porcelainblossom asked: I find it a bit unfair that you call him an asshole, while he is dead and can't defend himself. You don't know his whole story, from just seeing the (romanticized) film or reading the book. Perhaps he was (manic) depressed without someone to help. Donating his saved money to Oxfam doesn't seem the most assholish act ever. There are worse romanticised people like mass murderer Ché Guevara.

it probably is a bit unfair to use a name, rather than to say he acted like an asshole. we all have many names, and i don’t feel like i’m limiting myself to this one. Che was a complex character that certainly wasn’t limited to murder, and yet- I get your point perfectly. if i called McCandless a charitable asshole just stunts my point. as an aside- being charitable doesn’t make someone untouchable or better. I’m stunned that more people aren’t charitable, and that it is made a big deal of when someone is.

I feel strongly that people with depression are often misunderstood (esp. as i have suffered a chronic form for the better part of my life) but that doesn’t excuse his acute lack of common sense. what i really have a problem with is people glorifying a half baked act. It doesn’t deserve the worship it gets. All I’m saying is that he isn’t a hero in my book, and a book or film that makes him out to be so w/out voicing the facts of the situation is cherry picking and sewing the seeds for delusional admiration.