Popular Culture Review 29.1 (Spring 2018) | Page 24

reality , now owned by the production company , would disappear behind Hollywood ’ s construction does not seemed to have been much of a concern when compared to their eagerness to become part of the performance . It did not work and Carthage remains a very quiet town , for McCandless ’ fans tend to go directly to Healy , Alaska , in order to follow in the footsteps of their idol . However , the inhabitants of Carthage are still deprived from the right of telling the story of their lives .
Between Krakauer ’ s creative portrait and Penn ’ s spectacular biography , the story of Christopher McCandless has become a merchandised fictionalization which directly benefits from its appearance of reality , just like the captions “ based on a true story ” or “ inspired by true events ” are present in so many highly imaginative narrations in order to allow for a wider market : it appears that an imaginary parallel dimension sells better when it pretends not to be imaginary , for it demands much less suspension of disbelief and therefore facilitates the identification of the receptor with the narrative universe . The abuse of this marketing device , supported by the formidable machinery of the society of spectacle , contributes to increasingly blur the line between reality and the imaginary , and thus , the personal tragedy of an antisocial grown-up child victim of his own arrogant ignorance has been replaced by the romanticized account of a young visionary involved in a tragic quest – it is much more profitable that way .
McCandless Inc . “ We ’ re hard up for heroes if that ’ s what it takes – some guy who starved to death in a bus .”
There exists an entire network devoted to Christopher McCandless , that includes dedicated websites , forums and Facebook pages with thousands of followers worldwide . McCandless ’ parents have created the Christopher McCandless Memorial Foundation , a charity organization devoted to “ helping mothers and children in need ,” the name of which , “ Chris ’ s Purpose ,” is perfectly at one with the Christ figure Penn constructed in his film , as well as its language . It speaks of the “ connective power of Chris ’ s tireless pursuit – experiencing the most remote corners of God ’ s creation ” and how he “ chose to take the road less travelled altering the lives of those who he came into contact with .” The section dedicated to the foundation in Christophermccandless . info , arguably the most important website dedicated to Christopher McCandless , clearly drives the point home , stating that “ The Chris ’ s Purpose could just as easily be called God ’ s Purpose .” The same website introduces Back to
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