I relate to this movie
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amandabom — 13 years ago(January 04, 2013 08:48 AM)
You remind me of my best friend . He's loved by everyone he meets, he truly sees people and can tune into them, and in many cases meeting him is a life changing experience for them, but never for him. I worry about his " inability" to lose himself to someone else. To fall in love and let someone love him.. But he restlessly moves on , and I can see in his eyes that he loves us , but doesn't need us or depends un us. I worry that he'll be lost to me and those who love him someday..
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Vanlandi — 13 years ago(February 03, 2013 07:33 PM)
Aloft,very interesting post.. you are talking about the lack of empathy and that's a lot worse than arrogance .. It's the beginning of a sociopath. And the special ability of this kind of people is exactly the "social chameleon", just because he can't feel emotions at the same level of others..
Sometimes, I feel like going into the woods, but the first thing that stops me are the ones I live for .. As someone said here, the guy never say a word about his family , sister , etc .. I don't know the book or the real story , but as this movie shows he showed some symptoms of a sociopath:
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Callous unconcern for the feelings of others;
Gross and persistent attitude of irresponsibility and disregard for social norms, rules, and obligations;
Incapacity to maintain enduring relationships, though having no difficulty in establishing them;
Very low tolerance to frustration and a low threshold for discharge of aggression, including violence;
Incapacity to experience guilt or to profit from experience, particularly punishment;
Markedly prone to blame others or to offer plausible rationalizations for the behavior that has brought the person into conflict with society.
" .. -
savaslikesmovies — 13 years ago(February 03, 2013 07:51 PM)
Rather what tendencies a sociopath has, not what is needed to be a sociopath.
What you describe, many, many people seem to portray. There is a lot more going in our heads then those basic concepts of emotion and actions. -
Vanlandi — 13 years ago(February 04, 2013 05:13 AM)
Symptoms .. If many, many people seem to portray , then they for sure have to check if there is a bigger problem.A symptom is not a diagnose..
I want to be clear : a sociopath is not a schizoid or a psychopath. It's just someone who has problems being the "social animal" : some because of abuse, some genetic,education etc. .. This problem can evolve, or not .. But yes, this is a problem. -
scottt-44876 — 10 years ago(October 10, 2015 06:03 PM)
I do not think you understand the movie or Chis the real person. Although he suffered an abusive childhood with his parents being abusive to each other and him. They made him watch them fight.
Chis rejected his parents and he did not want to be anything like them. He did not reject society. He rejected his fathers views. Chis did fit into society and made lots of friends, he was very social. He was private because he knew his parents would not let him go so he did not want them to find him. He worked and held jobs. He wanted the freedom to take long breaks from work so he could go on nature trips. He was an extraordinary person but many people would do what he did if they could or had the courage to. He did not need a huge bank account or need lots of possessions to make him happy. He obviously did enjoy people and having friends. It was clear in the film and from what I have researched was true about him. -
scottt-44876 — 10 years ago(October 10, 2015 05:51 PM)
"I don't know the book or the real story , but as this movie shows he showed some symptoms of a sociopath:"
You don't know so maybe you should inform yourself before posting. There is a lot of information about him available books written, movies., The one thing not really clearly explained in the movie is that Chris was seriously abused as a child. His parents would have major fights and make him witness them. He had a very abusive upbringing.
Your suggestion of Chris as a Sociopath is plain wrong and rude to post. I think it is terrible for you to write it with no research on him at all. We are talking about a real person who had a tragic death.
Chis rejected his parents and did not want to be like them. He did not reject people or society. He would make nature trips. He did not survive and live in nature. Many people enjoy getting off to nature for extended periods that is all Chis did. He had many friends and made friends easily. He also did not blame people, he rejected his parents because of their constant fighting and abuse to each other and to him. He had to escape them for his sanity and health.
He had jobs. He wanted the freedom to not work when he did not want to. He just did not want to be tied down. There are millions of people like that around the world and most are not sociopaths. Chris suffered a lot from his parents and was probably damaged by it but he realized it and his therapy was to get away from his abusers and to enjoy nature when he could. -
bud380 — 12 years ago(December 02, 2013 11:17 PM)
I agree with some points about the character, but I view his motivation entirely different, I see him as a person who is fed up with the mundane natures of ordinary life and wants to experience the world around him, the real world, not the advertised world of civilization and people, but the world as it is.
The ending helps to solidify this belief for me as it shows him laughing and happy instead of cold and desperate, which he should've been, but he wasn't. He'd tested himself, but more than that, he experienced things that a majority of people would never experience in their entire lives. Doing what he did takes not just a lot of bravery, but a lot of intelligence too.
I can only dream of doing what he did. At most, I can hope to take a road-trip across the US. -
LooseCed — 11 years ago(April 24, 2014 08:38 AM)
I felt a similar connection to this movie though I didn't grow up like you did, and I just wanted to say this was a very eloquent & well thought out post that I'm saving elsewhere for perspective on my own psychology.
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zwolf — 12 years ago(August 27, 2013 06:17 AM)
I think Chris was a rampant narcissist with a highly romanticized view of himself. He was an educated-but-stupid idealistic dreamer who, like all idealistic dreamers in this imperfect world, crashed and failed when he ran into reality. I don't know that he was arrogant so much as ignorant. Unfortunately, he didn't know enough to know that he didn't know everything, and he ended up paying a big price for it. I don't think
he
even knew what he thought most of the time; his writing was pretentious, poetic twaddle that really has no meaning when you analyze it at all; it, like all his other plans,
sounded
good but didn't really mean anything. It's a sad waste, but it was inevitable. -
WileyDairyGnome — 12 years ago(January 10, 2014 10:43 AM)
I do think that he underestimated how much he neededsomeone. It's weird. So I watched this movie for first time on Christmas or the day after and I was so annoyed by it. I rolled my eyes constantly and I was justirritated. Then I watched it again the next day, and again a day later andyeah I've seen it 4 times since then. I usually don't watch movies that often and if I do I get tired of them and have to take a break for a while. I don't know what it is about this movie butyeah.
I do think that he did made some pretty stupid choices. One could say that burning your money is stupid, but I understand why he did that. I, however, do not understand why he didn't prepare himself better for his "Great Alaskan Adventure" I think that's what he called itso yeah, at first that really bothered me.
But I guess, ultimately, it just doesn't really matter. While I wish he had been smarter about it, he did what he wanted to do.
I am a traveler of both time and space, to be where I have been -
jmachalik — 12 years ago(March 05, 2014 09:32 PM)
Chris didn't leave to hurt anyone. He left to find himself. Anyone who grows up in a family like this (as you stated that you had, and I obviously had because Iam replying to your post), will have many of the same feelings Chris had. My life parallels Chris's in many ways.
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ckmsaxophone — 12 years ago(March 13, 2014 11:50 AM)
I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head. When people don't understand Chris or the reasons why he did what he did, it's usually because they don't grasp the logic behind it; they can't relate to it.
I think most "Chris condemners" believe that he was stupid or ignorant going into the Alaskan wilderness and dying, assuming that death was part of his plan. He wanted help in the end, we know that. He made a mistake. We're all human.
Maybe they don't understand why a kid of 22 years old would leave almost all earthly possessions behind, donate $24,000 to charity, lose contact with friends and family (to make new friends and family), and live a tramping existence. It's a breath of fresh air for me, really. We grow up with the idea that we constantly need stuff. And that we can only be happy when we have more and more. Status is a big part of it, too. I commend people like Chris who choose to distance themselves from that lifestyle. In all honesty, how does it benefit the world? How does it even benefit the person?!
The lesson Chris learned was a good one: lose stuff, but not the people. He should've contacted his family (or at least his sister) to tell them he was ok. But maybe he didn't know how or what to say. And, if I was in his shoes, I would've probably struggled w/ that as well.
"I must express myself." - Delia Deetz -
lordjames-1 — 11 years ago(May 07, 2014 06:42 PM)
I completely relate to Chris and went through a lot of the same struggles he did. In my 20's I did a lot of bumming around the world and intentionally put myself in a number of very dangerous situations. I could have easily never returned just like Chris. But, I did eventually find my way home. That was easily the best time of my life. Very few people get to experience that degree of freedom and immediacy. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have done so. Is it a way to live your entire life? I decided no. But, I do think everyone would benefit from trying it out when they are young and brave.
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Jose_Accent_On_E — 11 years ago(August 03, 2014 01:00 AM)
Excellent thread! I really appreciate the depth of thought and lack of insults - a breath of fresh air on IMDb.
Anyway, my take is that the distinction Chris made between independence and not was arbitrary, such as his interpretation of travel by means other than hitchhiking and train-hopping as "cheating".
A true "purist" and "aesthetic traveler" would have ridden his damn bicycle to Alaska before trotting off into the wilderness.
Now pardon moi whilst I adjust my derailleurs -
scottt-44876 — 10 years ago(October 10, 2015 06:13 PM)
Great post. I agree.
I do not think he felt he could contact his sister. He left his parents because they were abusive to each other and made the whole family apart of their fights and drama. He could not cope with this any longer he needed to break free and end this abusive relationship. He knew if he wrote his sister his parents would find out and find him. He needed to escape them. His parents were not good people at all. I do not think he owed them anything.
He was not being cruel. It was cruel of his parents to make their private personal matters a household affair. They were controlling of him to the point that he had to escape to have some freedom and sanity. -
int_53185 — 10 years ago(October 11, 2015 09:40 AM)
Most people have no notion of what it's like to grow up in emotional turmoil. All you want to do is escape, get away. It's not about hurting your family. Your mind can get so "full" of thoughts and negative feelings that you feel that you will explode if you don't leave. It's sort of like a dam that is ready to burst after a long and sustained rain. He felt that his mind would burst if he didn't leave. He could no longer handle any additional negativity and stress.