Dog, not sure why you think the author and director were idolizing McCandless. Sure, they probably embellished for dramatic purposes, but they tell a story of a troubled young man with deep emotional family scars, who embarked on a search for a deeper meaning. The classic disenfranchised youth trying to find himself. He wasn't into drugs, he was responsible enough to finish college, gave away a small fortune to charity, then took off in an old car on a wild adventure. He met lots of interesting people, worked hard at manual labor, kayaked the Colorado river into Mexico, hopped trains, and basically lived his dreams for a brief time in his youth. The Alaska misadventure was not the whole story. I think that part of the story was portrayed as more sad than heroic. To me, the lesson is that you can't learn everything from books, that you have to experience life to learn. But take your chances carefully and don't shun help.
This thread reminds me of why I'm an engineer, and why I was frustrated with liberal arts teachers, there are so many ways to look at things and there's no right or wrong answer. At least we aren't being graded.
One thing that makes sense to me is that if a person never embarked on a wild youthful adventure to get this out of their system while they were young, then they might be more judgmental about McCandless and Dustin Self. For those who went out and did it, there is a different perspective.
I'm not sure why you think Everett Reuss was all that different. There are books and a movie about him, very similar vagabond story. He died at age 20, not exactly a seasoned old wilderness expert. Certainly more experienced than McCandless or Dustin Self, but still, he took his chances walking into very hostile territory and he lost. The name of his 2012 movie hints at similar embellishment: "Everett Reuss, Wilderness Song" I see a lot in common amongst these guys.
Interesting article about his life and 2012 movie "Wiilderness Song" Edited to add link, correct typos and a little more
