Selfish
What a selfish annoying man
share[deleted]
No, selfish to a family that loved and mourned him
shareHis parents were abusive to each other (and their children by subjecting them to their violence and verbal abuse). As his sister says during part of her narration, you have to remember that the parents that WE see throughout the movie - loving, mourning - are not the parents he grew up with. He didn't owe his parents anything, though I did think it was sad that he didn't write to his sister.
shareAs awful as his parents were, he could have at least let them know why he left and that he was alive. He should have let his sister in on his plan. What he did was cruel.and unnecessary.
shareIt's not a documentary. As stupid and faked as it was, they couldn't bother to show the parents with their stated terribly abusive behavior? I see no evidence they have any, and the narration doesn't make me believe it. The only parenting failure I see is they raised really, really whiny kids.
Who cuts up their IDs and burns their money? Mental defectives or people making a point; selfish people thinking their point is more important than anything else.
He states, in the movie (forget what really happened) that he doesn't need money, etc. but he takes what amounts to charity here and there, and even the bus-hippies clearly have money to pay for gas and food.
Or the river trip. You know why there is a permit and waiting list? Selfish people. Without it, the river would be full of people, and with a little less regulation there would be power boats and people would dynamite the rapids to make it easier to go down (people do this on rivers. really). This is how we keep the easy-to-access wilderness, the only ones he ever bothered to walk far enough to get into, available for everyone.
The narration doesn't make you believe it? Well though *beep* *beep* maybe believing what the damn movie tells you is a good thing, or else Lord of the Rings must be pretty confusing if you refuse to believe its opening narration because it's not a documentary. And who cuts that *beep* up? People who believe they won't need it anymore, which are people the movie doesn't really defend nor hate, showed by its ending. And a 12 year long waiting list for sailing on a river with a kajak? Give me a break, 1 year may have been justifiable, but 12???? I kinda agree with your 3rd paragraph though.
shareJeez, you wanna calm down, there? The movie was hardly accurate. Christopher NEVER cut up his ID or burned his money.
shareNo, but I was talking about the movie, not the actual true story. Also, this was a year ago.
share[deleted]
"Christopher NEVER cut up his ID or burned his money"
Yes he did. At least I saw it, didn't you? Take another look, what do you see @ 21:16? (after he mails a check to Oxfam). He then later burns the money.
Then he got a check for his work in South Dakota..
Yes he did. At least I saw it, didn't you?
I think the person you are replying to was referring to Christopher McCandless' actions in real life, which are different from those in the movie (some of Penn's choices I strongly disagree with -- I think he diminished Chris's character by making him look more selfish and more foolish and inexperienced than he actually was).
As you say, Chris is shown cutting up his ID, before he leaves Atlanta, and burning money when he abandons his car. However, this is misleading.
He did donate his money to Oxfam, as shown, but he did not destroy his ID. It was still with him when he died -- his drivers' licence, library card, Social Security card and more (and $400 in cash). He DID do a ceremonial burning of cash at the wash where he abandoned his flooded car -- he had around $100 on him, and he built a fire and burned it to symbolize starting over (he left a sign on the car window, "Whoever finds this piece of **** can have it." He removed the license plates, but the car was eventually traced to him, and this was what got his parents worried.
However, he went on to work at many jobs (mostly under his real name) and saved money (opened several bank accounts), to save for his Alaska trip and to have adventures along the way. He did not burn any more money. He kept a scrapbook, letters and journals and left most of this with Wayne Westerberg when he went north.
The film gives the idea that he completely disdained money (not true), had no common sense (he actually did have a map, and a lot of wilderness camping experience), and no concern for his family. He did seem to be afraid of contacting them directly -- apparently, he found it difficult to stand up for himself in the family circle; the only way he could realize his autonomy was to make a clean break. He did let them know he was OK by having a hitchhiking ticket he received mailed to them, LOL. They knew by that that he was on the west coast, and alive and mobile. They hired a private detective, but could not find out anything further at that time. share
Shoobe01-1 I couldn't agree with you more
share"Who cuts up their IDs and burns their money? Mental defectives or people making a point; selfish people thinking their point is more important than anything else."
You are a joke.
Is that like a joke or something? The narration SHOWS how they abused each other. Or were you in the toilet when that happened? Wether you like it or not, this is not an open-ended question in the movie: they did abuse each other, period.
That being said, the kid wasn't nearly as selfish as the people around him. Unlike pretty much everyone else in the world, he is not forcing others to accept his views. To prove he was more selfish than his parents for example would require a better argument than pointing out his actions were not mainstream. At least the kid is not abusing anyone!
"Who cuts up their ID and money?" Someone who doesn't follow mainstream rules. The question is, how can you point out how mainstream rules - which are pretty much created to make rich people even richer - are not selfish? I mean the only thing his father and mother are interrested before he disappears is "what will the neighbours think?" There is no way your values can turn more selfish than that!
He accepts charity? Have we even seen the same movie? He WORKS for everything! He WORKS for Wayne to get money from him. He WORKS in a restaurant to get to Alaska. And as for the hippies - he clearly points out that he doesn't want to TAKE their money, he wants to WORK for his money. This is stated so many times in the movie that I'm starting to wonder wether or not you have really seen it at all.
This being said, he should have written his sistern. Other than that, I don't see him as any more selfish than 99 % of the people (who, on average, are much more selfish in their daily lives than they want to admit).
Seriously, you have no idea. What he did was not cruel. What his parents did was cruel. He tried for many years to deal with his parents. It is obvious from the books and films that the only way he could separate himself from them was to do what he did the way he did it. I feel his death was tragic. He was a very damaged person. When you are a child and have parents who are abusive to each other in front of you it damages you. Parents have a responsibility to their children because they brought someone into the world. Abused children do not owe their parents anything. Live through what he did and than try to call him cruel.
shareYeah his parents were real SOBs, paying for his college, giving him a car, those b@st@rds...
Im sorry but pushing him to be his best yes definitely in the worst way possible and the yelling and all the pressure probably would drive a lot of people up the wall but I mean look at him. It worked out well. You think if he had some dead beat parents that he would have been able to do half the things he did? No way, he wouldn't of had the brains to do it which were honed by his parents pushing him. They dont win parents of the year by any means, I am not saying they were good parents, but hey if they are willing to care about his academics maybe not him or what he likes they are still doing better than the majority of the parents of this world.
I don't quite agree with everything you said JDoe18, sorry. My parents for example weren't too good at the pushing part, and I still ended up with, well, okay academic achievements at least. I think most parents do care about their children's achievements even if they don't actively push their children as strongly. Some parents just focus on different things, like their children's character and such. I think in that respect, the parents in this film definitely may have failed, and many of the complaints in this movie about the main character may be retracable to that.
As for an earlier poster saying they don't believe the fighting occurred just from hearing it in the narration, well... I could be mistaken, but don't you actually hear them fighting at some point? Something like ("Well who are you, God?" "That's right! I'm God!!") etc. I see no reason to disbelieve that was more of a pattern going by the narration.
Anyway, I don't think the parents were terrible people, perhaps not even terrible parents, but I don't think the son was a terrible son either. In the end, a person has to do what they have to do, and apparently he felt the need to leave everything behind without a word. I think it was explained fairly well in the movie, but of course it's still a matter of personality. One can quibble over nature versus nurture, but I'd rather just try to understand each person's behavior based on their own defense of it/reasons for it and not judge it.
There were definitely some sad moments for both parents, son and sister, though.
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My vote history: http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=13037287
Dude! That is just stuff! If he had deadbeat parents who loved him, he would at least have a chance at happiness. Getting stuff without love as a child is absolutely nothing. It is nothing. It kills you emotionally. And this is not a question of opinion - literally all studies ever made of the subject point out this same ultimate fact. What really makes me sad is that there are still people who think that stuff can compensate for love. It never can, it never will.
shareI think I can shed light on why he did not write to his sister. He did not want her apart of it. If he had written to his sister she would have shared his letters with his parents. He did not want her to suffer because of his decision. It hurt him a lot to have to stop talking with his sister but he realized to be free from his parents he had to break with all the members of his family. I wish people would not judge him so harshly. I notice people enjoy judging each other and this causes so much pain.
shareI think I can shed light on why he did not write to his sister. He did not want her apart of it. If he had written to his sister she would have shared his letters with his parents. He did not want her to suffer because of his decision. It hurt him a lot to have to stop talking with his sister but he realized to be free from his parents he had to break with all the members of his family. I wish people would not judge him so harshly. I notice people enjoy judging each other and this causes so much pain.
shareAgreed. My child's friend ran away and it is tearing us all apart. Apparently, he was inspired by this film and 127 Hours. Through this process, I found out that my brother at 16 or 17 wanted to have an adventure to go out west. My mother allowed him to because he was going with a couple of friends that she knew. It was the best of both worlds- having an adventure outside of the confines of parental guidance but with the safety of others. That is way different than leaving with no trace, no concern for at least making intermittent contact saying that you're okay, and leaving your family and friends wondering why you did it.
shareHis writings pretty much let them know why he did it.
shareI hope you will research some. He had one sister who loved and mourned him.
His father and mother had serious issues. It is not selfish to live your life the way you want. Chris suffered enough in his life from his parents who were very damaged people who were not good parents. Chris did not owe them anything.
He was abused by his parents. There is a point in life where you have to live your own life and not take the abuse any longer.