Officially Emotional

                 After watching multiple videos on the life and adventures of Chris McCandless, he has started to feel like a real person. Being able to put a face to the name has done more for my emotional connection to him than reading about his life, including parts of his journal, has throughout Into the Wild. Throughout the book, it is clear that Chris is both highly adventurous and a usually happy guy (except when it comes to his parents).  Out of all the pictures and slides people uploaded of him, celebrating his life and the anniversaries of his death, I never once saw a photo where he was not smiling. Even a photo from Chris’s last few days was included in many of these videos, titled “Last photo taken on Chris’s camera. Disturbingly thin and weak, resigned to his fate but smiling clear as ever.” Before these photos, Chris was just a character in a book. Now, he seems more of a real person, with family and friends and dreams.

The videos posted on YouTube about Chris McCandless fall into two major categories: videos and slideshows about Chris himself, and videos about the movie that was made about Chris. I definitely liked the videos about the real Chris McCandless better. These made me feel more connected to him while the movie trailers had the exact opposite effect. I found myself wondering whether or not Chris would have wanted to have a movie made out of his Alaskan adventure. He trekked off through Alaska because it’s how he wanted to live his life, not so he could be the hero of some movie for everyone to see. It seemed as though the movie tried to make his journey look like it wasn't as hard as it had to be in real life. I didn't like thinking about his big Alaskan adventure as a story for others solely to enjoy, especially since it ends in his death.

 The videos of Chris made me feel more connected to him for two main reasons. First, as I said before, being able to put a face to a name goes a long way for me. Second, I used to be an explorer (not in the way Chris was, but still). I spent my summers canoeing in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern Minnesota, the Quetico in Canada and hiking in the Big Horn Mountains in northern Wyoming. I left all types of communication, including my phone, behind, as well as family, friends, and the ability to shower for weeks at a time. I loved camping. I loved turning corners and seeing expanses of mountain wilderness, separated by rivers and trees. Something about the explorer spirit seems lost these days, as technology becomes more important than family and social experiences become more important than solo experiences. A lot of people seem to start out with an adventure/explorer spirit, only to lose it as they grow up, just as I (mostly) lost mine. This was not the case with Chris. He was an explorer until the very end. This is something I have to appreciate about him, making the death of such a spirited, young boy even more tragic. 

Real life photo of Chris McCandless taken off of his camera after his death. 

What Paramounrt Movies seems to believe is an accurate representation of Chris's journey. 

Sources:

"Christopher McCandless Tribute to 20 years." YouTube. YouTube, 17 Aug. 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw2WG2xCSxI#aid=P-AVSsrCdkM>.

"Into The Wild - Trailer." YouTube. YouTube, 25 Feb. 2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7ArZ7VD-QQ>.

Krakauer, Jon. Into the wild. New York: Anchor Books, 1997. Print.