So, I finally got around to watching Into the Wild and I have to say it is one of the most fascinating and involving films I've ever seen. I had wanted to watch it when it first came out in theaters but with a full class schedule at Berea as a science major, that says otherwise. So, I put it into my Netflix queue on a whim and not a few days later a friend of mine mentioned I would love it. I was pretty confident I was going to enjoy the movie. I knew only vague bits about the story of Christopher McCandless, and ultimately I had no real idea what was going to happen in the film.
I loved the screenplay, certainly all credit is to be given to Sean Penn for taking this story from John Krakauer's book and turning it into a story of not what happens to Chris when he makes it to Alaska, but rather what happens to him along the way and ultimately the fragility and indelible sanctity of the relationships we form during our lives. The ability for us to spend entire lives with someone and only finally realize that you can never understand each other and the other rarer and more special relationships involving those who understand us within a breaths leaving us and how an entire existence of someone can be so easily transduced to someone we hardly know and just met. That is exactly what this film evokes among other things. Including the fragility of relationships is the undeniable beauty and draw some of us feel towards the Great Outdoors.
I myself have felt that call, the call of the simple--of the free and unorganized. I felt a great urge and to a great extent still do, to hike the Appalachian Trail. The thought of leaving behind my cellphone, my laptop, my Zune, my Xbox and my lightbulbs seemed to draw me based on the hopes of a sort of cleansing it would create. To lose all those attachments, the obsessions we create based on nothing more than our own sedentary lifestyles at times. Truly, this film has inspired me moreso, and has also redirected these desires towards the great Northwest. Alaska always seemed desirable, but moreso now. I'd have to go in late spring/early summer. To brave the cold on first trek would be very unwise. I hope to one day. To be able to drop all I am doing and head there would be the greatest experience I could ever hope to accomplish. I would love to visit the site of the Magic Bus. I feel as if McCandless has become a sort of heroic figure in my eyes--much against (I'm sure) his intentions. He embodies what I believe we all on some level hope to do; drop our attachments, our silly obligations, drop the mold that we feel so strongly about filling and head out into the woods. Where else could it be simpler I ask? I've spent my share of camping in the forests of Appalachia.
I know as well as anyone that its not some simple, easy going life. There is struggle. Food is not readily available like a fridge or pantry, and thus you must work for your nourishment and your shelter. Taking care of your equipment can mean the difference between a good time, an annoying time and a nearly fatal experience. However, the work and the struggle of spending great lengths of time in the wild could only be an experience that would relax the mind and calm oneself. As a student of Buddhism, this feeling is even more so true. To finally attain the understanding to leave behind one's fetters and head into the unknown and ultimately realize the great things there are to know--the things you can not learn from a textbook or a classroom or a movie or from sitting comfortably in your home--seems undeniable fascinating and I hope I can one day--soon--spend only a little while trying to figure myself out in the wild.
I've ordered Krakauer's book and hope to start reading it very soon.
clip of McCandless' discovery of his famed 'Magic Bus'
Enjoy these amazing Eddie Vedder tunes from the soundtrack:
Eddie Vedder - Guaranteed
Eddie Vedder - Hard Sun
Here's to hearing your call of the wild.
