It's the story of Chris McCandless, a college graduate and vagabond on a journey to find himself in the Alaskan wilderness. Portrayed by Emile Hirsch in the film, we watch as Chris aka Alexander Supertramp travels across the country and even into Mexico, destination Alaska, with special attention paid to the relationships he makes along the way.
Usually after watching a movie I always want to look up as many facts I can about behind the scene stories. So naturally as soon as the movie was over I googled the shit out of Christopher McCandless' story. He came from a wealthy background, "stable" home, and graduated with honors from Emory University. "Disillusioned" by material things in life and society, days after he graduated he destroyed all forms of identification, burned all his money (specifically donating $24,000 of his trust fund to charity), abandoned his car and just...took of.
I find the different perspectives of his story interesting. A lot of people idolize him and set off on journeys of their own, usually men around the same age and even take a picture in front of the infamous bus he passed away in. Then on the other hand, a lot of Alaskan natives and park rangers from the area call Chris' acts foolish and selfish, based on the reason that he could have saved his life had he known there was a man made pulley system to get him across the river that was significantly lower when he crossed only a few months earlier. Had he known this, he wouldn't have had to turn around.
Another issue that maybe was expected to come up after the film's release was the issue regarding the school bus. Residents of the area are pushing for the bus to be air lifted, and set down at the beginning of McCandless' trail rather than where it is now due to unwanted tourist attention.
A dreamer or a fool, the life of Chris McCandless that Emile Hirsch brought to life was truly amazing.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment