After seeing Into the Wild will anyone pull a Chris Mccandless?

13

Comments

  • gue_barium wrote:
    If that's what this is about to you, that's too bad.

    Oh no, poor me.
  • gue_bariumgue_barium Posts: 5,515
    Oh no, poor me.

    Well, usually people who are blissfully unaware are just that, blissful, so the implication wasn't that it was too bad that you were blissful, it is too bad you're one of those people who likes it.

    Or, maybe you just want us to feel sorry for you cuz of your lot in life.

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  • eyedclaareyedclaar Posts: 6,980
    Do you spend your every waking moment trying to please other people? Sad, if so. I don’t understand the whole perception of him being selfish because of what he did "to his family". For starters, this kid gave away a huge chunk of money, something I’d be willing to bet about 99% of the people calling him selfish have never done. 2nd, it wasn’t his intention to abandon his family forever, it just worked out that way due to tragic circumstances. 3rd, he was young and angst ridden and some of his anger was directed at his family. I’d say that puts him on par with most people on earth. I was freakin' crazy when I was in my early 20's. 4th, he would have mot likely found his peace with himself and his family had his life not been cut short.

    Shit, I’ve made my treks into the wild (come check out central Idaho sometime) and I never told anyone where I was going or when I’d come back. It was something I had to do at the time in order to preserve my sanity and satisfy my curiosity. Thankfully, I always made it back. But if I hadn’t, my family and friends would have understood that it wasn’t a selfish act on my part, it was just something I had to do. I guess some people will get that and others won’t.
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  • gue_bariumgue_barium Posts: 5,515
    eyedclaar wrote:
    Do you spend your every waking moment trying to please other people? Sad, if so. I don’t understand the whole perception of him being selfish because of what he did "to his family". For starters, this kid gave away a huge chunk of money, something I’d be willing to bet about 99% of the people calling him selfish have never done. 2nd, it wasn’t his intention to abandon his family forever, it just worked out that way due to tragic circumstances. 3rd, he was young and angst ridden and some of his anger was directed at his family. I’d say that puts him on par with most people on earth. I was freakin' crazy when I was in my early 20's. 4th, he would have mot likely found his peace with himself and his family had his life not been cut short.

    Shit, I’ve made my treks into the wild (come check out central Idaho sometime) and I never told anyone where I was going or when I’d come back. It was something I had to do at the time in order to preserve my sanity and satisfy my curiosity. Thankfully, I always made it back. But if I hadn’t, my family and friends would have understood that it wasn’t a selfish act on my part, it was just something I had to do. I guess some people will get that and others won’t.

    Excellent post.

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  • senninsennin Posts: 2,146
    eyedclaar wrote:
    Do you spend your every waking moment trying to please other people? Sad, if so. I don’t understand the whole perception of him being selfish because of what he did "to his family". For starters, this kid gave away a huge chunk of money, something I’d be willing to bet about 99% of the people calling him selfish have never done. 2nd, it wasn’t his intention to abandon his family forever, it just worked out that way due to tragic circumstances. 3rd, he was young and angst ridden and some of his anger was directed at his family. I’d say that puts him on par with most people on earth. I was freakin' crazy when I was in my early 20's. 4th, he would have mot likely found his peace with himself and his family had his life not been cut short.

    Shit, I’ve made my treks into the wild (come check out central Idaho sometime) and I never told anyone where I was going or when I’d come back. It was something I had to do at the time in order to preserve my sanity and satisfy my curiosity. Thankfully, I always made it back. But if I hadn’t, my family and friends would have understood that it wasn’t a selfish act on my part, it was just something I had to do. I guess some people will get that and others won’t.

    I really love the Lochsa/Selway area. The Selway River Trail is swesome!
  • CosmoCosmo Posts: 12,219
    gue_barium wrote:
    Bathing in a nice clear creek then crawling into a warm sleeping bag can be just as nice.
    ...
    Yeah... it's okay for about a week or so. After that... I'm not sure... I've never camped out for longer than that.
    ...
    The other thing that makes home nicer than camping... no Bears.
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  • eyedclaareyedclaar Posts: 6,980
    sennin wrote:
    I really love the Lochsa/Selway area. The Selway River Trail is swesome!

    The Lochsa and Clearwater rivers might run through the most beautiful country in the lower 48. Nice to hear from a "local".
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  • decides2dreamdecides2dream Posts: 14,976
    sennin wrote:
    There has to be some undiscovered areas.....but don't think there are many.

    I haven't seen the movie or read the book.....yet. BUT....Babs is coming over tomorrow and she's going to see it with Lisa and I on Thursday!

    I'd like to read the book sometime too.



    oh i agree, but just not too many anymore. i am sure if someone truly wants to disappear, it's possible....even right within civilization.

    i never read the book, i loved the movie...and the soundtrck is perfection for it. and i am jealous about babs, but i guess i got more than my fair share doing touring buddies 2x in europe, so i guess you deserve some love too. ;)

    Danimal wrote:
    I could never do this. There ain't no girls to scrump with out in the wilderness. Unless you wanna bang an animal.

    Eff that.


    'scrump with'...:d...i've never heard that beofore, but i like it. i also agree. guess it shows where my mind is at :o. b/c i was thinking that EXACT same thing, how long he did without sex, and just thought :eek: who would willingly choose that? yikes! i am all for alone time, following your bliss, making your dreams a reality, etc. i guess for me, while alonetime is good...i would personally never choose to willingly be utterly alone for such a time period. i love people and the interaction way too much, so definitely not a part of my dream to be without them.



    for the record, i have never been critical of chris, nor have i praised him. i am rather ambivilnt about his choices. i can totally understand either perspective. for me, i just think cool he followed his dreams, and how utterly tragic his life was cut short. however, as stated, unless he later decided to write a book about his experience and it managed to be a best selller, most of us would never know chris mccandless without his untimely death. is that fame worth it? i don't think so...so if nothing else, i feel sorry for him that his life was so short, but i guess good for him that he was following his dream. :)




    btw - totally off topic, but my husband just called me at work to verify what the primary colors were and we had a whole discussion regarding color theory. this is an arguement he was having at work. :p hahahahaha. just had to share........
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  • gue_bariumgue_barium Posts: 5,515
    Cosmo wrote:
    ...
    Yeah... it's okay for about a week or so. After that... I'm not sure... I've never camped out for longer than that.
    ...
    The other thing that makes home nicer than camping... no Bears.

    I'd rather deal with bears than people. At least in the woods.

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  • gue_barium wrote:
    You're so far off the chart I don't know where to begin.
    Is this supposed to be an attempt at humor?

    Ohhh.. are you one of those who thinks he wasn't cruel to his family? Or that being true to yourself AND being decent to those who love you are mutually exclusive?
    Listen I'm all for dropping out of society if you can stomach it. It's certainly not for everyone, as romantic as it seems.

    Do me a favor, don't tell me I'm off the mark and compare yourself to Chris McCandless and say you'd rather be with bears than people while you're on the other side of your high-speed wireless (or whatever connection you use). I get the feeling that you climb onto these threads and disagree just for the sake of arguing. If I'm wrong.. then I'm wrong. Chris McCandless was selfish, he may not have had much respect for his parents, and that's fine, but he could've at least dropped his sister some sign that he was all right.
    "If you're looking for someone to pull you out of that ditch, you're out of luck."
  • gue_bariumgue_barium Posts: 5,515
    Ohhh.. are you one of those who thinks he wasn't cruel to his family? Or that being true to yourself AND being decent to those who love you are mutually exclusive?
    Listen I'm all for dropping out of society if you can stomach it. It's certainly not for everyone, as romantic as it seems.

    Do me a favor, don't tell me I'm off the mark and compare yourself to Chris McCandless and say you'd rather be with bears than people while you're on the other side of your high-speed wireless (or whatever connection you use). I get the feeling that you climb onto these threads and disagree just for the sake of arguing. If I'm wrong.. then I'm wrong. Chris McCandless was selfish, he may not have had much respect for his parents, and that's fine, but he could've at least dropped his sister some sign that he was all right.
    You responded to what I said about the American pioneers and gold rush prospectors with something about the Pony Express and a bank account. I do have a good idea, through personal experience, what it is like to live off the land for a time, and the day-to-day undertaking that it is. I don't think it is so difficult or crazy as some people make it out to be. It is different, but once you learn some basics it isn't any different than any other system in which you have to take care of yourself. McCandless shed the expectations of his family and the society he was entering to see if he could handle it, or perhaps to see what most other people, like you, are missing.

    Those pioneers and prospectors knew what it was like. I'd like to think we aren't so far removed in just a century or two that our basic relationship with nature is forgotten.

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  • corycory Posts: 736
    Is there internet porn in the wild? If not, a resounding no for me.
    Revive the heart of the heartless...

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  • gue_barium wrote:
    You responded to what I said about the American pioneers and gold rush prospectors with something about the Pony Express and a bank account. I do have a good idea, through personal experience, what it is like to live off the land for a time, and the day-to-day undertaking that it is. I don't think it is so difficult or crazy as some people make it out to be. It is different, but once you learn some basics it isn't any different than any other system in which you have to take care of yourself. McCandless shed the expectations of his family and the society he was entering to see if he could handle it, or perhaps to see what most other people, like you, are missing.

    Those pioneers and prospectors knew what it was like. I'd like to think we aren't so far removed in just a century or two that our basic relationship with nature is forgotten.

    Have you ever packed up and left everything and everyone you loved to follow your heart? Have you ever left behind something that really truly meant something to you just so you were the better for it?

    You don't know anything about me, so I would appreciate it if you would not presume to tell me what I am "missing." OK?
    "If you're looking for someone to pull you out of that ditch, you're out of luck."
  • gue_bariumgue_barium Posts: 5,515
    Have you ever packed up and left everything and everyone you loved to follow your heart? Have you ever left behind something that really truly meant something to you just so you were the better for it?

    You don't know anything about me, so I would appreciate it if you would not presume to tell me what I am "missing." OK?

    Well, if your interpretation of the pioneers and prospector's everyday living as being something buffered by modern conveniences like, ahem, the "pony express," and a "bank account," i see that you are definitley "missing" an appreciation for that type of existence.

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  • After seeing the movie last night, I didn't feel as if he journey was as romanticized as I thought it would be.

    Sure the kayaking and tramping seemed exciting but it was offset by the difficulty he had in Alaska. The seen where he is screaming because he can't find food, the weight he lost and his final days showed the pain he was feeling.

    And then right before his death, didn't he write a note about the importance of relationships?
    "Don't lose your inner heat...ever" - EV 5/13/06
  • catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    how is his death tragic? he died doing what he wanted to do. it doesn't matter how old he was. shit, if i had big enough balls(metaphorically speaking) i'd walk out my front door and never look back. if one of my children or some other member of my family decided to do what mccandless did i'd be green with envy. but i would never think they were selfish or whatever. and i certainly wouldn't think i was owed anything by them maintaining their allegiance to a way of life they didnt want to live. it's your life, no one's elses. live it at a snail's pace or at warp speed. but live it for yourself, no one else.
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  • gue_bariumgue_barium Posts: 5,515
    Here are some great first-person accounts of travels through and living in the "wilderness" from American history.

    http://www.over-land.com/diaries.html

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  • gue_bariumgue_barium Posts: 5,515
    sennin wrote:
    As long as I have a therarest pad and a north face bag....and a nice pillow. :p

    My thermarest is ten years old and been through the mill. It's still amazingly functional and comfortable.

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  • prismprism Posts: 2,440
    how is his death tragic? he died doing what he wanted to do. it doesn't matter how old he was. shit, if i had big enough balls(metaphorically speaking) i'd walk out my front door and never look back. if one of my children or some other member of my family decided to do what mccandless did i'd be green with envy. but i would never think they were selfish or whatever. and i certainly wouldn't think i was owed anything by them maintaining their allegiance to a way of life they didnt want to live. it's your life, no one's elses. live it at a snail's pace or at warp speed. but live it for yourself, no one else.

    you get the impression that he wanted to starve to death completely alone? he did attempt to leave the bus and get back. it's not as though dying out there was something that he chose to do, it just turned out that way. was he trying to test himself, sure. but it's clear that he had every intention of trying to get back somehow.
    I don't see him as selfish per se because I think he figured that he could always contact his love ones upon his return to whatever form of soceity he decided to go back to. I would at least hope that if one of my kids took off for points unknown they'd at least check in on occasion so that at least I knew that they were well and alive, not that i'd expect them to live or stay someplace they didn't want to.
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  • catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    prism wrote:
    you get the impression that he wanted to starve to death completely alone? he did attempt to leave the bus and get back. it's not as though dying out there was something that he chose to do, it just turned out that way. was he trying to test himself, sure. but it's clear that he had every intention of trying to get back somehow.
    I don't see him as selfish per se because I think he figured that he could always contact his love ones upon his return to whatever form of soceity he decided to go back to. I would at least hope that if one of my kids took off for points unknown they'd at least check in on occasion so that at least I knew that they were well and alive, not that i'd expect them to live or stay someplace they didn't want to.

    no. im sure dying out in the boonies wasn't his intention. but it was a risk he was obviously prepared to take. he just waited too long.
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  • gue_bariumgue_barium Posts: 5,515
    no. im sure dying out in the boonies wasn't his intention. but it was a risk he was obviously prepared to take. he just waited too long.

    people die all the time.
    i think the mccandless story is a unique portrayal for this day and age in that maccandless went to such lengths to define himself beyond the binds of the status quo.

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  • catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    gue_barium wrote:
    people die all the time.
    i think the mccandless story is a unique portrayal for this day and age in that maccandless went to such lengths to define himself beyond the binds of the status quo.

    and here's me thinking they are all just being abducted by aliens. :p:D
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  • prismprism Posts: 2,440
    no. im sure dying out in the boonies wasn't his intention. but it was a risk he was obviously prepared to take. he just waited too long.

    but I can still see how people would view starving to death alone stuck in the boonies as tragic. plus had he foresaw all the risk he would've been better prepared. I kinda think that he was over-confident to the point that he never considered not being able to get out and that he could be poisioned by eating seeds that would lead to him starving to death
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  • catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    prism wrote:
    but I can still see how people would view starving to death alone stuck in the boonies as tragic. plus had he foresaw all the risk he would've been better prepared. I kinda think that he was over-confident to the point that he never considered not being able to get out and that he could be poisioned by eating seeds that would lead to him starving to death

    foresight wasn't in his plan i imagine. would kinda have take the edge off what he was doing. was he naive? probably. but the fact that he did what he did is what i'm in praise of. people die crossing the road on their way to their 9 to 5 ratcage job and never even see a bear in the wild or smell the pine trees. you look at an adventure like that and think well how difficult could it be? the indigenous peoples have managed it for thousands of years. well i guess he found out how difficult it was. :( and he didn't die wondering.
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  • catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    so... i saw into the wild today. never in my life have i been so emotionally affected by a film. what a celebration of life i found it. so many thoughts rose in my head that it was difficult for me to see straight. these thoughts have always been in my head, but today watching the movie they all just became clearer. i realised fully how much i hate the way i am living my life, and how i seriously need to take charge of it before it kills what little spiirit i have left. i was in total awe of the decision mccandless made to walk away from the life he had and didnt want to be a part of. dont think im romanticising what he did cause i know better than that. im sure im not the only person on this board that has trememndous trouble dealing with society. and for mccandless to do what he did took tremendous conviction. i was thinking how can i be responsible for my children when i cant even take responsibility for my own life. if i cant be true to myself, how can i be true to them and expect the same in return. i dont know what im going to do to resolve what has been awakened inside me but something will be done.
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  • gue_bariumgue_barium Posts: 5,515
    so... i saw into the wild today. never in my life have i been so emotionally affected by a film. what a celebration of life i found it. so many thoughts rose in my head that it was difficult for me to see straight. these thoughts have always been in my head, but today watching the movie they all just became clearer. i realised fully how much i hate the way i am living my life, and how i seriously need to take charge of it before it kills what little spiirit i have left. i was in total awe of the decision mccandless made to walk away from the life he had and didnt want to be a part of. dont think im romanticising what he did cause i know better than that. im sure im not the only person on this board that has trememndous trouble dealing with society. and for mccandless to do what he did took tremendous conviction. i was thinking how can i be responsible for my children when i cant even take responsibility for my own life. if i cant be true to myself, how can i be true to them and expect the same in return. i dont know what im going to do to resolve what has been awakened inside me but something will be done.

    I saw it last week, finally. I think it was better than I expected, and does justice to the the Krakauer account. Maybe even better in some respects.

    I was the first one to leave the theater. I think everyone else had to sit for awhile to dry their tears.

    Eddie on the soundtrack made me feel at home, at first, as if I hadn't left my seat at the computer posting on the message pit. Lol.

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  • catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    gue_barium wrote:
    I saw it last week, finally. I think it was better than I expected, and does justice to the the Krakauer account. Maybe even better in some respects.

    I was the first one to leave the theater. I think everyone else had to sit for awhile to dry their tears.

    Eddie on the soundtrack made me feel at home, at first, as if I hadn't left my seat at the computer posting on the message pit. Lol.

    i left the cinema a little ways into the credits and had to retreat to the ladies to regain my composure. on the way home i listened to the soundtrack and just coasted home almost on auto pilot.

    at the end when his father was in the street and showed that he wasnt wearing any sox, i broke down completely. i dont think there is anything worse than the silence of not knowing.
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  • gue_bariumgue_barium Posts: 5,515
    i left the cinema a little ways into the credits and had to retreat to the ladies to regain my composure. on the way home i listened to the soundtrack and just coasted home almost on auto pilot.

    at the end when his father was in the street and showed that he wasnt wearing any sox, i broke down completely. i dont think there is anything worse than the silence of not knowing.

    I did that once.
    I disappeared for 2-3 months in Arizona without anyone knowing where I was. I had used a soup kitchen address prior to that, in Tucson, and when I finally got back there, there was a letter from my Mom saying she had looked all over for me and didn't know where else to write. My Grandma had died.
    I haven't done that again.

    I will tell you though, when you come from a family that has gone through a shitload of conflict, it is extremely liberating, at least for a little while to suddenly be free of any association with them. To be anonymous that way.

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  • catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    gue_barium wrote:
    I did that once.
    I disappeared for 2-3 months in Arizona without anyone knowing where I was. I had used a soup kitchen address prior to that, in Tucson, and when I finally got back there, there was a letter from my Mom saying she had looked all over for me and didn't know where else to write. My Grandma had died.
    I haven't done that again.

    I will tell you though, when you come from a family that has gone through a shitload of conflict, it is extremely liberating, at least for a little while to suddenly be free of any association with them. To be anonymous that way.

    i think when i do go, i couldn't allow my family to not know i was okay. i guess im fortunate that in my case all the conflict i feel is from within me. and tis very difficult to walk away from oneself. but i think its time for a major shakeup.
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  • gue_bariumgue_barium Posts: 5,515
    Oh!
    I hadn't studied the previews all that much and was pleasantly surprised to find that Catherine Keener was in this movie. She has got to be one of the loveliest, talented actors in the business today, imho.

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