Into the Wild

I've read everything Jon Krakauer has ever written, including magazine articles. I read this book, Into the Wild, when it was originally released - I think in 1995? Because I think Sean Penn is outstanding as an actor, an autonomous mind, risk-taker, a free-thinking individual, along the same lines as Jon Krakauer and Chris McCandless (the subject of Into the Wild), I couldn't wait for this DVD to be released.

Cam, Chris, Mom and I watched the DVD Saturday evening, over at C&C's house. Brilliant piece, from music to pace to cinematography to timing to storytelling to casting. Brain food of the ultimate variety. A dialogue-starter, at least for all four of us. Below are quotes from the author, and director, evidently from their appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show. These quotes, which I just found this a.m., are so close to what I wrote in my journal that I did a few mental cartwheels in surprise!

"Even though he died when he was just 24 years old, Jon [Krakauer] says Chris's story should still inspire people to reevaluate their lives. "He almost pulled it off. I mean, he came so close to surviving this, and we'd never know about him. He'd have had a great adventure and gone about his life."

Jon doesn't mean that everyone should go off and live in the wilderness. "We can't live like him," he says. "But this message [is] about just doing something different. Get outside that comfort zone. Test yourself. Just don't be tempted to take the easiest path. Life is better when you step off that path, however far you step. Happiness is only real when shared."

Sean says he wanted to make this movie because of the things Chris believed. "I wouldn't have made this movie, I wouldn't have felt what I felt about this story if I didn't feel that we had become increasingly comfort addicted," he says. "[Chris] created an entire life in that short time, and I think the big challenge is to feel our lives while we have them."