There's a lagoon, and it's blue. Surely this will work.

July 20, 2014 3:03 PM

The Real Castaway (2001; 48:13) is a tense and awkward but sometimes beautiful documentary about a teenage boy moving to the Ulithi Atoll and seeking companionship to fulfill a romantic fantasy. [Via.]
posted by Monsieur Caution (3 comments total)

I thought I would watch a bit, skipping around, but then I ended up watching the whole thing. I'm glad I did. Thanks for posting.
posted by Didymium at 4:46 AM on July 21, 2014 [1 favorite]

(I watched most of it, but skipped some.)

He seems remarkably honest about the whole thing, though I imagine there are still topics he may have avoided. Still, I would love to have prepper/survivalist/EOTWAWKI-types watch this as a reminder of how many inputs are necessary for one to live "on their own" -- even in a tropical paradise!
posted by wenestvedt at 11:11 AM on July 21, 2014 [1 favorite]

What a strange man - to actually realise a teenage fantasy shows a tenacious young man but also someone who had something else going on. Was real life missing something important? Perhaps it was that he was unaware he was gay and he thought it could work out with girls if only the situation was as idyllic as Blue Lagoon.

On a side-note, I thought the edit was a little bitchy to his first companion Helen - even if she sold her story to the tabloids, did he get permission to broadcast her mosquito bitten butt?
posted by meech at 3:50 PM on July 21, 2014 [1 favorite]