What Are The Stereotypes In Into The Wild

2007 film Into the Wild directed by Sean Penn is a biographical film based on the life of Chris McCandless. This film explores the main character's attitudes/views of the world and how it affects him. In this film Chris is shown as an idealistic but arrogant man who is stubborn, contemptuous of society, and believes society has taken a wrong turn; therefore, he abandons all his materialistic possessions, family and identity in order to find solace in nature and the ‘truth’. However, his blind arrogance and unchecked idealism becomes a dangerous human frailty resulting in his death in Alaska. He was naive in believing he could survive and return unscathed from the wild with his academic skills; however, his lack of survival skills and ill preparation

However, from Chris’s point of view it seems like he is feeling confined and it is no secret that he holds his parents responsible for it, emphasising his dislike for traditions made by society. During the voiceover Chris tells us “They are about to graduate, they are about to get married. They're kids, they're dumb, all they know is that their innocent, they will never hurt anybody. I wanna go up to them and say stop. Don't do it. She's the wrong woman. He's the wrong man. You are going to do things you never imagine you will do, you are going to do bad things to children, you are going to suffer in ways you never heard of, you are going to want to die.” His words clearly show his attitude towards his parents his anger and lack of respect for his parents and it is evident that he sees himself more superior than them. Normally we would show love, respect, and gratitude towards our parents; however, in Chris’s case he holds his parents responsible for his perceived misfortune. The voice over ends with Chris reading a poem. This is symbolism of Chris inspirations as Chris was largely inspired by his favourite authors and this is where his ideals were formed from; however, he interprets his favourite

This shows us that Chris father is a self righteous man and clearly Chris has inherited this trait. However, the interesting part is that Chris seems to know it is illegal for Carine to drive. Again it seems like he has purposely done this to defy his parents, which is again proved by a close up of Chris father face showing displeasure. The director also uses juxtaposition to compare the sour, tense dinner Chris is having with his family with a group of other graduates who are celebrating wildly, showing the conflicts within his family. The conversation at the table too shows the conflict of viewpoints between Chris and his parents, here Chris’s parents want to gift a new car to Chris however Chris doesn't want a new car he says “You think I want some fancy boat, are you worried what the neighbours might think. I don't need a new car, I don't want a new car, I don't want anything, these things, things, things, things.” This shows us that Chris is an arrogant man who is contempus, and ungrateful of his parents and his lifestyle. Although his parents have been poor parents in some aspects Chris still had a good lifestyle; however, he chooses to hold his parents responsible for his state which shows us a negative aspect of his idealism. Following the dinner scene we are shown Chris’s escape, where Chris is shown destroying all his identity cards and anonymously donating twenty four