The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)

Rotten Tomatoes 70 Best High School Movies #31

The Setup

This story is about a boy, Charlie (Logan Lerman), who is entering his freshman year of high school. We learn early on through a framing device of his personal letters to an unnamed recipient that he is nervous about this because he doesn't have any friends, and so beginning high school is a frightening proposition.

The Friends

Early on in the story, as Charlie attends his first football game, and looks on in confusion as the entire crowd goes crazy for play after play, he notices a boy (Ezra Miller) sitting, seemingly by himself, a few rows behind him in the bleachers. He moves back to sit next to him and strikes up a conversation. The two are joined by Sam (Emma Watson), the boy's (Patrick) stepsister, who chats with both of them and the two sort of just scoop Charlie up and take him with them to a party, where we meet some more friends who round out the group, Mary Elizabeth (Mae Whitman) and Alice (Erin Wilhelmi). The dynamic between this friend group is one of the strengths of the movie, as their humor and personalities sort of set them apart from some of the students, but as Charlie quickly learns, they're not outcasts or losers in any sense of the word. This is one of the early lessons for Charlie-that all is not what it seems on the surface in the social dynamics in high school.

The Stuff

This movie was made in 2012, but it seems like there was care taken to not center any kind of technology too much. The kids don't really have cell phones, they talk on traditional landlines, and at one point Charlie's dad complains about needing to use the phone, so the era feels set very much in the 80s or early 90s. Charlie has difficulty tracking down the name of a song that the group hears at one point, and they gift each other records and making mixtapes is a recurring plot point. Again...extremely late 80s.

The Deal

Basically, Charlie struggles with a LOT of trauma that we get little clues about as the movie progresses. It seems clear that his family--his parents and brother and sister--are very worried about him and what might happen if he were to fall back into old ways. Charlie's attempts to suppress his memories of his trauma eventually fail. Trauma that we try to suppress is like holding a beach ball under water. It can work for awhile, sometimes for a very long time. However, eventually, and often when we don't expect it, that trauma will force itself to the surface. This happens to Charlie and causes his friends (and the other people in the school) to understand a very different side of him.

The Sage

The wise mentor in this movie, Mr. Anderson, an English teacher (of course), is played by Paul Rudd, who could possibly be the coolest freshman English teacher that has ever existed or will ever exist. He notices Charlie's intelligence right away, and fosters it by not only talking to Charlie from time to time, but feeding him novels to read and just generally being a cool guy and a friendly face to talk to. Everyone would be better with a Mr. Anderson in their life.

The Drama

Ultimately, the question is not only will Charlie find a way to manage his trauma and the really difficult experiences that have shaped him, but will he find a way to successfully navigate his overwhelming crush on Sam?

The Lesson

I'm not expecting to find too much variance in all these as we go through the list, but definitely "be yourself" is a main theme of this movie. There is a subplot which more or less just paints this on the screen as it plays out in various ways in the story. Can Charlie discover who he is in order to be it? Can Sam accept who she is? Can Name accept who he is? Being yourself and accepting it is probably something I'm going to have to find a lot of different ways to write.

The Verdict

I've seen this movie before, and I remember enjoying it, but I appreciated it more this time around. I think that the strength of the individual characters and their friendships, the commitment to some of the darker subplots and themes, and the great use of music are all to the movie's credit. I would recommend this if you haven't seen it lately. Grade: B+