I know at that bus out in the wild you probably can't a signal but as technology and coverage improves you probably can.
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palisade-1 — 12 years ago(April 09, 2013 07:30 AM)
You're right, IMO, that luck played a major role here. Also, in fact the real-life Chris McCandless had a great deal of wilderness camping skills and experience; what he significantly (and tragically) lacked was such experience in a subarctic region like Alaska.
However, the river, the plants and the absence of living food are misrepresented in the film (this is called artistic license, but many viewers want to know the actual facts as well as the Penn version of events).
The Teklanika River was too fast-moving and swollen when Chris went back the way he came. However, he had a number of other options, which he certainly knew of, including going downsteam to the park services road and getting the bridge, or going upriver, past the park service cabins, and crossing the river where it is braided into smaller streams. We don't know why he didn't attempt either, but luck (in the form of accident, injury or illness) likely played a role.
The plants were not poisonous, and McCandless ingested no toxins; neither was mold that grew upon such plants poisonous or inhibitive of digestion. Chris kept a food diary, and it is clear he simply did not take in sufficient calories, especially fats and carbs, to stay alive.
As for living food, another big mystery is why he did not attempt to catch fish. He had fishing gear; the salmon were running at the time (and other nutritious and edible fish were readily found in the area), yet he made no mention in his diary of any attempt to fish. Maybe he disliked fish. However, that's an unexplained omission. He could have survived on a diet of fish alone for months, as fish contain high-quality omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, as well as quality protein. -
Aimless_Small_Potatoes — 11 years ago(April 22, 2014 07:39 PM)
Imagine how he could've taken a cell phone and then called for help only as a last resort if he really needed it!
You must have missed the part where he wanted to be cut off from society. He burned his money because money "makes you cautious". The very thought of him taking a cell phone with him completely defeats the purpose of his journey. -
palisade-1 — 11 years ago(April 23, 2014 06:17 AM)
You must have missed the part where he wanted to be cut off from society. He burned his money because money "makes you cautious".
It's true that Penn presents this picture in the film, but it was not factual (this movie is "based on a true story," but it is not a true story). McCandless did not want to be "cut off from society" he wanted to go on a pilgrimage, a spiritual journey, a la Thoreau, Tolstoy and a few others who inspired him; he envisioned himself living a monastic retreat in a wilderness environment and challenging himself both spiritually and physically. He intended this "walkabout" to be one of no more than 3 months' duration as he was committed to returning to South Dakota in August. He told Wayne he wanted to get married someday but he wanted to experience more of life first.
The only money he burned was when he abandoned his car; he burned about $100 in cash to symbolize starting over. He did not burn ID as shown, and he went on to work for money, opened bank accounts, earned thousands of dollars over the two years and still had $300 in cash on him when he died.
He may not have taken a cell phone,, but he did have map of the local area, which Krakauer knew but left out of the book;-) It didn't fit in with his (Krakauer's) romantic notions. -
Samus Aran — 11 years ago(August 26, 2014 02:47 AM)
Not sure if it's accurate, but earlier in the movie it mentions that he never had a phone at all, not even a landline (when his parents first drove up to see him, and found him moved out months earlier).
So the chance of him bringing a cellphone along seem rather zero. -
Kuruwin — 11 years ago(January 20, 2015 08:41 AM)
In all of this we also have to remember that if he was injured part of the reason why he didn't suck it up and try to crawl his way out of the place might have been due to being frozen by fear of leaving the shelter.
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jinojiwantenggara — 11 years ago(March 04, 2015 07:31 AM)
If cellphone existed, then I'm sure he would taking selfies and then upload them to flickr, instagram, panoramio, facebook. Well, at least that what I would do.
People only want to hear what they want to hear -
palisade-1 — 9 years ago(August 25, 2016 09:13 AM)
Never mind a cell phone; he probably would have survived if he had bothered to take an old-fashioned paper map.
He
did
have a detailed paper map of the area (including Denali park and its service road, which was near the bus). This fact was not mentioned in either book or movie, but it
was
included in the coroner's report.
McCandless also had plenty of money and ID. The movie leaves out the fact that he had posted on the bus a note saying he was injured and needed help. That probably was a significant factor.
They did have cell phones back then, but Chris's location was probably out of range, and he had no way to charge one.
