Into the Wild

I finally had the opportunity to watch "Into the Wild." I guess maybe I was avoiding it. Why would I watch a movie about someone stupid enough to wander into the Alaskan wilds and die from starvation? Help comes from the filmmakers, who happily distort the true story of Chris McCandless into something far more inspirational. A kind of walkabout that makes appealing the idea of renouncing civilization. Instead of becoming some Jesus-like figure, McCandless turns into a walking manifestation of the American spirit: floating from hippie commune to Midwestern fields to the snowy tundra. I suppose the point is not how or why he went into the wild. But that he did at all. Sure, he died because he ... ate something poisonous? ... misread his field guide? ... consumed too many rabbits? At least he went. Most of us, let's face it, never do.