I have a few questions...

[SteveSalmon]

~SS

[hotelgirl]

i have questions too. i dont understand the geometry of the OP question nor recall the camera look when eating the apple. I accept that no reference was made to his camera.

i would like to note that it was just before the internet. hes the same age as me and cameras were more important then. not everyone took many photos and it was more of an effort.

my questions are:

how much of the film is accurate? are all the scenes pulled directly out of a diary? For example, the Apple eating scene? Was that something he wrote in his diary? Was the guy really hauled off by the FBI? Did he really score with a 16 year old chick? All the detail? was it all from source or did they make much of it up?

Also, he took 400 rounds of ammo, did he have any left?

Also, surely he knew of the cross 1/4 mile away? Surely, as someone that traversed the whole of the US he was not bound to the bus? He could easily have made 10 miles in 1 day and i hear there were stocked shelters within that radius. I find it hard to imagine that he stayed at the bus unless he wanted to die. Surely, if he stayed 112 days he could have left earlier? Say two weeks earlier, he would have had the strength to make it 100 miles? he must have had hi tent and sleeping bag?

[GoNorth]

Hi hotelgirl.

You can find the answers to some of your questions in the book by Jon Krakauer.
For the rest, we will hopefully get a bit more information when the new book "Back to the wild" will appear.

McCandless did not stay 112 days at the bus. It's just the number of days he spent alone in the "wild" between the day Jim Gallien dropped him off at the Stampede trail and the presumed date of his death. Actually, he found the bus on day 4 and first stayed about 4 days, before hiking on towards the west. After a while (upon arriving at the Toklat River), he decided to return to the bus, which he reached again about 3 weeks after he had left it.

In addition to the Krakauer book, you can find some further information in the following articles:
http://www.chipbrown.net/articles/intowild.htm
http://www.joplinglobe.com/people/x212110446/-img-src-http-www-joplinglobeonline-com-images-zope-extra-gif-border-0-He-was-so-alive-Joplin-woman-recalls-man-who-became-focus-of-Into-the-Wild-font-color-ff0000-w-audio-font

[pezar]

I haven't watched the movie, but from what I understand Sean Penn had to "fill in" where Chris didn't record anything, like after Chris buried the camera and it was ruined, after which Chris stopped keeping a journal. There are other errors that don't jump out at you immediately but become more evident once you learn more, like Penn had Jan Burres swimming in the ocean, and the real Jan is afraid of sharks. I think that Penn did the best he could, but it's still "Hollywood Chris", not the real Chris. Like where Chris paddled a canoe down the lower stretch of the Colorado, and Penn changed it to running the rapids in the Grand Canyon.

There's a documentary out there called Call of the Wild that claims to debunk some of the myths surrounding Chris. The movie shows Chris burning his ID, where the actual Chris had his ID and birth certificate with him the whole time. I also have to question Krakauer's insistence that Walt and Billie hired "the best investigator out there" to find Chris, since Chris used his real name several times, in applying for work in Las Vegas and Bullhead City, and I have to wonder why that guy didn't catch it. If Social Security (FICA) taxes were withheld in Chris's real name, wouldn't it have been easy to check with the US Government and find that out, and from there trace Chris to the desert? I think that we, all of us, have to be really careful that we don't read something into Chris that really isn't there, and make him into what we want him to be rather than what he really was.

[bobenns]

I think that we, all of us, have to be really careful that we don't read something into Chris that really isn't there, and make him into what we want him to be rather than what he really was.

Very good point. A lot of opinions are offered in the documentary" The Call of The Wild" and I certainly don't agree with a lot of them, but then I don't really know him very well. For now I'll stay in learning mode and try to keep an open mind. More will be revealed in time.

The documentary casts some strong contrasts with the film as it was being made at the same time and crossed paths with the Hollywood production more than once. The movie of course is the Hollywood version of the story and takes a lot of license with the true facts, particularly how Chris met a number of the characters and when and where certain things were said. So if the river is flowing the wrong direction on the wrong side of the bus and the mountains are too near, that's just because they decided it looked better like that. There are quite a number of discrepancies in the movie and the book as well that time has revealed and probably more to come. Certain details are so correct in the movie and others are thrown to the wind. That's Hollywood!

At one point Chris writes he has become trapped in the wild. To my mind he was more trapped by his own mind-set, his perspective, his philosophy. For example, many people have mentioned lighting a large fire or forest fire to get attention. Certainly that would be one of my strategies. Nothing brings help out to the woods faster than a growing plume of smoke in the summer time. But for Chris it might have been sacrilege to light a fire, or perhaps it never occurred to him to light a fire and make a smudge of damp moss and wet green branches etc. He really didn't have the kind of training and experience one should have to attempt what he attempted. He made a number of critical mistakes that an experienced woodsman would not have.

Years ago in my 20s I knew an old trapper that lived in a cabin in the Willmore Wilderness preserve in Alberta. He actually maintained 3 cabins on the trap line and was the only civilian allowed to operate snow machines in the preserve. In his late 70's he was agile as a boy on the trail. He lived his whole life in the woods, canoed from down east across northern Canada in his youth. He made a trip to town once a month to stock up on supplies. He had no electricity, no phone, no running water, he collected old age pension and owned several can openers. I have never met anyone that knew more or was better adapted to wilderness living. He had lots of bear stories and he always carried a .38 on the trail. I think Roy would have understood what Chris was trying to do, but he would have offered up some strong opinions about the way he was going about it.

Bob

[Red2]

Nice post Bob I enjoyed reading your post.

Of course no-one will ever know the true story of what happened to Chris, and because of that, and the fact that different people view the story from many angles makes his journey and final months so compelling, contentious and debatable.
As I've said before many people wrap the whole story up in one Big Ball and try and judge him from a very black and white viewpoint. People hang their hats on views that could be expressed in one word...idealistic...stupid...dreamer...selfish...Icon...loner...inspirational...sad...hero...defiant...romantic...life changing (yeah I know two words lol ) and many more.
I don't think you can judge Chris soley down anyone of these narrow aspects, he was quite a complex, deep thinking individual and only he truely knew what he was looking for, and whether he found it or not. We can all surmise, as I indeed have from the few facts we've been given. And of course the opinions we form are clouded by the different assumptions and romantic spin both the book and the film put on his story.

I know Pezar you put...( and you commended it Bob)

'I think that we, all of us, have to be really careful that we don't read something into Chris that really isn't there, and make him into what we want him to be rather than what he really was.'

But, everyone myself included will simply do that...View the Chris McCandless story in a way that means something to our life's. That may mean someone criticising Chris to inflate their own ego because they know more about the wild, and they'd have survived or someone else might find it inspirational to break out of their day to day routine and do something different and non conformist. It will mean different things to people who have lost children and to young kids who are inspired to do what Chris did, it might mean setting off better prepared and keeping in touch with Mum and Dad, no matter what's gone on before.

Remember 'It's easy to laugh , it's easy to hate, it takes guts to be gentle and kind'

Yes I've questioned Chris's story many times. It's had me thinking into the small hours about life, the societies we've built , the 9-5 merry-o-rounds and makinds focus away from people and onto material things. And of course what made Chris tick and why he went as far as he did in pursuit of his beliefs.
From a personal point it will undoubtably change certain aspects of my life and I will visit places I may not half thought of visiting before, Alaska being one trip I will definately make now. My trips abroad will definatley be longer and slower and I intend to go around the whole coastline of Great Britain too. Like Chris said get out an explore the wonderful landscapes we've been given and meet people along the way.

Here's to Chris and to the many people who've been inspired by his story and also to those that are of yet blissfully unware of his story but will be effected by it when they turn the pages or press the play button.............Red2.

[gnome]

Hey man,

Just for the reference to Emile looking at the camera in the apple scene, I think it is 100% symbolic for a couple of reasons.

1) It's one of the first moments in the film where you see how lonely Chris is getting. I think it's symbolic that those of us in the future who hear of his story were his companions during his loneliest moments.

2) I also think that this moment (and another on the train) where Emile looks into the camera are a challenge from Penn and Chris himself of the viewer to think about their own lives; the film is not so much about Chris, it's about how his story can affect you.

Sorry for getting all deep and meaningful, I just finished watching the movie a little after midnight my time

Jen

[SteveSalmon]

~SS

[ellisd]

good oberservation steve, i wondered why Chris' camera was missing in the film aswell. certainly can't wait to see what the new book and dvd will hold for us. only about a month and we will find out!

[GoNorth]

What do you mean by his camera was missing in the movie?
I remember the camera being shown when he packs his backpack in the bus before walking back towards civilization. Or do you mean something else?