Selfish

Agree with OP, he was very weak, selfish and annoying. Still a reasonable flick though.

i thought he was a selfish ungrateful little @$$h0le who thought he was smarter than everyone else. (he was intelligent, just not very smart.)

"will someone tell that mime to shut up?"

he passed away so I wont bash the dead, but I think it was enough time after a year to go home. I would think that this experience really hit his parents hard and his sister too, you just cant forget that, cant hug him again, you cant hear him again.....im not a parent but I would think that I would change after a year of him being away. I can understand why he did it but I wouldnt be able to for the hurt that I would put on my parents and how miserable they might be if something did happen to me, but then again I dont have abusive parents and I consider myself lucky for that so maybe he just dint see it my way.

true, he let his ego drive him, but realizes that he was wrong in the end, but by then, it was too late.

Not wanting to live in a society that is drugged by mass media and materialism is a bad thing? How can seeking true liberation be wrong? Does no one look around anymore these days and think 'Holy crap!!! What the fook is this!!?' Or are we all too busy staring at screens? McCandless seemed to me like a soul who felt the suffering in the world that's caused by society's destructive addiction to putting a price on everything instead of realising its true value.

*Adopts Morgan Freeman's voice*: Is a tree, stood majestically in a forest for hundreds of years, a tireless provider that contributes to the sustenance of all life on this planet? Or is it £25,000?

The portrayal I saw of Chris McCandless was one of a young man who wanted to get away from a society that's grown increasingly toxic. Humanity is desperately misguided and I see no fault in someone having the desire to find out who they really are. Granted, he could have kept in touch with his parents and been more compassionate towards them, but I'm hazarding a guess that Sean Penn set out to give the impression of McCandless on a spiritual quest that carried with it certain requirements, including the relinquishing of his former self.

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Cook the man some eggs!

He is selfish.

"But his parents are abusive"

They were abusive toward him but, to each other. No parent is perfect but they did try their best. They cared about his education, attending his graduation, paying for his law school, and offering him to buy a new car.

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That might be a bit harsh way of phrasing it but I do have to agree that the hero worship that has sprung up around him is odd. It's also important to note that when these types go out into the wild to "be one with nature" or whatever they want to call it they often put the lives of others at risk. Rescues teams for people ill equipped and untrained and delusional come at a great cost of money to the state (which is why some places have begun charging reckless behavior to recoup some of the expense) and unnecessary risk. This is especially true of mountain rescues, poor weather conditions and remote locations. In the end this should be a cautionary tale of a man who clearly had stuff to work out and had a typical "fairy tale" image of the wild counter to the very dangerous reality one must respect of untamed land, and died a lonely and desperate death. Many of us believe if we enter our North American wilds we can simply survive from will power and determination. It is, after all, right outside our door. It's familiarity is an illusion. Most of don't know it at all. I certainly am no expert and know that wandering out into the woods unprepared might lead to insight, but definitely to injury or death. If he had chosen the Congo or the Sahara there is a distinct chance more would recognize ignorance, maybe even hubris, and less likely inspire hero worship.