The Perks of Being A Wallflower
“The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” like many other movies, focuses on the life of an introvert adolescent, Charlie (played by Logan Lerman), suffering from the mental distress of losing two people in his life. He enters high school for the first time, and his first friend is his English teacher. Because of his social nature, he hasn’t made any other friends until he acquainted Patrick and Sam at their high school’s football game. Soon he is part of their clique and realizes how alike they all are. This semi-autobiographical film of director, author, and screenwriter of “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” Stephen Chbosky, captures his life the way he intended in order to relate with the audience. Aside from the author, the music director, Michael Brook, does a great job of connecting and relating the characters together as well.
As the movie started, I knew from the music that the movie would be somewhat like Juno. The alternative rock created the vibe of a character standing out in a way that isn’t normally portrayed. Figuring out soon who he was, a song played while Charlie was narrating how no one wanted to talk or sit with him during lunch that sounded atmospheric, denoting his position in society; away and unwelcomed from it. And then the next day, it was a sad and depressing song from Brook’s score played while he still sat alone at lunch.
Later, during a football game Charlie made a couple friends Sam, played by Emma Watson, and Patrick, played by Ezra Miller. His mood was definitely lightened with more upbeat alternative rock, but then plagued again with a similar atmospheric score. Michael Brook himself originally composed all these scores and did a wonderful job at improving the scenes, contributing to the mood, and presenting Charlie’s melancholy moments so we feel just as bad as he does.
Charlie was able to make a couple more friends who were friends with Sam and Patrick, and soon was welcomed into the “island of misfit toys”. He was a wallflower now and as the movie progressed he was able to feel happier. Their common interest in alternative rock not only lifted the overall mood, but also suggested that they’re not part of the mainstream. Alternative rock was created to be distinctive from mainstream, which is a good symbol Stephen Chbosky uses to separate the wallflowers from everybody else. Even though Charlie had friends now, the atmospheric music was still there to haunt us all in his depressive moments as he flashed back to memories with his Aunt Helen, who definitely makes the story of the movie even better.
Overall, this is a great movie for anyone from his or her teen years and up. It’s not that original, but it doesn’t mimic another movie because it contains new aspects that freshen the story. People can relate to the sexual abuse in Charlie’s and Sam’s childhood, issues towards Patrick’s sexual orientation, and a number of other things that make this story great. I’ll give this an eight for its story and cast.
As the movie started, I knew from the music that the movie would be somewhat like Juno. The alternative rock created the vibe of a character standing out in a way that isn’t normally portrayed. Figuring out soon who he was, a song played while Charlie was narrating how no one wanted to talk or sit with him during lunch that sounded atmospheric, denoting his position in society; away and unwelcomed from it. And then the next day, it was a sad and depressing song from Brook’s score played while he still sat alone at lunch.
Later, during a football game Charlie made a couple friends Sam, played by Emma Watson, and Patrick, played by Ezra Miller. His mood was definitely lightened with more upbeat alternative rock, but then plagued again with a similar atmospheric score. Michael Brook himself originally composed all these scores and did a wonderful job at improving the scenes, contributing to the mood, and presenting Charlie’s melancholy moments so we feel just as bad as he does.
Charlie was able to make a couple more friends who were friends with Sam and Patrick, and soon was welcomed into the “island of misfit toys”. He was a wallflower now and as the movie progressed he was able to feel happier. Their common interest in alternative rock not only lifted the overall mood, but also suggested that they’re not part of the mainstream. Alternative rock was created to be distinctive from mainstream, which is a good symbol Stephen Chbosky uses to separate the wallflowers from everybody else. Even though Charlie had friends now, the atmospheric music was still there to haunt us all in his depressive moments as he flashed back to memories with his Aunt Helen, who definitely makes the story of the movie even better.
Overall, this is a great movie for anyone from his or her teen years and up. It’s not that original, but it doesn’t mimic another movie because it contains new aspects that freshen the story. People can relate to the sexual abuse in Charlie’s and Sam’s childhood, issues towards Patrick’s sexual orientation, and a number of other things that make this story great. I’ll give this an eight for its story and cast.