drama, but I’m not sure how much of that was true and how much was “inspired” for the movie. In an case, his poor family must feel really sad.
@ danishDude: :-)
@ Baba Doodlius: What ever happened to after-school specials? I used to love those shows.
@ Nessa: Don’t hold back. Tell me how you very feel about this.
@ Dkzone: Good analogy. I told my friend Mags it would be like someone from the rural parts coming to New York to “conquer” the urban lifestyle by living on the streets. No necessarily the smartest thing to do.
@ Angie: Me too.
@ Pegs: I wanna read the book!
@ løvechocolate: Yeah, it’s a hard one. I mean, yeah, sure, I sooo like the idea of getting away from it all. While I lived in Chicago, I took a 2-week vacation to Hawaii to visit a friend. It was WONDERFUL to sit on the beach and kind of be away from the hustle and bustle of the city for several days, but I wouldn’t have even dreamed of going there without telling anyone where I was going. I mean, seriously, it would literally break my sister’s heart in two if I disappeared for 2 days. This guy did it for 2 YEARS.
Definitly read the book over the movie. It’s a good representation, but limiting in detail. The book answers many question and solves arguments that one might have about his life, situation, and ideals. His ideals are the most important, and are lost in modern society…regardless of whether he was foolish about walking into the wild and unprepared, he was a facinating person and did something that few have the courage to do. Give up everything and follow a dream.
Funny that this should come up, as I’ve been having a conversation with myself recently about running versus standing in place.
I think it’s easy to run. It’s easy to say you’re leaving it all behind, that’s it’s the best for you and your loved ones, for whatever reason. It’s a thousand times harder to make a stand and face your issues head-on, day after day after grueling day.
Of course, it’s not all black and white. I would never, for example, suggest to a woman in a domestic abuse situation that it’s better to stay. But I would never tell someone who’s not in a life-threatening situation to run.
This actually brought to mind a line from the beautiful but flawed “Minority Report,” an enigmatic line the moment the film turned from a techno spankfest “ET Meets AI” into “The Most Dangerous Game Meets The Fugitive”: “Everybody runs.”
I swirled it around my mouth and filtered it through my mind for a while after first hearing that line. I’m still not convinced it’s not some laughable attempt to be profound when it’s really some “There is no spoon” Buddhist-Zen-psychobabble, but it makes sense to me.
@ Casey J: I’ve gotta check it out. The movie but good but — as most movies — it definitely left a lot to be desired and there were a lot of unanswered questions.
@ Andy: I *loved* the lines from Minority Report. GREAT writing in that movie. And, I totally agree … At some point, everyone runs, no?
Sad and Inspiring. Those who criticize him on here don’t get him. I’m not saying I do get him any more than others, but I think I understand him differently than critics of his on here. Quite simply, I think criticism is similar to the armchair QB. I think (after reading the book and his journal entries) that the whole point was to lose himself in the wilderness as a true, absolute test of self-reliance to gain pure freedom, to test oneself and be free of all other securities and dependencies. A map would have defeated the whole purpose… a way to bail out if the going got tuff would have diminished the experience according to McCandless strict code. Basically, it was no more, no less stupid than someone climbing Everest without oxygen, and the likes. Krakaur deduced the most logical explanation as to McCandless’ tragic demise, and fyi… it wasn’t fully attributable to lack of preparation if it’s really what happened, but I don’t want to spoil…. read the book and/or see the movie (both highly recommended, preferably in that order), and then judge however you like, but he was not suicidal or anything, just a young man with a primal thirst that could only be quenched by the journey he had the guts to take. It is too bad he did not keep his family in the loop, at least a little, and one can only guess if this was a regret of his in the end… nothing indicated that he planned on abandoning them forever, or vise versa…. nobody will ever know. tidbit: the movie soundtrack is mostly Ed Ved, and it is tremendous.
I have read the book several times and just watched the movie. In summary, I’d say this guy truly “lived” more in 24 years then 99% of people live in their lives. Now we all guage the term “live” differently, but he lived by his rules, made himself happy, and died because of it. Maybe all those who criticize him so much are just jealous that they are bound by the chains of mediocrity and just toe the line but are too afraid to jump across. I am one as well. Too many people live their lives worrying too much about what others think. But he had the balls to defy convention and live by his own rules. I feel bad for the way his family felt, but I do believe the guy died with a smile on his face. How many of us will?
who gave you the stupid right to judge what a person has to decide of her own life? If you can’t understand then don’t act like you understand it all…
@ anonymous: Thanks for your input. And, yeah, def check out the original article. He has a line in there about “not having a death wish” or something.
@ mike: “Bound by the chains of mediocrity”. Love it; you’re funny! :)
@ just another one: I don’t think anyone on here was judging him any more or less than you’re judging the folks on here. Folks just seem to be sharing their opinions babes.
who was that “just another one” quote aimed at? Me? Please clarify…coherently.
Personally, I am envious of Christopher McCandless; bro went on his life journey carefree. I’d love to muster up enough fierceness and passion to do so myself.
Sure people can say that Chris is “selfish” and “arrogant” for the abandonment he left everyone feeling - but I’m sorry, if I were setting out on a quest for REAL life and living, the last thing on my mind would be how this might affect others. As harsh as I know that may seem, it’s a reality: Doubtful that his big plan was to go die on some mountain. He probably imagined he’d end up home again-or that he’d be in some sort of contact with his friends/family. If not though, fair enough. It’s not like any of us are in a place to judge the man.
“Supertramp” got to endure more living than I (regrettably) ever will. Although I do graduate next year, and plan on setting out on and making my own and-ever, I feel as if I would be lucky to live an adventure half as fulfilling as his.
Obviously, very inspired.
It’s neither stupid or sad to me. I am surprised to read some reactions. I have been deeply moved by this story and even though he understood too late the lesson, at least he learned one and lived to the fullest.
I think we can’t judge Chris’s behaviour. Maybe it’s a kind of strange way to take life. Maybe he was just a feckless and brainless, but he did what he wanted to do. He had the courage to follow his passions and his ideals. Maybe he was just a selfish and arrogant young man. But maybe for him the only way to understand that “happiness is a true thing only when we can share it (or something like that)”, was to go into the wild and stay alone and lonely.
I don’t think is a hero because of his courage. Nay his humanity is astounding, and let me think that everything is all right even when we realise that we was wrong.
he starts from the zero
I think that there are so many people that are afraid to be free like Christopher that the only way to accept themselves is to say that he was a stupid boy. In two years he lived something that we, in our society, will not live in all our life. Respect.
(sorry for my english, is not my own language)
I disagree with what many people have to say about Christoper McCandless story. I believe too much emphasis today is put on living longer, rather than finding the through extent of yourself and how you relate to the world which may require for some seemingly reckless abandon. I believe in the 113 days and the previous couple of years Christopher got an understanding and comfort with himself and the world. Which a large portion of people never achieve so they remain in power struggles with society, family and themselves.
I do not think he was selfish for the pain he caused his family I think he had to break the link to them in order to break the limitations of there perception of him. It can be impossible to be two people at the same time and remain honest. That is the person you see yourself as and the person your nurturers think or wish you to be. I am sure we can agree it can be torture to feel like you are disappointing people just because you do not see yourself as they do.
I am really glad to have seen the film and read about Mr McCandless.
# mike: Not sure who he/she was referring to.
# suzy: Good that you feel inspired! I agree with you that he probably didn’t plan to die on a mountain, but I think that was precisely what did him in: he didn’t plan. If he set out to make it on his own in the wilderness *AND* prepared himself for what he was getting into, he’d probably still be happily living his life as he pleased.
# Joanna: I don’t think anyone is against the man living his life to the fullest. I wasn’t really surprised by any of the reactions on here yet — seems like people are just sharing their opinions. (Except “just another one” … and now that I think about it, I might delete that comment.)
# Italian Giulia: You said, “he did what he wanted to do.” I’d have to disagree. I don’t think the man was suicidal, and I don’t think he wanted to die. (I could be wrong about this.) None of us were inside of his head, but I think we agree that he wanted to live life to the fullest. So, the question is: Did he go about doing that in a way that delivered his intended result? Obviously, the answer is “no” (if we all agree that the man wasn’t suicidal and didn’t intend to die). So, then the question is: Was there a way to go about doing it that would have delivered his intended result (i.e. *live* life to the fullest)? Yep, there sure was. So, the fact that he *DIDN’T* made me wonder whether people thought his story was “sad and inspiring” or “sad and stupid”. I think you’re on to something when you said: “Maybe he was just a selfish and arrogant young man. But maybe for him the only way to understand that ‘happiness is a true thing only when we can share it (or something like that),’ was to go into the wild and stay alone and lonely.”
# paolo: okay.
# marco: No need to make apologies for your English. I should apologize because I haven’t installed a translator widget on my site so international visitors can read the FBC in their own language. Sorry. (Mi dispiace!) I’ll add that to the list of tweaks to make in the future. The last time I looked into that, the options weren’t that good.
# Oscar: I like the question you raise about whether: “it can be torture to feel like you are disappointing people just because you do not see yourself as they do.” I might write about this in a full post.
although i really dislike sean penn, i watched the movie anyways because i had prior knowledge of the mccandless story. although feeling inspired, i have to say that he was a moron. good initiative, bad judgment. in 2004, during a hike thru washington state, i found myself lost in the olympic national forest. poor planning on my part, but with mucho knowledge on survival, i lived comfortably for almost a month until i found my way out. if he had done just a little bit of research, he would not have met such a terrible end. i have decided to go to alaska after i get out of this desert (currently in baghdad) and live off the land for 100 days. but i’m sure no one will hear about it, because i will definitely make it out alive. why is it they want to make a movie out of the one who didn’t make it? why is stupidity celebrated? are we supposed to feel sympathy because he didn’t do his research? feel sorry because he was ill prepared? my opinion is if you feel bad for him then you are just as stupid.
post script: does anyone know where, exactly, in alaska he was?
so i just finally read the other posts on this page and i must say i am amazed. it seems the majority just think the whole idea of living off the grid is some new thing. i know many of people who live most of their lives on the trail. cut off from the world for the most part. people who could never imagine owning a computer or a television. its not far fetched - its happening all around you. maybe you just haven’t taken the time to notice. i have spent several years of my life on the trail and absolutely love it. although i do still have a great relationship with my family. plus, most importantly, i ALWAYS do my research before heading into a new area. someone on here wrote that in the book, he did his research. if he did he would have known that when the snow melts, the rivers get bigger. instead of putting a hat on a tree, why didn’t he tie a rope on the tree? it would be easy to tell that a big tree is outside of the summer river area. i mean, these are simple things people. he didn’t need a map, he just needed some common sense.
The story is engaging due to the larger philosophical & psychological issues that we can feel the pull of. His poor decisions & failure are not the reason it attracts attention, though the drama & tragedy lend some poignant appeal. It is startlingly inhumane to feel no sympathy when someone pursues an adventure/ideal imperfectly. More so is finding all who feel sorry for him dumb. That is a poor representation of what some real outdoorsmen & Thoreau fellow travelers find-a deeper maturity & compassion for the human condition. Where well intended but flawed people & choices are viewed with respect & humility, not contempt & derision.
Dissapointed, it wasn’t intense enough, my god when you’re isolated and struggling, you need to juggle alot just to keep your sanity until you can find help or be rescued. On the flip side it would be a wonderful place to die.
Chris was very brave to challenge it all, but as mentioned it happens all the time, the lifestyle isn’t odd it reminds you of how fragile we really are. But being ISOLATED without proper provisions why suffer…It’s sad he did not have a partner or friend with him.
yesterday night i saw this movie and unable to find some sleep,i was deeply moved by the way he decided to live his life.But for what?leaving every one he met and his parents in distress.
All of you that say what he did was cowardly and selfish are just hypocrites. He had the courage to take on a challenge that he indeed, probably knew would lead to death. He found true happiness where he was and died knowing whatever truth he was in search of. Let me guess. Leaving home and joining the military and dying in combat is selfish also? You people are so brainwashed by society.
Few people wake up from the monotony of life and truly see themselves in proportion to their surroundings. We live, we love … maybe make some money along the way, but how do we make our mark in this life? How do we ensure that with the death of our bodies our memory will live on. I don’t think Chris cared about what anyone thought about what he was doing or whether even he thought this was a good idea. I believe Chris was searching for something bigger than himself. Bigger than material possessions and the contorted mindset of present day society. We, as human beings, demand to be respected and appreciated because of the amount of money we bring home or the fancy car we drive but it means nothing. Chris wanted to strip away the part of himself that was false. When we find a way to rid ourselves of the judgement, materialism, and ignorance we show every day toward others and oursleves and learn to appreciate the simpler joys in life than we will finally know true happiness.
@ j my: He was near the Denali National Park, but I can’t remember the exact location. The bus is still there. Google it, and you’ll prob get the details.
@ Mike Felber: Good point! His actions should be generalized to those of other outdoorsfolks.
@ below zero: It *IS* sad that he was alone. :(
@ bharat: Yeah, I thought leaving his parents in the lurch was really shitty.
@ Patrick: I didn’t get the idea that “everyone” thought anything in particular here. There seem to be a lot of difference opinions.
@ Katie: Wow. Beautiful comment! Thanks for sharing.
is it not better to die young in a rusty old bus living your dreams, than to live to a ripe old age and die in a sterile hospital bed next to your peers, full of regrets for not having the courage or conviction to live your dreams? i know what my choice is. fly free my brother
The scariest part of this is the number of people who praise Chris for his ‘courage’ - the rich kid decided to drop it all and leave his old life and family and vastly underestimate the outdoors with a severe lack of respect which cost him his life.
I’ve participated on another site in a debate on this and many of the pro-Chris arguments stem around presumptions of his motivation. The book was a patchwork of information that the author put together but by no means encompasses any facts directly from Chris.
“is it not better to die young in a rusty old bus living your dreams, than to live to a ripe old age and die in a sterile hospital bed next to your peers, full of regrets for not having the courage or conviction to live your dreams? i know what my choice is. fly free my brother”
These comments are selfish, idealistic and 2 dimensional. Who’s going to have the family or take away your garbage or build your schools? Would we all love to live some peaceful and idyllic life in a beautiful environment free of responsibilities and hypocrisy? That ain’t Denali National Park - you have to fight for life there and work pretty hard to maintain it. If living off the grid was his goal he should have had enough repect for neture to learn enough to live side by side with it. Fantasy and reality need to be addressed as well as those who are assuming they know what his motivation was in this venture. If you are tired of your life or want to shine like a shooting star - bright and hot for a short period of time then that’s your thing. At 40 I can say I did some stupid things but am glad I’ve lived this long so far and look forward to the future - it only gets better people.
@ dags: Seriously, thanks for sharing! :) The world is more interesting when people respectfully disagree.
@ Steve: You bring up interesting points. I hadn’t thought of the fact that the guy torched his own car to live off the land BUT then he regularly hitched rides in *other* people’s car.
Read the book. Do you think that Henry David Thoreau stupid?
*was stupid.
Hahaha, that just proved that I am :P
:-)
There are so many ways that analogy doesn’t work but here are a few thoughts:
- His first attempt at “simple living” was a cabin on RW Emerson’s land 1.5 miles from his family home where he spent 2 years. He didn’t walk into a wilderness unprepared.
- Thoreau graduated from Harvard and worked in many jobs (including his families pencil factory) and mixed in his facination with nature.
- He publicly discussed and spent time in jail for his principles - spoke on and wrote the essay “Civil Disobedience” which influenced everyone from MLK jr to Gandhi.
In the essay “Henry David Thoreau, Philosopher” Roderick Nash writes: “Thoreau left Concord in 1846 for the first of three trips to northern Maine. His expectations were high because he hoped to find genuine, primeval America. But contact with real wilderness in Maine affected him far differently than had the idea of wilderness in Concord. Instead of coming out of the woods with a deepened appreciation of the wilds, Thoreau felt a greater respect for civilization and realized the necessity of balance.
HDT was not stupid but he also had Emerson and a family to help him on his intellectual pursuits. He took those options and made an impact in our literary history. Chris’ story is totally different and not comparable.
THANK YOU for your well-informed, interesting comment. Seeeeee, this exactly what I love about the FBC. Everyone gives great input and respectfully disagrees without getting silly or resorting to personal attacks. Love, love LOVE all of y’all.
The movie was great.It did not show all the hardships that the man endured but thats the movies for you - always sugar coated. It did however get the point across extremly well. Go and find yourself but always remember where you came from. The man did find himself, The man did try and go home it was just that when he underestimated the wild he was trapped in his own world that he had created for himself. So he went from feeling trapped with what his family wanted from him to the wild, Where he then eventually was trapped with what he wanted from himself. It was just sheer dumb luck that he ate the wrong berries, he got to relaxed about his knolwledge of the wild and how to survive. It has touched my very deeply about how short life is and you only get one chance to live and enjoy it.
Some of these responses amaze me. People are so God awful full of themselves and caught up with the over-indulgence of today’s society. Ubsured for any of you pompus S.O.B.’s to critique a man’s life choice to intentionally put himself through the most rigorous test any man could go through. You all sit up in your towers on your computers in your world of 21st century conveniences and call this man crazy? Mental? Wacko? Then throw me in with him. This man was a quixotic visionary of his time. He took his life and squezzed the hell out of it, hoping to get every drop while most people sit around and watch it fly by. This man lived a reputable life and died an honorable death, one that I would be proud to die. If I die in my sleep it means I wasn’t doing something right. I want to be running when the sand runs out. All that aside, this movie has extremly inspired me and as well has prompted me to take up an old dream of a similar caliber. To leave everything and wander the world with ultimate freedom. It is only after we have lost everything that we are free to do anything.
Donnie, I haven’t seen the film, but my problem isn’t so much with him squeezing every drop out of his life, it’s with him just WALKING away from his FAMILY. That is just…wrong to me. He, apparently, sends cards to strangers but not his family? I’m so connected with my sisters and their kids that when I took a vacation for a week, after two days I wanted pics of the kids sent to my cell phone. THAT I have issues with.
You have to respect your surroundings, be they urban, rural, or the edge of nowhere. You can’t just jump up and live off the land, you need to know what you’re going up against, and Mother Nature is the ultimate Bitch. Ask the people in New Orleans.
I enjoyed the film, I thought it was moving and romantic. His story has clearly touched something in all of us. I would love to know what he would have to say about how we live in 2008. I would think he’d be infuriated knowing that his story has been turned into a blockbuster film. From what we have been told, his intentions were to find happiness and reality away from society and its superficiality; however his story has now been almost tainted by those exact things.
It is amazing how people are saying that Chris was stupid for taking his adventure because he never made it out of the wild. Had he accomplished what he set out to do these same people would rush to malls and purchase his book and apply his experiences to their daily lives because we all want to escape at times. Chris is no hero but a 21st century pioneer with nowhere to explore so he created his exploration. So I ask the group where does the 21st Lewis and Clark explore? I can tell you were young people are exploring to day, in clubs,having sex, doing drugs, finding false love in gangs, careers, power tripping, following money, and lack of faith. People who go against the grain are always misunderstood!
STL, trust me when I say I wouldn’t rush to the mall - pinoneer? Really now, none of his endeavors were successful. He was saved multiple times during his pioneering efforts and car drowning experiences. The same sense of invincibility drove Chris like any other young and idealistic person and like others he died due to his hubris and lack of preparation. If you want to idolize someone because they took a chance and did something different, well, that’s your opinion. If you want to say he was a pioneer for running off and testing his mortality then you’re equally as naive.
I’m not sure if this link was visible to you but here it is in the body http://nmge.gmu.edu/textandcommunity/2006/Peter_Christian_Response.pdf
“This man was a quixotic visionary of his time” as Donnie said - this is the true damage of this book and movie. People who feel like dying dramatically is some sort of accomplishment. Visionary? If you think Chris was a visionary then you need to do some more research about your time and look into so many others who really are trailblazers and make a difference for so many others without being impulsive and unltimately embarking on a fatal and poorly planned quest.
[moderated] we were born to be in the wild… No matter what religion or science you believe in… His story is amazing and inspiring … I think the only part is the whole going to the shelter thing that would suck.. but to live in the wild.. like build your own little shack.. Have a little garden with fruit and vegis and walk down the trail to the river to catch fish.. that would be pretty darn cool.. I have honestly thought about doing it but the only thing is I would be scared about wild animals.. Bears, snakes, ect.. I don’t think I could handle that I’d have to build a fence haha
this story about this guy…very impressing…
in my opinion he did something very important…important for himself…think about what he would have become if he’d not turned his back on this freak and sick civilisation…i’ll bet you 5 bugs that it was the right thing to do…
i am on a hike myself…not that hard….but that is just because i don’t have the will and strength to do it like this…
he cut down his ID and drivers license and i made something like a special insurance for travellors…how weak is that!?
anyway…
i think everyone should go on a journey…everybody in his special way…
@ Clair: You said, “Go and find yourself but always remember where you came from.” I think that’s a great lesson for everyone. :)
@ Donnie: You mention, “It is only after we have lost everything that we are free to do anything.” I like that quote. It’s similar to, “The things you own end up owning you.” (Fight Club)
@ Dee: Yeah, the “WALKING away from his FAMILY” thing was kind of hard to swallow.
@ Janine: You mention, “His story has clearly touched something in all of us.” I think that holds true whether people agree or disagree with the choices he made.
@ STL: Dude, what’s wrong with having sex? ;)
@ Steve: Thanks for the link!
@ MJ: Thanks for your comment. :)
@ Jøhn: You said, “i think everyone should go on a journey…everybody in his special way.” Good point!
I think selfish or not, this was something HE felt he needed to do, needed to be done, and i truly believe that his intentions were to rid the demons within- in his own way. I think he truly realized while he was there that “HAPPINESS IS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED”. He wanted to go home, maybe not to ma and pa ,but back to civilization. Do I think he would go back YES. But I believe he found what he was soul searching for, and it ended in absolute sad tragedy by mistaken berries.
Sad to see an absolutly brilliant mind-gone like a gust of wind, and only to find out about it on the big screen. Wonderful movie.
No idolization here, but just a sad reminder that there are people who feel like they need to just up and leave civilization. That love or real people aren’t needed in daily lives. Sad.