Re McCandless,
Into the Wild, et al, while browsing around this evening I found a
site with an article by an Alaskan ranger that touched on Sean Penn's thoughts (on comments by another Alaskan ranger that were less than flattering about McCandless' unpreparedness in the wild and his eventual demise due to it). Penn was the director of
Into the Wild. Without a doubt a highly talented individual, but not the sharpest or most balanced knife in the drawer (remember his chaotic, almost comical attempt to "rescue" Katrina survivors in a rowboat - which promptly sank 10 feet from shore?). Penn's comments below (slightly edited for a PG audience) are directed at rangers in general and give some insight into his thinking:
"No, I don't object to a person who wears a brown shirt and a patch on their shoulder and follows instructions all day either. I'm not all that interested in what the park rangers have to say. I accept that there's an automatic instinct to judge those you envy and who have more courage than you do, and I think that while he (the ranger) rides around in his four-wheeler on a CB radio getting fat, Chris McCandless has spent 113 days f(bomb)ing alone in the most unforgiving wilderness that God ever created."So, BobR and all you other rangers and wilderness personnel of various persuasions out there - how's that instruction-following, four-wheeling, CB radio-chatting, pound-packing job workin' for ya? I never knew you guys had it so easy! Next time you have to perform a SAR in hazardous conditions or any other demanding aspect of your job, you might want to hold up and give Sean a call first to ensure it's done properly. He's clearly the man with the plan.
