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In Reply to: Spoilers galore! posted by tinear on July 26, 2009 at 21:29:21:
"I never thought much was revealed about him so it just seemed a self-indulgent, drifting kid:"
Certainly not drifting. He was a product of a very solid upbringing. I thought his thoughts as revealed in his journals contained a very well thought out philosophy, however misguided, that society, jobs, and structure ruined mankind by making him feel safe and strong, when he was not really strong, only comfortable. He was not avoiding work, because he worked virtually everywhere he went, and worked for food.
"nothing exceptional about him except he died during one of his "stunts." Kind of a slow-motion "Jackass" stunt."
I am not sure I would classify his travels as a 'stunt.' The folks of Jacksass perform stunts for commerce, and as a competition against each other to determine who can abuse their bodies the most. McCandless, on the other hand, was competing against himself, following his belief that he could exist without other peoplem, and his philosophy that society killed in men the urge to be what they could really be. He burns his money, and turns his back on the priviledge that was his. Naive, perhaps. Reckelss, certainly. But certainly not a stunt.
One of the things I liked about Penn's story is that Penn places some hints about this kid in the film. His asking the ranch hand in Montana about how to dress killed game. His reliance on a book about edible plants. At the end of the day, McCandless had the knowledge, but not the experience.
"Sure, perhaps that's what the guy was like but this is not a documentary: it's got to have some drama. It didn't have enough, if any."
I think you have to factor in the family. At the end of the film, Penn thanks the family for their courage, and their willingness to essentially relive the events of their son's death. By all accounts, McCandless' family is still very distraught and grieving over his demise. I think adding false drama to make the film more entertaining insults their memories, and Penn seems sensitive to the family.
I think Hirsch chose to play McCandless as a starry eyed, ideological kid who is looking for adventure, and to make his view of the world work. I cannot criticize someone for making a legitimate choice, in light of his performance at the end of the story when death was near. His acting in that last act goes well beyond him looking like a skeleton.
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Follow Ups
- RE: Spoilers galore! - jamesgarvin 08:37:27 07/27/09 (2)
- I think the death knell of any art is fear of upsetting someone. In this case, - tinear 09:04:48 07/27/09 (1)
- Huh? - jamesgarvin 08:34:16 07/29/09 (0)
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