There was definitely something off about that kid.
Initially I thought he was rather spoiled, but for an apparently bright kid (sister in narration said he got straight A's) he made so many bad choices. He was too harsh in judging his parents for mistakes they made. Chris seemed rather impulsive as well, in a disturbing sort of way.
Great assessment, JB. Spot on.
shareI didn't find him mentally ill or think anything was wrong with him. I loved this movie, its a great film about self-discovery.
shareNot mentally ill... Just young and inexperienced in real life and lacking in real human connection...
There is poetry from thousands of years ago about men who leave their tribes to go into the wildnerness and find more closeness with the barren earth and the creatures that live there than with their own people... This is a common human impulse, but he took it to the extreme partly because he did not risk enough of himself in society with real people, he just did what was expected of him to be a model student and son until he decided to reject it wholesale...
Doesn't the fact that he took his desire to leave much too far indicate some was off kilter mentally with him?
Wanting to get out and experience life is one thing, but what he did was more than a little off for me.
I find that younger people may romanticize what he did, but as you get older (I'm middle aged), it just seems like there was something not right with the kid.
Something "not right" doesn't necessarily mean being mentally Ill. Frankly, he could have been more foolish than crazy.
Other people have done similar things, have you seen either "Wild"or "Tracks"? Both are fairly recent films about young people who did similar things, who left humanity and it's worries behind, and spent months alone in the wilderness. The heroine of "Tracks" did everything right, before she spent months crossing the outback she learned how to handle camels and bought all the right supplies, and succeeded in doingjust what she set out to do. The heroine of "Wild" was almost as unprepared as McCandless, she did many things wrong but managed to avoid getting killed while covering 2,000 miles of Pacific Crest Trail, because California and Oregon are a LOT more forgiving than Alaska (or the Australian Outback). McCandless was somewhere between stupid and unlucky, he did the same sort of thing but didn't survive to tell the tale.
I don't think Chris was necessarily mentally ill. He was just very emotionally distraught and misguided. He could've explored the world, ventured off into the wild, and yet maintained stability. He just jumped in too deep. And yes, his impulsivity ended up backfiring on him. And really it all depends on how you define mental illness. Everyone's definition tends to vary.
shareIt seems very obvious to me. His sister seems to have some psychological issues as well. I think people are too harsh on him. He definitely should not be romanticized, but he didn't die because because he was arrogant and stupid. He was simply a very confused young man.
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