The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Premise - As a freshman, a socially awkward boy named Charlie befriends a group of really cool, alternative-style seniors, who take him under their wing. Neither they, nor Charlie, anticipate how complicated of a task that is, and how deep Charlie's trauma resides.
Review - This is a 90's teen cult classic novel, and has become a 2010's teen cult classic film. I think it helps that even though the film was made 15 years later, it was adapted and directed by its own author. This story was his baby. The book has such a unique, specifically literary format, that I was impressed with how well it was able to translate onto a screen. The novel is epistolary, as "Charlie" writes a series of letters to a stranger (disguising his true name, as well as the names of all his friends). In the movie, Logan Lerman is incredible at conveying the psychically numb, damaged figure that is Charlie, but you can only truly get inside his head in the book. However, both were highly adapted for their format, and Stephen Chbosky did a wonderful job with that. In order to convey Charlie's mental damage and dissociation, both were vague and had holes in time, but were able to depict that in different, format-specific ways.
As usual, the reason I read the book and later watched the film in theaters when it first came out was due to Emma Watson's casting. She plays Sam, the cool, female lead who becomes Charlie’s romantic interest. She’s the epitome of your beautiful, alternative 90′s girl. Emma Watson calls her “a daughter who would make every mother proud and every father nervous.” She’s incredibly insecure about her own abilities, and hides it with her free spirit. It was a revolutionary character for Emma, and she shows off her adorable short hair. This is also the film that introduced me to the wonderful Ezra Miller, who has now gone on to have such a huge career (And enter the Wizarding World!) that I am ridiculously proud.
This story is such an outpouring of love! It makes me want to reach out to all of my loved ones and tell them I care. Definitely very smart, thought-provoking, and able to achieve its desired emotion without any direct acknowledgment of Charlie’s horrific history. Honestly, I think I appreciated this story far more as an adult than when I was in high school, even though for many teens, this was a defining story in their coming of age. As a high schooler though, I think I fixated more on the wallflower vs. participator contrast, because I was more of a wallflower myself who loved stories but didn't necessarily let myself be the lead of one. I still love that aspect of this story, and am continuously inspired by it. That's such a huge part of mental health too, to be able to participate fully in life and be behaviorally active. However, when it came to mental health, I was less fixated on Charlie's trauma when I was a teenager. That's not to say I wasn't captivated by it. But as an adult who can conceptualize truly how young and vulnerable Charlie was, and as an adult who has more knowledge surrounding childhood sexual abuse... It breaks my heart now more than ever.
The book and the film focus on every potentially taboo and horrific subject - childhood sexual abuse, domestic violence, underage sex, illegal substance use, underage substance use, PTSD/trauma, homophobia, you name it. Really what we're dealing with here is that this subset of "cool, alternative" teens are that way because they have been disenfranchised somehow. Patrick is gay and has to keep his love affair a secret, Sam has been taken advantage of by men since she was a child (though it's not clear if she was ever explicitly abused), and Charlie was repeatedly molested by a family member. So they've had to fight to be themselves and find safe spaces with other, similarly rejected people. It's a further reminder that I love teenagers. I have a passion for teens who have suffered, and it reaffirmed what I want to do in life. I thank Mr. Anderson, the teacher, for his role in Charlie's development.
It's also great because it's an honest snapshot of 90's teen culture. The mixtapes make me nostalgic for a time when I was barely alive. (96/100)
Quotes -
“We accept the love we think we deserve.”
“And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.”
"Maybe it's good to put things in perspective, but sometimes, I think that the only perspective is to really be there."
What to watch for - In the movie, there's much to see. Other than Logan Lerman’s fantastic performance? All of Emma’s outfits! Especially getting to see Emma in the Rocky Horror Picture Show!
If you liked this book/film, I'd recommend Looking for Alaska!
Written and directed by Stephen Chbosky
Published by Pocket Books
Distributed by Summit Entertainment
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