I've seen Into the Wild a number of times, so when I watch it now I tend to watch the edges, look at the out of focus things that add something to the story. Like the books Chris is reading, the passages he is quoting. For instance, just as he is making his decision to leave the bus, to go back into society (SOCIETY! SOCIETY!!), he quotes from a Tolstoy book called Family Happiness. Here is the passage: “I have lived through much, and now I think I have found what is needed for happiness. A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one’s neighbor-such is my idea of happiness. And then, on top of all that, you for a mate, and children, perhaps-what more can the heart of man desire?” That's a pretty nice, well-earned definition of happiness.
When I first saw Into the Wild, though, I was just taken with Chris's wonderful honest energy, his crazy madman spirit. Assuming that you are not planning on leaving society (SOCIETY!) anytime soon, he big challenge becomes bringing that spark, that romantic readiness (Gatsby phrase), back into the "real world." I guess there is a natural tendency to divide our lives up -- the cool part when we really live and enjoy ourselves, and the drudgery that we just try to survive so we can make more time for the other. If you've read the short story "Paul's Case" you know about this. The challenge always is bringing the "crazy dash happiness" into every part of your life, bringing the pure spirit and loveliness of a hike in the woods into your math class.
Here's one of my favorite quotations from Jack Kerouac: "The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, those ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow Roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars."
Here's to exploding like spiders across the stars.
I'll be curious to hear what you think about Chris McCandless, as he's portrayed in the film. There are some who find him to be a very unsympathetic character (Krakauer writes about this in the book), implying that he essentially got what he deserved. Others find his idealism inspiring. I find it interesting, as I mentioned in class, that even though he was an avowed loner, he touched the lives of a number of people along the way. And of course he comes to the fairly dramatic conclusion that "Happiness is only real when shared," the exact opposite of what he tells Ron Franz while hiking in Anza Borrego (so close to us!). Oh, if you're interested, check it out ... http://www.slabcity.org/
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Photos later!
ReplyDeleteHaving spent a lot of time in the backcountry, I tend to have little sympathy for people who go out alone (think Aaron Ralston of "127 Hours" fame, who now knows that the human forearm has the consistency of a banana when you take a multitool blade to it). While I find it hard to feel bad for Chris McCandless, when I consider him carefully, there's hypocrisy in my way of looking at his great Alaskan adventure.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read John Muir's journals he became a hero of mine, and here was a guy who soloed Mt. Whitney in a tweed coat, explored Alaska with only his little pup, and climbed a tall pine in Yosemite during a thunderstorm to feel it dance. Not the safest or smartest decisions. Maybe if McCandless had survived and written about his travels, I'd have put his account next to Muir's on my bookshelf of inspirational literature. That he died definitely paints my view of him.
It's not surprising that McCandless's story tends to polarize people. The people he left behind either felt abandoned or touched irrevocably by him. It's their accounts of him - and John Krakauer and Sean Penn's treatment of those accounts - that tell us who he was. The first message I take from his story is similar to that of Ben Peters: the importance of balance. The second message is the idea that "Happiness is only real when shared." The happiest experiences I've had in my life have always been in the presence of others and more often than not were the result of their triumphs or realizations.
Mr. H touched on the "cool part" of our lives where we really live and enjoy ourselves. I believe maximizing those times can be one of the keys to happiness. I have many "successful" friends who bust their asses to make lots of money. Some are happy; some are not. Regardless, most of them do not view their careers as a "cool part" of their lives. I feel fortunate that I can count my job as one of the "cool parts" of my life. Sharing this week with all of you is testament to that.
Let's get out and find some truth in the mountains tomorrow.
Maybe it is just me, but it seems that Chris is hypocrite. Throughout the movie, he undermines his great steps to "freedom" from SOCIETY! with actions that are distinctly connected to the workings of society. He makes maps, he is constantly organizing his equipment, he lives in a bus, etc. Chris touches the lives of all the people he encounters, yet the entire point of his quest was to separate himself from SOCIETY! And for the grand finale, he realizes, upon his deathbed, that true happiness is shared with others. Thus, completely contradicting his mission. However, I am glad that he learned this important lesson. Overall, Chris's quest for true happiness led to his demise but we all came away with a the right message.
ReplyDeleteToday's hike was very casual and I am disappointed that it did not rain. Rats.
Important side note:
I am running a fever and this cold is in full swing so there is a good chance that I will be missing out on the hike tomorrow (Double Rats). But I am trying to get some rest so maybe I'll be out tomorrow.
Today I really enjoyed watching Into the Wild. The story was a true adventure full of ups and downs. I cant help but think how interesting life would be if I could just do as I please and travel without anything holding me back. McCandless was a person that wanted nothing to do with society and decided to go off on his own to find true happiness, but along the way discovered that a person can only be happy with others around. I would have loved to heard some stories from his point of view. Im sure he had some amazing accounts in nature and it would have been great to hear about them and how he truly felt about what he had done with his life. I thought that the ending really portrays the true message of the movie. The fact is that going into the wilderness and abandoning all aspects of society does not bring happiness. It may bring truth and discovery but it does not guarantee happiness. I think the movie tried to tell us this especially when he pictured himself returning home and seeing his parents. It is hard for me to imagine myself doing what he did but I think having both freedom and society are imortant in a person's life. Going hiking this week has allowed me to do both. Two highlights for me today were seeing the biker fall on the trail and seeing the d bag reading the no-name book by the waterfall. I loved spending time with the people around me and being in nature at the same time. I cant wait for the hike tomorrow!!!
ReplyDeleteI wish I could have gotten a better picture of that guy reading. :) Nice entry, Katie -- couldn't agree more.
ReplyDeleteAlthough overall i really liked the movie, i couldn't help but be annoyed by chris. To me he seems a little like a spoiled kid who just runs away from things instead of facing them head on. He couldn't handle his parents so instead of staying around to help his little sister, he rebels. He runs away from his problems and from "society". Yet he feels lonely and actually spends a lot of his time with other people. He's drawn to different groups and effects them as much as they effect him. His parents loved him, but Chris is too hot headed and stubborn to really talk to them or face the problems that his family has. Chris also seems to go against his own rules, and ideas. Chris says that there is no need for money or cars or anything like that, yet one of his main ways of transportation is through cars or trains. He gets multiple jobs to supply himself with equipment, and when he tries to do things himself such as eating the moose, he fails dismally. Chris would not have gotten anywhere, or lasted as long as he had, if he had not been able to take advantage of those luxuries. So for him to damn all technology and society so vigorously and then use them with frequency, was hypocritical and egotistical. Chris needed to learn how to embrace new things without cutting out all avenues of technology and society, because humans need those things to survive for the most part.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of the movie we watched today, i felt as though Chris was right, that to find true happiness you have to be in a place where you make your own rules and live how you want....like his case in Alaska. However, as the film continued on i came to a conclusion that he was wrong. The way to find true happiness and solitude is to do things with others. As proven in the movie, being alone can come to a disadvantage. I know that being surrounded by the people that i love aka Malea Redding, is what really makes me happy...being alone in the wild in Alaska would only make me go insane and stressed out. I can see the direction that he was trying to go, by wanting to be alone and in nature, but i dont think i would ever do something like myself.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, the hike today was AWESOME ! especially on the way down... when Malea and I were extreme skipping NBD... i cant wait for tomorrow !
I would only say this: hypocrite seems too strong. In my view, Chris was a true idealist. I mean, c'mon, he lived in a bus in Alaska for 100 days (just barely). The point, I think, is that the force that pushes us as human beings toward community, family, caring, love for others... is REALLY strong, even stronger than Chris thought. The fact that he realized this in the end makes him a tragic hero in my eyes. Just sayin'....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLcoaBh_JwY
ReplyDeleteI really liked Into The Wild and although Chris did/ said some things that were hypocritical, I support his overall message and dream. At the beginning of his journey, Chris strongly believed that the only way to feel happiness and to feel alive is to separate himself from society and other people. I feel that in today's day and age, people and SOCIETY! have pretty much touched every area on Earth, give or take a few places. Therefore, to fully separate yourself from society you would probably have to leave the planet. Because society has spread itself to such remote places, even if by accident, it's understandable that Chris found himself living in an abandoned van as opposed to a cave or a tree. So yes, Chris did not truly follow his original message because he lived in a van and not 'out in nature', but I agree with Mr. H about how calling Chris a hypocrite is too strong. It is very easy to pick apart each of Chris's actions and compare them to what he 'should' have done, but by doing that I think that were missing the big picture. I think it's important to realize that this guy actually went out into the world and followed his dream. Not only did he follow it, but he was only 23 when he did. I don't know about everyone else, but I would certainly not be able to brave the world on my own at 23. So the fact that this guy traveled all over the country and then made his way up to Alaska by starting out with no money is pretty amazing in my eyes. Also, I think that it's important to realize that it's okay for people to make mistakes, especially if you're only twenty three. So by saying that Chris got what he deserved in the end because he didn't truly follow his intended goal of separating himself from society is really harsh, especially in this case.
ReplyDeleteThe ending to Into The Wild was bittersweet. In the obvious sense, it was bitter because Chris died in the end and was not able to resolve all the problems he had with his family and he was not able to visit all the people he met along the way. But the ending was also a breath of fresh air because it told the truth and it wasn't some Hollywood fairytale ending where Chris was magically saved by his sister who just happened to be walking through the Alaskan wilderness and found him, or some crap like that. Another part that made the ending so sad was the fact that Chris was ready to leave but couldn't cross the river, even though there was apparently some sort of pulley thing a mile down the river. However, I couldn't help thinking that he wasn't ready to go. It might just be me, but I figured that if he really wanted to get out of there he would have walked along the river or tried to find another route. Plus, if he had lived in the wilderness for about 100 days, I figure he would have walked over a mile at least once and noticed something like that. Oh well. There's not much we can do about it now.
Anyway, the hike was very enjoyable today, even though we didn't have our rain adventure.
That guy reading was most definitely a desert bag.
ReplyDeleteI still think, had Chris lived, that we'd all be viewing him differently. I don't think he's a hypocrite. I think some of us are for viewing him as such. That he had the realization that happiness is only real when shared shows he was capable of change. I think he'd be a college professor somewhere or maybe reading a book somewhere near a waterfall on Cowles Mountain.
ReplyDeleteIts tough to watch a movie like "Into the Wild" twice because you already know what is going to happen. You understand the main themes, and the plot-line isn't necessarily life-changing if it has already changed your life once. To critique the movie in more simple evaluations, it had a lot of underlying meaning that didn't only support Chris as a truly dynamic character, but also allowed the viewer to put themselves in his shoes. Tough as this may be for a young viewer to do, it is particularly easy in the movie because of the knowledge that the class holds on transcendentalism, moreover the romantics in general. The hike was short and sweet. It was meant to remove the lactic acid in our bodies which kept us sore from the previous day. I look forward to tomorrow's glorious hike. Do not disappoint me hills...cause I know you can see me with those eyes.
ReplyDeleteYou stay classy San Diego?