[Xaston]

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I can't comment on Into the Wild because I haven't seen it. But I would view someone like the main character as being spoiled, pretentious and selfish. (assuming they didn't come from an abusive home or w/e.)There are millions of people in third world countries that struggle every day in hopes of one day maybe having half of the things that many of these disillusioned "nomads" have in their lives. Yet we will never hear of most of their stories. One of my professors had his whole family massacred when he was a child in Rwanda. He made his way to the U.S., got a phd in linguistics and ethnic studies, got married etc. Unfortunately no one will probably ever write a book about his plight. More often than not we'll see books/movies that come out romanticizing the course that the Into the Wild character took instead.

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A) I haven't seen it either.
B) I just watched the trailer for the first time and it did seem that his home may have been abusive. Someone asks Emil what his parents are doing and he says "living their life" and then they show what appears to be a flashback of Emil as a toddler hiding behind a doorway watching his father violently shove his mother. I think.
C) Yea a lot of people have been in worse circumstances than him, but calling him pretentious and spoiled because of this is unfair imo. At the beginning of the trailer he tries not to accept a new car from his father because he doesn't NEED a new one. That seems pretty unspoiled to me. Although leaving your family etc. without letting them know and all that is obviously selfish. But sometimes you gotta look out for yourself first.

Anyways, my interest is piqued and I will probably see this soon. I still need to see Eastern Promises and The Kingdom.