McCandless got me feeling some type of way.

Before I delve into my Into the Wild prompt response, I have a confession to make:

I am pretty much obsessed with Chris McCandless and the mystery that surrounds his life. My fascination with McCandless started when I picked up Into The Wild this past summer and read it in one sitting on a glorious, summer day. I could not rip my eyes off the page; I felt this unexplainable attraction and curiosity towards McCandless' life.

Soon after I devoured the book, I moved on to the film adaptation of the novel, also titled Into The Wild. If it was possible, I fell in love with the movie even more than the book. Unlike so many movie adaptations, I felt that the movie Into The Wild justified Chris' life and portrayed his story just the way I hoped it to be. I also listened to the soundtrack nonstop and gabbed about the movie and book obsessively with my fellow Reading Place classmate, Sela Patterson.

Sorry, back to the prompt. When I searched "Chris McCandless" on YouTube, I was not surprised at the results. Around three fourths of the videos consisted of slideshow tributes to McCandless, using recognizable images that were previously shown on TV reports or magazines. None of these tribute videos seemed to be made out of spite and anger, but rather with immense respect and a bit of idolization. One YouTube user even composed an original acoustic song for the background music of the tribute. Another thing I noticed about these videos is they all had a lot of views: ranging from 1,000 to 1 million hits.

The other quarter of videos contained footage from different expeditions to Magic Bus. While some videos included foreign hikers and random people, the most striking videos featured Chris McCandless' loved ones.

The video that struck me the most comes from the Back to the Wild website. Back to the Wild is the title of the collection of Chris McCandless' photographs and writings, compiled by his loved ones including his parents, Wayne Westerberg and Jan Burres. In the video, the group of Chris' loved ones bundles up and travels to Magic Bus to see where he passed away. Even with the grainy footage, you can see the sadness in the group's eyes when they enter the bus.

This image struck me the most.

I wanted to cry for Chris' parents. Seeing the aging couple sit on the bed where their son died a painful death was almost too much to handle. Even though many argue that McCandless was an ignorant rich kid, it is so important to remember that he came from a loving family. 

Even though I am suffering from an extreme case of senioritis, I spent an extensive time researching McCandless. Like the hundreds of YouTubers making tributes, I feel a connection with McCandless. I don't necessarily agree with his views and many of the actions he took, but I admire his determination and free spirit. As a class, we could argue about his decisions, ideas and personality all we want, but that wouldn't change one thing:

Chris McCandless was one heck of a dreamer.
And I find that pretty darn admirable.