Into the Wild

Watching Into the Wild, directed by Sean Penn, was definitely an eye-opening experience. I did not admire Chris, the main character, but I did not disagree with his ideas of material things. It is very hard to decipher whether he was wrong or not. He did not belive in money and material things, which was a different view from what I am used to. Usually when someone decides they want to rid them selves of our corrupt society, they just donate money to a charity. They do not go as far as Chris went. To burn your own social security card so you cannot be found is mind boggling.
With that said, I do not respect what Chris did. I grew up in a loving family, my parents have their moments but they love each other and have never been violent towards each other. They also have never tried to put my younger brother and I against one or the other. Because of this I cannot fully understand the way Chris felt and the turmoil he had suffered. However, I believe he had a responsibility to his younger sister and he gave that up. He did not call her or write her a letter. To me I saw a boy who was fed up with his parents and wanted to be alone and not have to deal with anyone. The movie makes me wonder if in real life Chris ever considered what his sister might go through because of his disappearance. My feeling is that he was being selfish. All he cared about was finding happiness and he believed that he would find it in Alaska without anyone. However, accept for right before his death, the only times I saw him truly happy and smiling were when he was with others; the hippy couple, the criminal farmer, and the old man. For some reason he still needed to search. He ended up dying alone, and right before that he came to the realizaion that there can only be happiness when it is shared with others. I feel that it was a shame for him to have to find that out the hard way.