Alexander Supertramp

"The trip was to be an odyssey in the fullest sense of the word, an epic journey that would change everything." -Jon Krakauer, Into The Wild

Two days ago I started the book Into The Wild for the second time on this trip. I watched the film of the same name for the first time three days ago. And I finished the book this morning. The film is very beautiful, but is ultimately a waste of time. Sean Penn supposedly worked on getting the film made for ten years. The story goes that he read the book in one sitting, and after finishing it he immediately read it again, and then he began the long journey to writing it for the screen and directing it. Sean Penn succeeded at pulling on my heart-strings, and making a typical Hollywood feature. But the movie fails, in almost every way, to tell an honest tale of this young man and his "great adventure."

Read the book. The movie just romanticizes his journey. I understand artistic license, but the fact that he manipulated factual information really bothers me. Christopher McCandless would surely be disappointed in the conventionalism and fluffiness of Penn's story.