An 8 are you kidding!?! I give it a 2.

Rating: 2/10 (3 June 2013)

Last night I finally gave up watching "Into the Wild". Sean Penn's take on an individual's search for his own identity seemed to me to be too much of a movie seeking to lay blame on his parents for him running off to do what he wanted to do and pretty much getting by with that for several years. He ultimately died alone, but from what I could glean from it, that's what he wanted to do. I feel like this movie which has an 8 rating on several scales is a cheat, sort of the way "Dead Poet's Society" was a cheat. It blames people. I don't care for the blame game. The movie would have been better if it celebrated this young man's choice in leaving society and being happier for the last years of his life. I've read some reviews that say he's a spoiled rich kid, and there is that. He could have chosen to be more altruistic; however you have to love yourself before you can love others. He was looking for that, but chose to die in the wild rather than go back and be altruistic. I didn't see evidence that he ever saw love in our culture. That indicates to me that he didn't love himself either. I've read this is a true tale. He chose to die alone. The film would have been much better if it celebrated his choice and left off the blame game.