Into the Wild
Written and Directed by: Sean Penn, based on the book of the same name by Jon Krakauer
Starring: Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt, Catherine Keener, Hal Holbrook, Vince Vaughn
Before You Watch
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Before You Watch 〰️
The book, “Into the Wild,” by Jon Krakauer is one of the books that changed me.
The book tells the story of Chris McCandless/Alexander Supertramp, a 24-year-old recent college graduate who leaves everything he has – his car, money, family – in search of pure adventures and experiences, and in search of himself.
But it is also about the book’s writer, Jon Krakauer, and about all of us who at one point or another in our lives find ourselves on the outside.
Dissatisfied with capitalism, greed, immorality, injustice, inequality, restrictions, expectations. There are a lot of people who think that Chris McCandless was a spoiled brat who got what he deserved in the end. I disagree. I think he was young and romantic and optimistic and brave, as many of us are when we’re young, even if some of us do our best to deny or kill that part of ourselves.
Questions to hold as you watch:
Remember a time in your life when you wanted something that went against the norm. What was it?
And when you look back at that desire now, how does it make you feel?
After the Movie
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After the Movie 〰️
“Happiness is only real when shared.”
By the time that we watch Chris write these words to himself, alone on the bus, dying of starvation, the message of his journey becomes clear. We realize it as he realizes it. That none of the beauty of life that surrounds us means a damn thing without someone to share it with; without two adventurous and sad hippies to care for us; without a kind and slightly shady dude to give us work and fun when we need it; without a grieving widow and father to share friendship with.
I relate so much to Chris especially during the years of 14 - 24, which makes sense because my brain was not fully developed yet. And yet I never had the courage to do what he did no matter how much I fantasized about it. And also, because I never did, I get to live past the age of 24. “Into the Wild” is a story that has different lessons depending on what stage of life you’re in, and for me, revisiting it at the age of 39, I’m taking in that quote, “Happiness is only real when shared,” along with the reminder that presence to the natural world and to each other is the only way we truly live life.
Questions to reflect on after you watch:
When you think about the happiest times in your life, who was with you?
And how were they part of that feeling?