Quote:
Originally Posted by Grunt
I was chatting w/ some friends recently who were up to Alaska last year... they were apparently hiking along the same river that the main character in this movie died near. Apparently locals aren't a big fan of him, and even make jokes at his expense... they say that there was a radio tower or station not 1/2 mile from where his bus was, and refer to him as just being an unprepared hippy who should have known better.
Haven't done any research to see if this is true, but makes you think anyways.
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It's mostly true.
Christopher headed out into the middle of Alaska, found a bus that was used as a hunter's shelter and tried to live off the land. He may have raided some supply shacks near by, spoiling them as a result. This didn't do well for his reputation in the area.
In addition he followed the wrong advice and was not prepared for the Alaskan environment. The knowledge he had might have worked in a more southern climate but it utterly failed him, despite it being the middle of summer. He was also less then a day's journey away from a highway that has a fair amount of traffic on it.
There is a lot of speculation that Christopher might have become poisoned by a toxin found in some seeds he ate, but nothing was proven.
The locals really dislike the story because it's inspired a large number of copy cats to attempt the same type of journey. A parade of misguided, illprepared kids on a spiritual quest would make most people roll their eyes.
The movie was well made, but I found the point of the story was rather disappointing. Most people do not need to test the limits of loneliness and survival to reach the same conclusion that Christopher does. It's a rather simple concept that's at the core of most human social behavoir. There is no need to seek it out because it's built into our nature. (read Nekhara's spoiler to see what I mean).
The soundtrack is fantastic though.
