Good movie NOT of a hero

Rating: 5/10 (15 January 2012)

In many ways "Into the Wild" is not about a trip to Alaska or into the wild as much as about a young man on his escape journey. I have watched the movie a few times because I live in Alaska and the movies connection to Alaska. At times I have utterly disliked it because he is unprepared for the wild and his Alaska wild ends up being in an abandoned bus a relatively short distance from a highway and hunting cabins with supplies. I dislike romanticizing suicide and suicide by stupidity even more. The parts of the movie before Alaska and the philosophic journey are sometimes a much better story until I question how much is fiction.
The portrayal is of someone who takes pride in surviving with a minimum of gear and funds, and little preparation but dismisses the fact that he is often fed or otherwise aided by people he meets on his travels. This person with an intense idealism and belief that he needs to live alone in the wild dies shortly after getting far enough away that others cannot help him.
Most of the time I join with most other Alaskans who have negative views about McCandless and those who romanticize his fate. His venture into a wilderness area alone, without adequate planning, experience, preparation, or supplies, without notifying anyone and lacking emergency communication equipment, was contrary to every principle of outdoor survival and, in the eyes of many experienced outdoor enthusiasts, nearly certain to end in an undesirable way. Enjoy the movie if you want to but please don't think of McCandless as a hero but as a victim of a tragedy caused by his own actions.
If you understand that a movie based on a true story may be far from a true portrayal of that story, and are O.K. with that, then you may very well enjoy this movie. Under no circumstances should anyone consider this story as a guide on how to live life.
I rated the movie with 5 out of 10 because I just can't decide! I would love this movie if it more clearly portrayed that McCandless at the very least had a lack of common sense in his approach to the wild. Maybe the outcome is that clear portrayal, I just can't decide!