Everyone who's trashed this movie is missing the point

Rating: 9/10 (15 April 2008)

This movie is not called the Christopher Mccandless Story, it is Into The Wild. This movie is not meant to be a biography. This movie is meant to show the legend and the idealism behind Christopher's journey.
It reminds of a quote from Bob Dylan's Chronicles...I can't remember it exactly but this was the main point. Legends and stories and songs can transform a person into an idea..."by all accounts Jesse James was a cold blooded killer...and not the robin hood he's been portrayed as." You could argue that Chris was a fool that he was to proud to take help from anyone, and that his pride killed him.
But that's not what the movie was about. The movie was about the idea...idea's are perfect people aren't. The idea of people are always more perfect than they really are. Look at John Lennon the idea of Lennon, and the Legend of Lennon is beautiful...a peace loving, genius songwriter, activist...but his real life constantly contradicted his ideas. He could be violent, he could ruin his relationships, and he could be egotistical. But in the end it's the legend that survives and inspires.
So when you watch this movie don't hope to learn anything about Chris...I mean do we really believe the sun shined on him and he smiled as he died? No...but we like the idea of finding peace. Think about the ideas this movie shows and the values it represents (in the extreme). You don't have to go out to the Wild to find peace...but you do need to look.