Into the wild

After slacking off for months and not seeing or reading anything that I could write about, after wandering the allegorical dessert in search of blog quenching environmental themes, I finally saw into the wild.

Based on the book by Jon Krakauer this movie tells the true story of Christopher McCandless who, rejects the American dream of material success. Like Buddah he turns to the immaterial and looks inward for knowledge and fulfilment.

Stripping away distractions to try and 'find yourself' is a cliché now but this isn't someone who is doing this to have some good stories to tell in the pub, he is trying to find out what is truly essential to life... and stuff.

The opportunity to study law, together with his financial backing, make his choice to give up everything a strong statement against what he perceives to be the emptiness of a society focused largely on having more possessions.

The film is, as much as anything else, a celebration of the rural US and the diversity and beauty of it's habitats. Going from the sand and the heat, to the snow and the mountains, there's some stunning camera work; it made me want to get out there again (not in the States just out in nature).

There are some interesting characters on the way each with a novel perspective to offer and all the people are presented compassionately by the tree loving social conscience of Hollywood, Sean Penn.

Given the political affiliations of the writer it's no surprise that the poor and idealistic are the heroes against the authoritarian and aggressive capitalists, so there is inherent bias (this sentence is my attempt at objectivity, because I fucking hate the despotic, authoritarian elements of the capitalism. I agree with Sean!).

Spoiler alert:

However the point is made in this story of Alexander Supertramp (Christopher's pseudonym) that you can't live without the material, and that to sever your ties with people and the world leads to a bad end and creates a lot of suffering in your wake.



It's at this point my admiration for him ends because he is totally narcissistic and ignorant of the pain he is causing people.

My thoughts on becoming one with the wild are thus: we are too far gone. We, from the modern towns, are imposters in the wilderness. We should have a connection with the wild, but we should respect it's power and not desecrate the efforts of hundreds of generations who have made amazing things, medicine, insulation, transport, agriculture, cameras, by casting it all off. I see the appeal, but it seems arrogant to me to think that you can exist alone in the wild.

Christopher recovers my support when on the brink of death as he makes the ultimate realisation that happiness only exists when shared. Don't roll your eyes!