Headlines!

[Despanan]

Wait. I just read the article, which has a very different spin than the headline.

Apparently this kid didn't die trying to emulate "Into the Wild" he just liked "into the wild" and went off into the woods and committed suicide.

His body was found only 1000 feet from his abandoned car, and he left all of his "survival" stuff IN the car before he left.

So it's not so much a story of tragically imitating a tragic movie - it's a story of a kid who liked a tragic movie killing himself in a superficially similar location.

Which is quite a bit different.

[Phantomgrift]

Wespy-Despy, stop being stupid and only reading what you want to read.

I never said he was trying to emulate “Into The Wild”. I pointed out that according to the article he was “obsessed with it” as in, unhealthy fixation. That’s a far cry from “Gee Willkers Mr. Wilson, he really liked it!”

And at the time of the article, they weren’t sure if he came up with a new way of committing stupidcide, or if he was actively trying to live of the land.
McSenseless didn’t have any supplies either. No compass, ignored the fact that there was a bridge crossing a couple miles up the river, etc.

My bottom line still remains.
Morons do stupid things with little to no knowledge of the basics, get themselves killed, and then more morons come along “inspired” by them.

[dexeron]

[Despanan]

He didn't die of exposure or starvation - he just offed himself on purpose. 1000 feet from his car. In a wooded area that wasn't in any way the wilderness.

This isn't an example of someone misjudging their ability to survive in the wilderness. If it was the death would have been ruled "accidental" instead it's being treated as a suicide.

[Phantomgrift]

And yet he was still inspired by a sad sack in a movie who died after trying to "find" himself.

Sorry, my empathy meter still rests solidly on a big zippity zilch.
And gee Desp, no words of Mountain Man wisdom concerning the dad who beat a child rapist to death?

Or is this another one of your "Imma gonna post things contrary to Phantom because it's what I do, and then Dex will pipe up like a yes-man afterwards cause it's what he does." moments?

[dexeron]

I'm sure he was inspired by lots of things. For all we know, he also took great pleasure in the life lessons taught by SpongeBob Squarepants, Family Feud, and Leave it to Beaver, in addition to that movie.

None of those things, however, had anything to do with his death.

[Phantomgrift]

His death, however, was entirely due to his own stupidity. Much like the stupidity found in every film mentioned here. Ergo, my point still stands, and I am most triumphant on the intertubes.

[dexeron]

Stupidity, if you think that suicide is stupid.

However, nothing like "the stupidity found in every film mentioned here," because his death had nothing to do with the wild, or unpreparedness for the wild, or failing to answer a question in line with the majority of those surveyed, or mutation caused by massive radiation poisoning, or Eddie Haskel's secret collection of human body parts in the fridge out in his garage.

[Phantomgrift]

Actually, suicide is fairly stupid, and the cowards way out.

But mostly, Dex, Dex, Dex.... *Insert big ol'sigh here*

When will you ever realize that I don't care how the hippie died, save that he died?
It's like reading about the Dad who got pardoned from the judge for beating a rapist to death, or learning that "bear man" was eaten when the bears grew tired of him.

When the gene pool becomes slightly better across the board, it gives me a miniscule amount of hope for humanity!

[dexeron]

I'm just making sure we're adhering to an acceptable level of accuracy here. We don't want to lose our accreditation here.