Sunday, February 27, 2011

Into the Wild: Envirolosophy

Into the Wild is a great story encompassing the life of "Alexander Supertramp" and implements many philosophical decisions. The thought of living a life consisting of true deep ecology seems daunting and off putting and even after seeing all that he endured, all the happiness he created and spread, I would never wish to lead such a life. True, today's American culture promotes materialism, but times and people change. We see what good we can do, what we can spread to others and take to heart all those we have around us. This is where Alexander draws an incredibly blurry line between human interaction and deep ecology.
The assumption made by him was that to live a truly free life, he cannot become "connected" to others socially or romantically, but this creates a true rift in his psyche. We see how this affects him in little snippets of him talking to himself while portraying his family.
What we finally see at the end of the movie though is the thought process of a man faced with his own death. He reminisces about all he has done and ultimately tells of his greatest regret: "Happiness is only real when shared." This is the "end all" of final acts. We see throughout the entire movie the beauty and happiness that he brings upon himself from traveling across the United States and finally making his dream possible by living off the land in Alaska. But his final revelation is what truly sticks to the heart of human want and desire. We may be able to achieve this higher sense of belonging when we separate ourselves from money, but we cannot truly achieve a sense of self without the interaction, wanting, need and truth from those who surround us.

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