i see them standing at the formal gates of their colleges, i see my father strolling out under the ochre sandstone arch, the red tiles glinting like bent plates of blood behind his head, i see my mother with a few light books at her hip standing at the pillar made of tiny bricks with the wrought-iron gate still open behind her, its sword-tips black in the may air, they are about to graduate, they are about to get married, they are kids, they are dumb, all they know is they are innocent, they would never hurt anybody. i want to 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 cannot imagine you would ever 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. i want to go up to them there in the late may sunlight and say it, her hungry pretty blank face turning to me,
her pitiful beautiful untouched body, his arrogant handsome blind face turning to me, his pitiful beautiful untouched body, but i don't do it. i want to live. i take them up like the male and female paper dolls and bang them together at the hips like chips of flint as if to strike sparks from them, i say.
i say. do what you are going to do, and i will tell about it.
well, it could've been either one of us, couldn't it?
there's a lot of great poems in there.
i'm starving.
my grades are gonna be good enough, i think, to get into harvard law.
it's an inheritance, dad. i've only been spending it as a college fund. exactly twenty-four thousand five hundred dollars and sixty-eight cents.
i had to go to the bank this morning.
yeah. i've got to figure out what i'm going to do. i got a lot of things to pack and organize here first.
sure, i will.
mom.
what's a junker?
the datsun?
a new car? why the hell would i want a new car? the datsun runs great.
do you think i want some fancy boat? or are you worried about what the neighbors might think?
blow up? blow up?! are you guys crazy? it's a great car. i don't need a new car. i don't want a new car. i don't want anything. thing, thing, thing.
but, thanks anyway.
i said thank you. i just don't want anything.
ivana trump mccandless.
this is emory university freshman chris mccandless reporting from the vault at thompson hall.
we have just dynamited the hatchway and are the first human beings to step foot into this vault in over a hundred years. somewhere in here lies the secret of the great beast within us all. a beast built on lies, corruption, and greed.
and there it is! the legendary beast mocra.
we've got to get out of here quick and re- secure the hatch while we make a plan of how to kill the beast.
well, it looks like we've succeeded -
- at least for the moment, in sealing the beast back into the vault. your humble reporter, chris mccandless will now struggle with the journalistic question of ethics: will he retain his reporter's objectiveness or save the future of human truth by slaying this awful beast?
once again, your humble reporter chris mccandless.
pay no attention to the voices behind the curtain.
ted! we've got a monster in the vault. it represents all the corruption, the deceit, and greed within us all. i must slay it.
ted! i know how to kill it. and i'm the only one who knows. you can't keep sending me on stories and expecting me to do nothing! i look like some kind of an idiot.
that's it, ted. fire me if you want but this beast must be slayed. microphone in hand, chris makes haste. the camera runs with him out the door, through the corridor, up a set of steps to the hatchway. as he arrives, the monster appears above him in the hatchway crawl space having pulled off the board chris had nailed.
this is the only thing that can kill the monster. it's gonna be risky but without great risk, there is no freedom. so we will now hear from the famous singer - chris mccandless.
i need a name.
sign, sign. everywhere a sign. fuckin' up the scenery, breakin' my mind.
do this. don't do that. can't you read the sign?
sorry. i thought you were a bear.
no. i'm sorry. my name's alex. i've been travelling a lot and i got robbed and my identification was taken.
go ahead.
no.
well, i don't have a permit.
alright. i appreciate it. i'm gonna be headed towards the coast tomorrow.
is that a man mommy? that's no mere man, sweetheart. that's alexander supertramp! king of the wild frontier!
alright man. thanks a lot.
i'm alright. what's the matter?
why?
but i haven't done anything wrong. these are my personal items.
you're kidding.
alright, but. i mean, you stopped your car. you're in the traffic lane. and you can see, there's hardly any cars out here. plus, it's a straight road; you can see for a long ways.
there's really been accidents along here?
i don't have any.
mccandless. christopher johnson mccandless.
oh. that's okay. thanks for stopping.
hey, rainey. hi jan. i'm alex.
yeah.
couple of days. but sometimes i forget to put my thumb out.
see that? i've got this book and it shows you all the plants and berries that are edible. you can find things wherever you go.
so, i just left the car. it was a great car too. i'd driven it cross country the first time when i got out of high school. i had some really great adventures with it. that thing would just go and go. i mean, it was an `82 but if i'd kept it, it would've lasted me forever.
i'm a leather?
what's a leather?
i don't need money. it makes people cautious.
i don't know if you'd want to depend on much more than that.
makin' their money somewhere.
fair?
i'll paraphrase thoreau -- "rather than * love, than money, than fairness, give me * truth." *
where's jan going?
i think so.
i think she's probably quietly disconnecting. it doesn't feel right to her to be close to you if there's a hole of some kind somewhere else.
actually, i'm a little afraid of water.
it's true. but it's something i've got to get over sometime.
so, i'll swim in it if you'll carry the firewood back to the campsite.
i'm going to go down the beach a ways and read a little bit. i'll bring the rest of that wood back before nightfall.
sounds good.
what is that? the slabs?
near san diego, yeah?
you sell your handcrafts there?
yeah. my mother made it from a kit.
i'm gonna sleep out here by the fire. i want to read a little bit.
dad, you and i have had our differences over the years. but on your birthday i want to tell you how grateful i am for all the things you've given me. and that you did it starting from nothing to working your way through college and busting your ass to support us kids. so, in return, i've been busting my ass a bit. at domino's pizza -
and i've gotten you this token, this damned expensive token, as a token of that appreciation.
too much and not enough. i used to believe all that stuff. that whole story. i thought maybe if i said it again, i'd believe it. but i don't.
hi wayne. alex mccandless.
oh, i wouldn't want to burden you.
couple of days. i kinda ran out of money.
i was thinking about doubling back through the canadian side of glacier park.
well, that'd be great. what do you do out here?
you mean those free satellite tv deals?
who are these guys?
madison. okay.
thanks wayne. i will.
i'd take a white russian if you've got it.
no, i just like white russians.
really?
to carthage.
yes please, ma'am.
i'm thinking about going to alaska.
no, alaska, alaska. i want to be all the way out there. on my own. no map. no watch. no axe. just out there. big mountains, rivers, sky. game. just be out there in it. in the wild.
yeah. maybe write a book about my travels. about getting out of this sick society.
because you know what i don't understand? i don't understand why, why people are so bad to each other, so often. it just doesn't make any sense to me. judgement. control. all that.
you know, parents and hypocrites. politicians and pricks.
now, that's who could be president! wayne buries his face in his hands. cut to:
i like all this.
i've been thinking a lot about alaska.
yeah, maybe i ought to put off going to alaska, at least so i can get settled up there in decent weather.
little lady, i walked in, i can walk out. he puts a few bills down on the bar, saddles up his backpack, and gives gail a hug.
i will. thanks gail . and tell wayne, i'll drop him a line.
yeah. if i wanted to paddle down the river, where's the best place to launch out of?
not much.
a permit for what?
wait-list? to paddle down a river?
well, how long do you have to wait?
twelve years?
thanks for your help.
i'm superman. supertramp.
hello.
hi. alex.
i am.
well.
you have ketchup?
mustard and relish it is then.
i haven't decided.
how far are we from lake mead?
man, i wonder if i could go all the way down into the gulf of california.
thank you. i'm very happy to meet both of you too.
well, guys i really appreciate the hospitality but i wanna make camp down- river a ways so i better take off before dark.
i thought i'd run the whole river into the sea of cortez. the stupid dams dried it up.
36 days.
fingers and toes.
after the river dried up, i ported the kayak and got a lift to golfo.
i paddled south about 20 miles.
that's when i saw the cave and everything went upside down.
a sandstorm hit and i was pretty much stuck. my kayak blew away, so i left it and walked up the beach, hitched back north, and here i am.
what they ought to do is open up the dams and let the rivers flow.
yes, sir. i've eaten enough sand to send me back to the city anyway.
one. two. three -
as alexander supertramp returns to civilization. a hobo. i'm a for real hobo.
can you tell me how to get an id card?
yeah.
and, if i want to apply for a job somewhere, can you help me with that?
alright then. thank you. oh, one last thing. do you have a bed for me?
i'm sorry, sir.
no, sir.
thanks very much.
i'll cancel christmas!
yes. i'm god.
yeah, no. this is good. right here.
okay.
right, right. i forgot.
okay.
how much do i have in the account now?
what's the interest on twenty-two cents?
lori, i'm punching out.
no, i mean i'm punching out for good.
yeah. also, i've got to do some things before i head north.
that's okay. i'll let you know where to send it.
bye-bye.
surprise!
she's only a teenager.
well, i'm waiting on a check from my last job to come into salton city the day after christmas. i've got to start thinking about getting ready for alaska. when the sun gets a little lower tonight, i'm going to start a calisthenics routine. i think after the check comes in, i'll try to find some mountains i can climb everyday till spring comes. i gotta see how far the money's gonna go.
i'm going to have to pick up a lot of supplies before spring. so, i might take another job or i might be okay.
i'm not taking any money from you, rainey. it's been a real great twist meeting you two. you look like you're doing good.
hi. tracy * you selling books?
i am. we are.
do you?
that's good. i heard you play your song last night.
you are not terrible.
no. you sing sweet.
i'm sorry. this is rainey. and i'm chris.
i hope i get to meet him sometime. jan looks into chris' eyes and smiles with pure love. she leans over and gently kisses chris on the cheek.
yeah.
you should rainey. makes that tantric stuff go even better.
me too.
no.
they should. but i can't. not yet, anyway. i got a sister though, carine. she's the most beautiful girl in the world. but, it's all got to stay behind me until i get where i'm going.
yeah, rainey. alaska.
hello? merry christmas?
what?
no!
no, i mean, no, we can't do that.
how old are you?
what year were you born?
you want to do something together?
you can always get in touch with me by sending mail here. i don't know when i'll get it, but i'll get it.
you're pretty magic.
you too, rainey. thanks for everything.
new year's resolution?
hey boy. you are a handsome fellow. beautiful dog.
go on, boy. go on.
out past oh-my-god hot springs.
alex.
west virginia.
you go left here.
no, we keep going. i'm further up. another half-mile or so, out on the bajada.
no, they keep to themselves pretty much and so do i.
i think i got my head on my shoulders pretty good.
couple of weeks.
a lot of places. i've been moving around.
twenty-three.
look mr. franz. i think careers are a twentieth century invention and i don't want one. you don't need to worry about me. i have a college education. i'm not destitute. i'm living like this by choice.
yeah, in the dirt.
don't have one anymore.
hey, mr. franz. i want to show you something.
alright. but look out there. even from half way out, it's quite a sight isn't it?
from the top you can see all the way to the salton sea too. ron looks up the precarious rock wall. he ain't gonna be seeing the salton sea today.
yes, sir.
you don't want to go up?
yeah, sure. it'll take me a couple of minutes to clean up.
how old are you, mr. franz?
seventy-nine. see, all due respect, but the real difference between people is the quality of their soul and not on how long they've trudged around like a dip-shit.
but it's true.
the government's the same as my parents. they don't respect anybody. regulation. regulation. regulation. we can't do this. but they can do that. i mean, the hypocrisy of the whole. culture. makes me crazy. my father was having children * with two women at the same time, and then * has the gall to think that he can be of some guidance to me? make judgments on me? my mother, of course, goes along with all of it. keeps the secret, which of course, makes my whole life a fiction. everything i thought was, wasn't. they're such fools! fucking idiots!
sorry. i don't usually use that kind of language either. i just get so angry thinking about it.
awww, that was a great time mr. franz. thank you.
that would be swell.
good night mr. franz.
yeah. i hope i don't wreck your machine. there's a lot of grime in that stuff.
great.
you got a white russian?
beer?
i'll take a guava juice, that sounds good.
yeah, i was gonna ask you.
do you ever travel, mr. franz?
well, i'm finished eating. i'd love to see your workshop.
anything alive in it?
north.
i could ask you the same question. except i already know the answer.
i do, mr. franz. you've got to get back out in the world. get out of that lonely house of yours, that little workshop, and go live on the road.
really. you're going to live a long time, ron. you should make a radical change in your lifestyle. the core of man's spirit comes with new experiences. and there you are, stubborn old man, sitting on your butt.
come on, old man! come on!
you alright?
i'll miss you too, ron. but you're wrong if you think the joy of life comes principally from human relationships. god's placed it all around us. it's in everything. in anything we can experience. people just have to change the way they think about those things. you ought to put a little camper on the back of your pick-up and go take a look at some of the great work god's done out here in the american west.
holy shit!
what are you doing up? it's three-thirty in the morning.
ron, you don't have to do that.
on my great -
ron.
yep.
how about we talk about this when i get back from alaska, ron. would that be alright?
alright, ron. we'll talk about it then.
thanks, ron.
and i will tell about it.
well, it could've been either one of us. couldn't it?
mom, help me.
the road. escaped from atlanta. thou shalt not return `cause the "west is the best." and now after two rambling years, comes the final and greatest adventure.
the climactic battle to kill the false being within and victoriously conclude the spiritual revolution.
ten days and nights of freight trains and hitchhiking, bringing him to the great white north.
no longer to be poisoned by civilization, he flees, and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild.
shit!
here she stopped and, closing her eyes, took a deep breath of the flower-scented air of the broad expanse around her. it was dearer to her than her kin, better than a lover, wiser than a book.
by its right name. by its right name.
beautiful blueberries - vaccinium uliginosum. eskimo potato - hedysarum alpinum. etc.
set small signal fire today - watched it die tonight.
call everything by its right name.
what if you saw me running into your arms.
would you see then.
what i see now? a sudden cut to: