grab it...or not?

and just remember, if you want something in life, reach out and grab it. - into the wild

despite all the fabulous reviews i've heard of and listen to about sean penn's movie, it didn't live up to my expectations. there are too many elements of the typical american movie in it, although penn's intentions seem to have been quite different.

for some reason i do not think that the main character's resolution about living an independent life in the wild and all the explanation her sister's voice gives about their parent's behaviour seem to work together well .

her speech implies it is the way their parents treated them, together with his brother's essential personality what moved him to take such an intrepid step.

however, on the other hand, the movie is apparently supporting two ideas -i personally strongly agree with- that must, in order to be coherent, be defended by themselves and not result from a subconscious chain of actions.

rather than living stronger, Alexander Supertramp believes, people should feel stronger. That is his moto and that is why he decides to put his principles into action. He takes a stand, for no-one but himself, and sets to a very long trip with seudo-mystic tones into Alaska.

the great thing about it is that he takes the decision according to what he believes living means and by doing so he makes his live matter, he lives ethically and therefore his life becomes worth the while, and so does him as a person.

however, is it always as easy as that?

is it so clear to make one's mind up and follow the right path?

do we just need enough courage and intelligence and the rest will naturally come?

the same movie gives us a hint for an answer at its very end: "happiness just happens when shared" is what more or less our dying Alexandre writes in capital letters on the white space of some book.

But sharing is really difficult, subtly complicated. It simply prevent us from bluntly following our personal utopias. We cannot just go out and grab what we want since what we want might hurt the ones we need to to make our live worth it, and to balance that give-and-take them and us are playing continually when grabbing and letting go is the crucial action we must continually try to accomplish.