What I never understand..
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Cruesix — 10 years ago(February 19, 2016 03:34 PM)
Spot on! Exactly my thoughts when I browse these forums!
Depressed people usually tend to do EXACTLY the opposite of what he did Dr. Freud^^..
Makes me cringe how many people come on these boards to voice their opinion on
a guy that had 100 times more self-knowledge then these ignorant and bitter and all too comfortable human beings
GET A F#**@%ING Life!
Yes, he was naive and he didn't care enough but if you honestly think that makes his death less tragic let alone think he somehow deserved what he got.. Then you sir, are EXACTLY what is wrong with the world! -
froggyandtoadie — 10 years ago(March 08, 2016 10:30 AM)
I 100% agree with everything you said. Very refreshing after reading so many hateful and judgmental posts about this kid. It's scary to read what passes as logical in our society. Good for you, nice to know there are still a few people that can think for themselves.
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I_need_more_cowbell — 10 years ago(March 30, 2016 07:54 PM)
Someone looking to die themselves would NOT kill animals unnecessarily. I can see in this thread you are trying SO HARD to get others to see things your way, but you shouldn't. You are more than welcome to your opinion but it seems yours is the minority on here. I do think the preponderance of the evidence points towards a situation other than one that involves depression and suicide. But, again, I'm happy that you believe what you do and the story works for you that way. Nothing wrong with THAT!
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RussellDunn — 10 years ago(March 30, 2016 10:13 PM)
You have to read between the lines and know where Chris came from in order to fully understand the reason he did what he did. You also have to really know what people were like in the 1980's in order to understand why he did what he did.
First off, Chris came from a privileged background. His family was well to do and they lived an affluent suburban life. In the affluent suburban life style image and wealth were everything. People were constantly trying to upstage their peers in order to get ahead. In the white collar world, more time was spent kissing the bosses ass and backstabbing their co-workers in order to get that promotion than actually doing the job. Women especially the beautiful ones jockeyed and aimed for the richest guy they could find to marry. Love had little or nothing to do with it. Men tried for the best looking women they could afford in order to be part of this image of success. Love had little to do with that. If the husband made a professional gaffe which destroyed his career, the wife quickly filed for divorce in order to get what she could out of the man before he hit rock bottom and they were(GASP!) poor and penniless and living with the middle class. Both parents spoiled their kids by showered them with the best toys, clothes and tried to send them to the best schools not out of love but because it all befit the parent's image. Ironically, this meant that this suburban family were one pink slip away from bankruptcy in order to finance this image of success.
In the high schools, it was the same thing. Image, style, money, social standing were the keys to popularity and social success. Everyone was always checking everyone else out looking for any sign of weakness, any flaw that could be exploited to eliminate the competition. Since Chris wasn't at the top of the social food chain as a kid, he was very eager to leave that life style. College was the same as high school in that the student with the best prospects, good looks, social skills were the ones the women gravitated towards. So he came to reject the trappings of suburban success.
With his mind filled with the writings of Henry David Thoreau, he left the rat race to pursue a life free of the mind numbing social pressures of Affluencia and drifted around the country mooching off the poor. Eventually he prepared for his time of quiet contemplation in the wilds of Alaska. But he hadn't anticipated how rough in was out there and made some honest mistakes which eventually led to his untimely death. Before his passing, he wrote of realizing the value of family and friends and how he was ready to return to their bosom. What he actually meant was that his Alaskan experience didn't go as planned and he was returning to civilization and a collect call to mom and dad would have meant he would be back home in the Jacuzzi within a day or two. That's an advantage he had over the friends he made during his trip. He could leave the under privileged life style any time he wanted. -
notofdisdimention — 9 years ago(April 23, 2016 03:53 AM)
He was not wrong.. and the characters shown were also not wrong.
The essence was the last that 'Happiness is real when it is shared'
The film never propagated some agenda thing that this is good and this is bad. It showed every person in the same light-- The couple who went to Las Vegas- They too were happy in there life, exploring enjoying
- The couple who gave him that hat- Happy, enjoying
- Ron- Happy even alone, enjoying his hobby
- That farmer(Mr. Happy)- same all jolly and happy
- Kristen stewart - all happy singing songs
) Even the main character- looked so happy always
BUT everyone had one problem. But they didnot ran from it like Alex. And that is what the movie tells- no matter what lifestyle you choose- a hippie or a corporate professional life will be same. nd the Happiness one is searching for- one will achieve with others.
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splumer — 9 years ago(May 05, 2016 07:06 AM)
Well said. If he had made wise decisions, there wouldn't have been a movie. The way I look at it, Chris pursued the American dream. Not the materialistic American dream of a house and a couple cars and stuff, but the true American dream of self determination, of forging your own path. Yes, he was woefully unprepared for an indifferent wilderness, but he did what, deep down inside, we all want to do: our own thing in our own time.
I'm reading Carine McCandless's book right now. It's quite a revelation. His dad was a philanderer, and fathered children with two women at the same time. Chris had a half-sister born within a month of him. Plus, his dad was physically abusive to his kids and wives. -
splumer — 9 years ago(May 11, 2016 08:48 AM)
I just finished her book, and there are more revelations that say to me that Chris wasn't mentally ill, depressed or suicidal. First of all, his starvation was caused by him ingesting H. alpinum seeds, which contain a toxic amino acid, L-canavanine, which rendered him unable to walk and too weak to move. If you can't move, you can't forage and feed yourself. Jon Krakauer writes about this here:
https://medium.com/galleys/how-chris-mccandless-died-992e6ce49410#.p9uxx3uue
Buy also, Carine McCandless talks about Chris' wallet, which was found in an interior pocket in his backpack. His backpack was taken by a man who owns a cabin about six miles south of the bus. His wallet still held his social security card, his ID, library cards, and three hundred dollar bills. Based on that, plus his journal entries, Jon Krakauer and Carine McCandless both agree that he intended to walk out eventually. Not exactly behavior of someone who was mentally ill.
Her book is called
The Wild Truth
, and if you're interested in Chris McCandless' story, it's definitely a must-read. -
jajceboy — 9 years ago(May 15, 2016 11:26 AM)
Reading this I find it ironic that all the people he came across had some sort of family or group and they were happy with each-other.
Perhaps Chris with his family background loathed the concept of family and togetherness and ran away when it became to happy. He didn't have a happy family so maybe he couldn't belive others could be happy with families. -
Mellow-Fellow — 9 years ago(June 03, 2016 07:44 PM)
Thanks for saving me a bunch of typing I think he might have had a sort of psychological disorder, for lack of a better word I too feel that longing to go into nature and live off the land, I think all men do at one point or another. Many places where I live offer this great freedom in the Western US.
Well, guess what, its fantastic but try doing it for just 3 months alone, watch the documentaries, I think Discovery did one where a guy went into the wilderness to live alone, with a camera to document it. If I recall, He couldn't even finish it, this guy was an avid, very experienced outdoors-man too, he cut it short and used his satellite phone to come pick him up, from loneliness. The other one that used to air about 10 years ago on the public channel about how that guy goes and builds his cabin in Alaska and lives off the land, that was a good short mini-series.
What I've learned, and this movie has validated more for me is that, for me at least the way to get away from the things he was running from are short trips, hikes, skydiving, I like adrenaline activity, and no matter how you stiff it or hate it, you have to play by the rules, nature's and man's. Man's rules consist of huge articles of documents but we can mostly agree it boils down to money/power. You need money or something equitable to trade in order to achieve your own goals and happiness, that's man's rule, nature's rule is -among other things- don't eat poisonous stuff, lol Hard learned lesson many people have died to bring us, and if he really had the book, and such, well, yeah he was extremely foolish in his quest, paid the ultimate price.
I know I could never make it alone out in the wild for more than a month, particularly a harsh environment Without a lot of reading and hands-on experience before jumping in head first. Right now, I think I could, that's my arrogance talking, but I've never actually done it, just read books and seen shows, and camped, etc, so the realist in me knows I'd likely perish, even with a magic bus.
Guess I did a bunch of typing anyway, my bad. -
kylen48 — 9 years ago(October 27, 2016 06:20 AM)
That's a good point. It's similar to Jenny in Forrest Gump in my opinion. Everyone hates on her for her decisions but she was enwrapped in the hippy movement. It took her a long time to realize Forrest really loved her. She screwed up but you still have to sympathize with her the same way you do with this guy.