Perks of Being a Wallflower is a movie I have seen probably eight or nine times; alongside reading the book at least twice. I obsessed over the book and movie during -the main character of the stories age, Charlie- freshman year of high school. This is a classic coming of age story, I I was… coming of age and this story resonated with me a lot. Stephen Chbosky wrote the screenplay and the book; he captured the coming of age genre story through narrative, sound, and genre. The soundtrack is recognizable throughout multiple generations, and therefore resonates with a wide audience; because it just sounds young.
Chbosky with Sam and Charlie on set of Perks
In Perks Of Being a Wallflower, the plot is based around one of the main character’s Charlie; he narrates the story through his letters to his “friend”. These letters are helping him deal with two major traumas in his life, the two traumas are evidently the underlying in the story the entire time. Through the narration of the letters the viewers are able able to develop a linear story in the movie, the line of events that happened chronologically: beginning to end. Chbosky drives the plot around the first year of Charlies high school experience, taking the viewer back and forth between present and past.
just one of the most reblogged 2012 Tumblr post EVER, lol.
Since Ive seen the movie so many times, I decided to read up on the nuances behind the movie a bit. I was able to grasp the ambiguous time period Chbosky tries to capture; I later found out that it was shot on film, which is unusual for 2012. This totally amplified the essence of a 1990 coming of age storyline.
At the beginning of the semester Dr. Schlegel told the class that Perks was one of the movies we *might* watch towards the end of the semester. I was shocked, considering this was a high school love of mine I didn’t eve think it was “sophisticated” enough to talk about in a film studies class. Class discussion this week was fun, in that I I was able to hear about something I was already really passionate about.
snapshot of: Charlie’s dissociative realization of being in the land of inclusive misfits
This being my last blog, and we had our last class zoom call this week, I can’t help but touch on the previous part of this semester. Let me start with the fact that Into to Film made me have a completely new appreciation and fascination with war movies, and horror movies for that matter. The screenings typically lined up with that weeks topic on film making; this made it easier to connect the lessons to everyday movie watching. The way the class was laid out was extremely intuitive and made lectures and discussions just seem like a fun talk. It was hard to find the motivation to write my blogs at first, but I honestly liked reading other peoples and writing my own (once I started…) especially since the class was online all semester. My least favorite screening was probably: The Artist, because I just didn’t find the story all that captivating. NOT to diminish the reason it was included in the syllabus, because I understand that, just not my cup of tea.
Thank you Dr. S for opening my insight about the nuances behind American Film, I am now officially obsessed. I am looking forward to History of the Motion Picture next semester, bummed its online again, but after this class online, I believe it will still be a ball. Thanks again for there great feedback on my essay, makes me feel proud of my writing. Happy Holidays! Watch Movies for fun! Thanks Dr.S!
This week’s screening was the film The Perks of Being a wallflower, an adaptation of the book written and directed by Stephen Chbosky. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a coming of age story about beginnings, starting with the first day of high school for the story’s protagonist, Charlie. Charlie goes into high school with a set of expectations, unfortunately the reality falls short. But that doesn’t mean Charlie turns cynical and throws in the towel on his hopes for high school. Although his experience in freshmen year isn’t exactly what he planned initially, Charlie’s open mind leads him through a fruitful year of gaining and growing. Charlie gains a new group of friends that offer him judgment-free support, teaching him the value of being around people that value him. Charlie also begins to grow into himself and his interests, we see a monumental change in character as Charlie becomes entangled in the lives of the social outcasts of the school. Having a group of friends that are both eager to learn about and encourage Charlie’s interests helps him gain a sense of confidence and presence in himself. One of my favorite scenes in the movie is when Charlie’s sister gives him the mixtape ponytail Derrick made for her, something that is humorous in its over-the-top gesture for her, but ends up being endearing when Charlie discovers his favorite, song “Asleep” by The Smiths, and it becomes a recurring symbol in the movie. But, like adolescence, the hard times hit just as hard as the good. Charlie is kind, observant, empathetic, and good-hearted, but his social skills are a bit underdeveloped. Loneliness and confidence play a large part in Charlie’s ability to connect with those around him and achieve the experience he desires from high school. As Charlie becomes a part of a larger social circle he becomes keyed into the complex lives and relationships of those around him, often facing troubles of his own in new relationships, recreational drugs, and saying goodbye to those he loves. But the most complex person he begins to know is himself.
(The next paragraph speaks about subjects that could be triggering, please be mindful)
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is filled with the humor and beauty of life through a teen’s eyes, but it also brings in a sense of realness. This film shows an accurate depiction of trauma and repressed memory. Trauma isn’t something that can be controlled, for Charlie and many other victims of childhood sexual abuse, his brain repressed the memory of that trauma in order to protect him. The hard thing about repressed trauma is that it never calls before it makes a visit, it is often triggered by an event, taste, smell, object, or similar experience to that of the original trauma. And it never gives a straight answer to how long it will stay. Charlie’s memories of the trauma he endured come in fragments leading up to his realization of what exactly happened, his breakdown is a result of having to experience that trauma again through memory. One thing I appreciated was the tasteful handling of how Charlie’s trauma was shown to the viewer. Charlie’s character displays the residual effects of childhood sexual abuse on victims who are still unaware that they experienced trauma. I believe that the film alludes to this in Charlie’s shyness and slow opening up to his friends. Trauma takes form in numerous ways and it affects people differently, but films like this show how important representation is for mental health.
It’s been a while since I’ve watched The Perks of Being a Wallflower, I remember seeing it during its hype when it was first released. Although I read the book a few times, I hardly remembered it even though I remember the cultural significance it had on teens during the time. I do have to say, I enjoyed watching it now because of the cringeyness and it’s fun to revisit movies every few years to see if my perspective has changed. I had forgot how much I had loved listening to the soundtrack for it, I still remember the songs although I cannot listen to David Bowie’s “Heroes” anymore (maybe in 5 more years).
As I had hoped, I gained a lot from this class. It’s pretty hard to complain about a class that requires me to watch movies for homework. I wanted to develop my ability to read a film, I appreciated having in-depth lectures about every aspect of a movie every week because of this. But that is not the end of my curiosity with the film industry, now I just have the right basis to inquire further. I’ve never been fond of blogs, in fact, seeing it on a syllabus places dread in me. However, I lost that sense of dread when I started writing about film. Something about it clicks (I like it?), I even get excited when I think of something I can to add to a piece or if I really enjoyed the topic that week. But I would be lying if I didn’t say my excitement was partially fueled by the quality of understanding that the class material provided us with. Even though we were online, Dr. S’s passion for the medium was still delightfully evident through the zoom window. Thanks Dr. S for making us feel that same excitement about film.
Based on the book written in 1999, The Perks of Being a Wallflower provides a unique insight into the world of a teenager outsider. It accurately depicts the lonesome and invisible presence one obtains in high school, particularly as a freshman.
This part made me LOL
The 2012 film centers around Charlie played by Logan Lerman (who we all melted over after Percy Jackson and the Olympians), a teen with prior struggles with mental health issues. Like many, Charlie viewed high school as a fresh start. In his first week he was faced with the fact that being an outsider will never get easier; shifting his views on starting over. He is welcomed into a new group by two upperclassmen, Sam and Patrick, who welcome him with open arms into their own group of outcasts. Charlie is more unstable and unsure of himself than the average entering freshman following the suicide of his best friend. The death messed him up, and it marked him by association. Maybe Patrick and Sam recognize his outsider status in themselves; in no time, the three are inseparable. The film takes place in a hazy sort of late ’80s, early ’90s time frame; no cellphones, and mix tapes are a crucial medium for expressing teen angst, which adds to its feeling of universality among teen audiences. The movie is both written and directed by the book’s author, Stephen Chbosky, who has also done work on movies like Rent and musical Dear Evan Hansen. His work has been teen-experience centric and he tends to nail the feeling of fleeting youthful joy, as well as the ugly parts that come with growing up. The film is very moving and inspiring, though the plot can sometimes get a bit cluttered due to the extensive human complexities that the story in the novel touches upon.
Rumored that Ezra Miller stole Tim Curry’s cheekbones
Music by David Bowie, Cocteau Twins, New Order, and the melancholy “Asleep” by The Smiths illustrate a nostalgia that perhaps the viewer never experienced. Referencing to high school dramatics and dreams that feel inherently moody yet hopeful is not a feeling that can easily be replicated. While I question a few of Chbosky’s directing cues, the music was spot on. Each song was pointative and had the angst and light sadness that came with being hormonal as well as the explosively energetic Teenage Riot anarchist soul that lived in all of us. The songs don’t just give us a beautiful, somber tone, but also an insight to Charlie’s taste and feelings, as though he handpicked the songs himself. While the film may take a few years to watch without cringing at my own bleeding angsty heart, the soundtrack I will definitely be revisiting for my own nostalgia.
Rest in Piss 2020!
I loved this class! Beyond obviously wishing we could have the class in person, the structure and constant assigning of different films has definitely made this semester much more enjoyable! Upon deciding to take this class again, I was mainly excited to learn more about film and expand my movie repertoire, but interestingly enough this semester I feel like I’m really starting to find a voice in these blogs. While I should have started them earlier, given how much they inspired my thought processes once I did them, I feel very proud of the writings I’ve produced in this class. I don’t feel as though I’m simply in homework anymore, but rather that my opinions and reviews are grounded in experience and knowledge, which feels really empowering at this point in college. It’s rare to find a professor that inspires passion for things like you do, and it’s incredibly fun! Thank you for the great semester, you set the bar very high for professor’s teaching on online and inspire us to make quality work despite the circumstances.
The Perks to Being a Wallflower, is a 2012 film, based upon the book of the same name written by Stephen Chbosky in 1999. He later served as the director to the movie with John Malkovich serving as producer. The movie was a overall success and pulled in $33.4 Million in theatres. The story follows Charlie, a freshman in high school, who has a long history which unbeknownst to him, changes the way he goes about his life and experiences things (As a heads up, this movie and ultimately this article talk about some distressing themes and the characters interaction with them. Readers discression is advised).
Charlie is young and recently released from a mental health institution. Entering high school he catches the interest of an English teacher named Mr. Anderson, and the soon to be other supporting friends and cast, Patrick and Sam. They are a brother stepsister friend duo who are older than him. He very quickly becomes close to them and almost immediately develops a massive crush on Sam. Charlie describes them as Wallflowers, or people who watch the world unfold in front of them. They end up at a party which they invited Charlie to, where Charlie gets high and admits that he’s suffering because of his best friends suicide, and later walks in on Patrick in the closet making out with the high school quarterback. Charlie promises not to tell anyone, which cements that he can be trusted as their friend. As they leave the party, they drive home, when Sam stands in the back of the truck as they go through a tunnel blaring music.
Sam wants to get into Penn State, and asks Charlie to help her study for her SATs, as her scores are too low. This goes on for a while and ultimately her scores jump up. As thanks, knowing that Charlie enjoys writing and reading, she gifts him a typewriter. They talk about their pasts and relationships they’ve been in, where Sam reveals her first kiss was at a young age with her fathers boss, but Charlie admits he hasn’t had his yet. Sam says that his should come from someone who loves him, and kisses him then. Before this however, Charlie admits that his Aunt who died when he was younger was also sexually assaulted. They stay close and later he is asked to take the role of Sam’s boyfriend in a theatre performance. He impresses everyone, including a girl named Mary. She and him ultimately become a couple, until one night Charlie is dared to kiss the prettiest girl in the room, and chose Sam over Mary, leading Sam to despise him, and Mary to break up with him. Patrick tells him that its best for him to not be near Mary or Sam for a while. This severs all the work Charlie had done and ultimately results in him falling into a pit of depression.
Charlie is alone for a long while until he has the chance to redeem himself. One day Brad, the football player that Patrick was kissing at the opening party comes into school in bruises after being caught by his father with Patrick. This leads Brad to resent Patrick and targets him with slurs and attempts to distance himself. Patrick not wanting to just take the abuse, then punches Brad and initiates the physical attacks in retribution by other football players and friends of Brad. Charlie seeing his chance, then goes in and starts swinging. He misses the next few moments but next can see and remember that all the people are now on the ground and that his knuckles and hands are bruised and bloody. The moment of him missing time during the fight results in him not being as mentally stable as he was at the beginning of the story. The rest of the year begins to move very rapidly for him and soon it is time for Sam to leave. Sam broke up with her boyfriend after finding out he is cheating on her, and when Charlie shows up at her house before she leaves, she chooses to attempt to do something more than kissing with him. The kissing goes fine, however when she touches his leg, he has a flashback to his Aunt Helen touching him in a similar way. We do not find out until the end of the story just how much this affected him and how much happened. Sam leaving for school causes his already worsening depression and mental state to accelerate. The flashbacks are more frequent and increase in intensity. Realizing this, he calls his sister who he tells that he blamed himself for her death although he to some degree was happy it happened and had wished for it. His call of distress and need for help was not unanswered, as she immediately calls the police to come help him. He awakens in the mental hospital, where he reveals and understands that his Aunt Helen had sexually abused and assaulted him for years before her death.
Charlie makes it through therapy and gets the help he never knew he needed. He exits the mental hospital to find Sam and Patrick there and ready to support him. They listen to the song they first heard in the tunnel, and this time Charlie is the one standing in the back of the truck feeling free in the wind. Charlie is finally released from the mental prison he had been in that affected the way he lived his life, and vows to go out and see the world.
This movie is an excellent modern coming of age film. Almost every watcher can relate to it to some degree for its awkward moments, or its ways it ties characters together. This movie has experiences almost every person has had to some degree or witnessed. The movie is cyclical, with Charlie emerging from the mental hospital and meeting Sam and Patrick both times, however the second he is his true self. It could be argued that Charlie undergoes the Heroes Journey. A cyclical diagram for the journey a hero must go through, it could be argued that losing Sam was his loosing of the mentor, and that his Death, Rebirth, and Atonement are his second visit to the mental hospital, which changes him for the better and allows himself to experience the world without being weighted down by the emotional burden his Aunt had left with him.
Intro to Film Studies was an incredible class and opportunity. Most people watch movies purely for entertainment. While this is not a bad thing, many people never critically watch a movie and find ways to relate them to each other. Filmography is a complex but rewarding art form, which often creates a lasting impact on viewers weather they realize it or not. In many ways we are Charlie. We are naïve and searching for belonging. Charlie had reading and writing, and many of us have movies and music. Viewing movies that you may never otherwise is an important thing for a number of reasons. Its important to understand why you enjoy one style of movie versus others, as well as it being important to broaden your horizons and experience this wild wonderful world we live in. Intro the Film Studies is a class students should take if they wish to be like Charlie and be changed forever, for the better.
In this week’s screening of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, written and directed by Stephan Chbosky, we discussed how this coming-of-age story breaks many obstacles as it provides a unique twist to life. Based on the novel, this story follows Charlie, a 15-year old freshman entering into highschool as a naïve introvert. On his journey to becoming the person he wishes to be, an average high school student with friends, Charlie, unfortunately, can’t react to that happy ending without unpacking his past. Throughout the film, we understand that Charlie is attempting to cope with sexual trauma, mental illness, and his best friend’s passing. These traumas multiply as he tries to fight against them to be expected once again. In his attempt to figure out the real meaning behind love, he also unpacks the hurt he’s felt throughout his adolescence.
What’s beautiful; about the film is its simplistic camera action to portray Charlie’s loving moments. In one of my favorite scenes, the tunnel sequence, the frame is shot in a medium to close-up to the pan to long shot. These sequences of images engulf the world Charlie lives in and him moving forward. Let’s start with the medium showing Charlie in the between his friends in the car. This emphasizes Charlie’s “world,” as his friends are here for him. They protect, grow, and feel with him. Second close-up, Charlie has to choose to move forward with his life or remain small in this world. In this case, he exits the window and be himself. Third, in the medium shot showcase, Charle, on top of the van truck, decides to be free. Last, the pan of the van driving away. This last scene emphasis Charlie is moving on with his life. This is also the point where the camera stops following the van as the story is finally done. Thus the editing of these shots creatively illuminates the challenges and overcoming Charlie’s go-through to be free from his past.
REFLECTION
I enjoy this film course. I found this course to be an excellent opportunity to dive into the deconstruction of film. Each week, the class and I found time to watch a movie we probably haven’t seen before, discuss and display our thought. Each segment found ways to dig deeper into a rabbit hole of research and articles about the film, from shots to editing to mise-en-scene to the genre. I can honestly say before this class, while I understood the fundamentals of a movie, it is nothing compared to what I have learned. I found this class fundamental for any inspiring filmmaker or anyone interested in films as once in this class, you get a broad understanding of how they come to be. My take away from this course has to be the simplistic and complex attributes stories have in our lives. While a boy such as Charlie, trying to understand what true love feels like, this simple story cares to mean that it can be recreated anyway. As a future filmmaker, the information is always there in us, but how we tell these stories for others makes it our stories. I would say my favorite section of this course was editing and sound. I believe this section opened my eyes to freedom of expression. In that’s section, I began to appreciate editors and composers as their compositions drive a story in the direction directors hope to feel. They are the real storytellers, and we don’t talk about that enough.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower was a fantastic movie but yet very sad and depressing. The main character Charlie is a freshman in high school that went through a tough last year in middle school for not being “popular” it seemed like. The movie displayed scenes of happiness, sadness, anger, and aggression (in certain scenes). The ending of the movie, when everything came together, was heartbreaking and made me understand why Charlie was so alone and going through the depression he had.
Charlie went through a very rough childhood. What we found out at the end of the movie, was that he was sexually abused by his Aunt Helen, who was also killed in a car accident during Christmas time one year (don’t remember how old he was when this happened). Charlie also struggled with the fact that his best friend committed suicide. With having these loses can tear a person down. Even though what happened between his Aunt Helen and her passing, he still feels like it was his fault that she died getting him a Beetles record. Charlie’s depression skyrockets when Sam leaves for Penn State (they are now dating at this point in the movie). He is having flashbacks and dark thoughts running through is head. Charlie calls his sister, who suspects he is in distress so she calls the cops. Charlie passes out as soon as the cops get to his house and awakens in a hospital. This process really brought light to the movie as the healing process is not always easy, but it is worth it and will bring happiness to not only yourself but to your family as they did not lose you to suicide.
Me personally, I have been dealing with a lot of dark thoughts/depression for about 10 years and finally telling people (my brother was the first to know, then my friends and finally my parents). It brought a huge weight off of my shoulders when I finally talked to a psychiatrist. Had the motivation to tell my parents and to see speechless for me not saying anything sooner really got to me. It reminded me of when Charlie called his sister and she stopped everything she was doing and told her friend to call the cops to her house. You start to realize that when you are going through a tough time in life, there will always be someone there to talk to. No matter the situation, you have a safe place to speak your mind. If you ever need to talk to someone about a stressful day, or everything going on in your life, don’t hesitate to contact anyone. Trust me, it is a weight lifted off of your shoulders when someone knows and they can help you.
As for the class, it was fantastic!! I always enjoyed classes with Professor Schlegel. Hopefully I will have another one of his classes next semester. The movies were very interesting and not seeing most of them, I was pretty surprised at what I was watching. The other movies that we did not get a chance to watch, I will definitely get to them over break for sure. Thank you again Professor Schlegel for a great semester and for having us watch some great movies!!
So. Perks of Being a Wallflower turned out to be a prime example of the old adage, “don’t judge a book by it’s cover”…or by its first act… or by most of its second act. The construction of this film sits comfortably in the goldilocks zone of good narrative storytelling. If you are unlike me, you possibly would have enjoyed the overacting, cringe, boohoo nature of this film from the start, but you’re not me. I began this movie worrying if my eyes would ever return from the back of my sockets after countless contentious eye rolls. However, I am not too big of a man to admit when I am wrong, and oh boy was I.
The first act of this film really pushed me away. The try-hard nostalgic nature of the coming of age genre is always presented with an over the top exaggeration of character traits. Charlie is introduced in a way that is meant to make him relatable to a wide base of viewers, with his main concern being his first day of high school. He is also presented as severely anxious, which becomes one of the key plot points and something that will shift deeper into meaning later in the film. The basic tropes of the first act provides little interest: why is this kid so anxious? Is it for a good reason? will he fit in? will he find friends?
The second act of the film dives somewhat deeper into the character of Charlie. There is an outgoing guy (Patrick) who Charlie very awkwardly befriends, he goes to a party where he loosens up and gets deep into a cringe worthy weed fueled monologed with everyone at the party, and he reveals to Sam that his best friend killed himself and his aunt died in a car accident. There, now we have a reason for his anxiety. So he grows closer to this new friend group and everything becomes easy for him. Unfortunately, the second act also sees to it that Charlie looses all of his friends. This is done because the narrative demands that Charlie does something to hurt his friends so that he can blame himself as he did with the death of his aunt. This event, the wicked breakup between Charlie and Mary Elizabeth after Charlie kisses Sam, causes Charlie to regress to his depressed and anxious ways.
As the second act of the film comes to a close we see Charlie reunited with his friends after his scrawny, sad, self presumably hulks out to save Patrick from a homophobic ass-kickin’. The friends reunite and all is well. The final act however, really throws a curve ball and it perhaps the only thing that saves this film for me. The predictable closure to Charlies love for Same had a very cliché vibe to it, but the revolution that comes as a result it was enough to give me whiplash. Learning of Charlies true history with his aunt was enough to justify the entire overly depressive narrative that was presented at the start of the film. In a way the film tricks you into believing that when Charlie talks about his Aunt and best friend’s death we have learned everything we need to know about the depth of the character. In the moments following our realization of what happened to Charlie everything made complete sense. I was wrong about this film in the beginning, but I am happy I was able to see it through that critical lens because it made it all the better.
I began this semester frustrated over online class, covid, and my suborn attitude towards taking a class to fulfill my art credit. I am a history major getting my teaching degree and the idea of taking any more classes that didn’t have to do with education or history was annoying to me. The truth is, I picked this class because I thought it would be easiest. Also, because I any other art class would be fatal to my GPA as I have about as much artistic ability as a wet rock.
Certainly this class wasn’t easy for the reasons I would have though, it was easy because I loved it. Having conversations about movies is one of my favorite pastimes, and talking to people that actually have a deeper understanding of film is like a breath of fresh air. I am beyond grateful that I chose to take this class because as much as I thought it was going to be an unneeded stressor, it actually became one of the biggest stress relievers.
Everything in this world has a cause and effect. Your mom and your dad have sex and you are the effect, you don’t pay attention in class and don’t do your work you fail. Its just the way of life in any sense. This idea of cause and effect couldn’t be any truer to a high school who makes a of mistakes off simply doing something they wasn’t supposed to thinking it won’t have a consequence. In “The Perks of a Wallflower” the film we see just that.
The Perks of a Wallflower was first a novel, then later adapted into a film by author and director Stephen Chbosky. It’s a story about a socially awkward high school teenager who indulges his life from the sidelined before being brought into a typical high school teenager’s regular lifestyle. Before high school, Charlie had a life, some would say, unfortunately, after his best friend killed himself in middle school and his aunt dying.
Throughout the story, you find out that Charlie was molested as a child by his aunt, but you also find out that his aunt was molested too by Charlie’s grandfather when she was younger. She did the same thing to Charlie. Charlie also blamed himself for her death. This left significant damage to Charlie and caused him to see things and lead him to a deep depression he tries to hide when he gets new friends and announce his love to Sam.
This semester, I learned a lot of things in the film that brings together the movie. I knew how sound was apart of the film, but I didn’t understand the importance of sound in a movie. When watching the screening of “Dazed and Confused,” another coming to age of film, I realized how the music makes the theme pop out even more even though you can get the hippie 70’s type of vibe.
I also very much appreciate seeing a film I have never seen before and breaking it down. I had my ups and downs this semester, but to do things like analyzing and breaking down the movie “Glory,” which gives much light on one of the first black regiments to lead in war. I never heard of the movie Glory before this. I never knew that information, so to learn things about my culture and things in the film that would help me analyze my script, I am forever grateful for this class.
This week’s screening was Perks of Being a Wallflower, a film that I absolutely love. The film is well thought out. From the beginning, we know that something is off about the main character Charlie however, we don’t know what till the end of the film. The pacing of the film is great, it covers his whole school year. We see each character not only grow but so a vulnerable side of them, reminding us that no one is perfect. Each person in Charlie’s friend group has their own demons.
The visuals in this film really showed what it is like to be a freshman in high school. The fact that you never know what to expect in a new environment and no matter how much you train yourself for it no one is ever really ready. The visuals that I really enjoyed were the scenes where Charlie was high. It was like we were high with him in a way, especially since the whole film we are watching the world through Charlie’s eyes.
The actors that I believe were the best were Ezra Miller who played Patrick also known as Nothing and Logan Lerman who played Charlie. They really brought their character to life in a way that you can find a connection between your life and theirs. Something that really found interesting was the fact that Charlie’s parent name were never said throughout the whole film, they were referred to as Mom and Dad. However, his aunt’s name was brought up constantly throughout the film. Even dead his Aunt Helen still plays a huge role in the film and lives on through Charlie’s trauma. However, by the end of the film, Charlie has learned to let go. He has finally healed and come to terms with everything that has happened to him but he knows that doesn’t define who he is. Which is why at the end of the film he states that this will be the last letter he writes, finally feeling free from all the darkness in his life.
This class has opened my eyes to the real world of film. It has shown me that there is more to films than just watching a movie. But that every detail plays a part in making the perfect film. I would have never known that there are so many details in a film that make the films we love today. From the camera angle to the music playing in the background, each brings something new to films. This has been my favorite class I have taken while attending Alfred University and I’m not just saying that to say it. This class has not only shown me new ways to watch films, but it has also shown me how to watch the world around me. We are the main character in our own life. We are living our lives and just like Charlie, we all have our own demons that we have to take care of, and when we do we feel infinite.
The final screening of the year was Perks of Being a Wallflower, a film directed by Stephen Chbosky. To put it short, this coming of age story is a complete roller coaster of emotions. It starts out focusing on Charlie, all we know is he is a socially awkward kid who has a hard time making friends, and it is his first day of high school. He goes to shop class and there is a student who makes fun of the teacher, his name is Patrick. Patrick has a stepsister named Sam. Sam Charlie and Patrick all become good friends and Charlie begins to fall for Sam. As the movie progresses, Charlie continues to have flashbacks of his Aunt Helen. All that is revealed is that Aunt Helen played a huge role in his life. Sam Charlie and Patrick go to a party and Charlie gets high on accident and finds his new friend Patrick in a bedroom with a football player. Patrick tells his that it is a secret and he cannot say anything. He reveals to Sam that his only friend committed suicide, which we can now assume that is why Charlie is a little timid and reserved. At the end of the party Patrick makes a toast to Charlie as officially becoming a wallflower like the rest of them.
Patrick toasting Charlie
As we get more and more insight into the characters lives, it becomes clear that Charlie and Sam really like each other. They just have different plans for their lives, Charlie wants to be a writer and is only a Freshman and Sam is graduating with dreams of attending Penn State. They share a kiss on Christmas Eve, Charlie’s birthday. Sam tells Charlie that the first person to kiss him should be someone that loves him. This confuses Charlie because the next time he sees Sam she has a new boyfriend. Towards the end of the movie, the two are alone again and Sam touches Charlie’s leg. This sends us into a flashback of Charlie’s childhood and we learn that Aunt Helen sexually abused Charlie as a child. This is when I sat back and was in awe because I had no idea of this, and did not expect that turn of events. It explains why Charlie is the way he is. Charlie returns home and is contemplating suicide and wakes up in the hospital. He receives visits from his family and friends and the story ends joyfully.
The movie takes the viewers back to high school. It gives such an accurate depiction of the average high schoolers life. There are all the stereotypical cliques in one movie. No matter where you were in high school, you were represented. That is why I find this movie so powerful. I think it is a great film that everyone should watch and take time to just sit and think and reminisce. All the drama and problems we faced not so long ago were all in one place for us. I really enjoyed the film and will definitely re watch in the future.
I am extremely happy with my decision to take this course this semester. I appreciate Dr. Schlegel for introducing me to movies I have not seen or had any interest in seeing, or even heard of before. The knowledge I now have about film and the history of film really made me open my eyes and realize there is such beauty in film, and it goes far beyond what I thought before this class. I am much more open to trying new movies and am looking forward to expanding my film knowledge. Thank you for a great semester!
Introduction to Film Studies 