Extra Credit

Extra Credit: Into the Wild Documentary

I recently had the pleasure of attending the Fairbanks premiere of a documentary about the life of Chris McCandless; the young man made famous after being written about by John Kraukauer in his book Into the Wild. The documentary was entitled, “Call of the Wild: A documentary about the life and death of Chris McCandless.” This documentary was made by Ron Lamothe, a filmmaker and graduate student from Massachusetts.
The film is about Lamothe, retracing Chris McCandless’s travels, from after he graduated from Emory University, to his death in the wilderness of interior Alaska. Lamothe said in the film that he had always wanted to make this trip and film it, but things kept getting in the way (school, wife, and children). But his obsession would not stop until after he completed this film.
In order to understand this film, one had to be somewhat familiar with McCandless’s story. He was a kid from a wealthy and normal family. He was somewhat socially inept, but was very bright. McCandless was very interested in philosophy; and the writings of Thoreau. So after graduation, he gives away his money to charity, loads up his essential possessions, and heads across the country seeking something, we will never know. He eventually ditches his car in California, and begins hitchhiking his way to Alaska. The last time anyone saw him alive was outside of Healy, Alaska. When he ventured into the wilderness of Alaska, all he had with him was a backpack, a camera and a rifle. We know that he made his base camp, in an old abandoned bus. That was where he was found dead, frail and alone. McCandless seemed to be obsessed with nature and finding the meaning in life, as Thoreau wrote. Some people say that McCandless was dumb and over his head; not truly knowing what he was getting into. However when watching this film, I was struck by the boldness and adventuresome spirit of this young kid. It made me question weather or not I would embark on such a trail, and the answer is no. It did sound fun though, a very spiritual experience. The debate that arises from this story is how he died. In the famous bestseller by John Kraukauer, he states that it was the poisonous Eskimo potato seeds that killed McCandless. However in this documentary, the filmmaker talks with the head of the Bio-Chemistry department here at UAF. He ran tests and discovered that it was not the seeds that killed him, that it had to be something else; presumably starvation.
I left the documentary feeling somewhat sad for this young kid. He probably had some idea what he was getting into, but I don’t think he walked into the wilderness thinking he was never going to come out. However I hope he found whatever he was looking for, and was at peace with it when he died.