The perks of being a wallflower. Such a great movie, if you’re trying to fake heal yourself. Don’t get me wrong, I love the movie; it has many great aspects to it just not the ones needed to make it a GREAT FILM. With that snippet of an opinion lets begin to break down the moving picture. It begins with a point of view of a character we do not know yet, and a song called, “Another Change”. Hinting at themes of personal growth and human connection. As the music stops Charlie (the main character) experiences his first day of highschool or school in general, it was pretty depressing. Nobody wanted to sit with him, even his own sister. This experience is marked by loneliness and ostracism.Now I know you may be wondering, “Why hasn’t he been in school”? Well Charlie has been in a mental institution since an incident he had when he was around 8. Showing that he’s a typical 2000’s film loser (totally not my opinion), well as of right now. 

Surly, Charlie realizes this school life is a big change; leading him into confusion and somewhat fear. Which is understandable, he’s never been around so many people his age or this style of life. With all of this overwhelming change he starts to analyze others to keep his mind off things, this is actually a real thing that people do when they become anxious, fearful, or uncomfortable. Totally describing everything Charlie is going through. Although he finds a senior he likes, he stuck out because he was the only senior to make fun of the teachers instead of the students. He Enjoyed the senior (Patrick) trying to make the freshman comfortable. In the scene after the teacher is asking a question to the class, and no one knows the answer but Charlie. Yet, instead of raising his hand to answer the question he writes it down. The teacher peeps at Charlie’s little sneaky play and sees he does not like to participate. This was one of the first examples of Charlie being a wallflower. The teacher realizes he doesn’t prefer to participate, and tells him he knows it was hard last year. Leaving the audience on their toes about what happened. 

Consistently through the movie Charlie is counting down his days of highschool. Mind you it is his freshman year, this act shows that he is adamant about leaving. The real question is why? As of right now we don’t know. Yet, at the time when he is arriving home he is thinking about what he is going to tell his parents if they ask, “What happened at school today”. Showing he hides himself from his parents, then to wrap his rant they show a letter that says, “Luv Charlie”, leaving the audience confused.  Afterwards, the family was having dinner and you can see clearly Charlie’s personality is different from the other family members. In the next scene they start to show real aspects that separate him from his family. Such as taking prescribed meds, being bullied, and being a stand off person. The song in the back even adds to the dramatics because the lyrics are, “Don’t feel bad for me” , while watching his family feel guilty for his conditions. 

Little do they know things are about to change. Charlie goes to a football game trying to fit in, but unlike everyone else he is by himself. Until the senior Patrick comes up to him on the bleachers and starts to talk to him, as they are talking Charlie seems more  interested and engaged than ever before. While they are conversing, Patrick’s friend Sam comes up to the bleachers and asks if they want to go out to eat at their local diner, and Charlie and Patrick agree. This was Charlie’s first time eating with others, so you can see he starts to lie to fit in; which is normal in some situations but this part of the movie made me cringe so that forsure took a point lol. 

Dinner ends and the friends disperses for the evening, Charlie initially experiences a fleeting sense of contentment upon returning home. However, this tranquility is abruptly shattered by the sounds of a heated argument between his sister and her boyfriend. Concerned, Charlie intervenes, only to witness a distressing scene unfold as the boyfriend raises his hand in aggression towards his sister. Paralyzed by the gravity of the situation, Charlie grapples with conflicting emotions, unsure of how to respond. His sister, exhibiting a mixture of defiance and resignation, rebuffs his attempts to intervene, asserting her ability to manage the situation independently. This poignant moment serves to illuminate the complex familial dynamics and traumatic experiences that have contributed to shaping Charlie’s character. To be the wallflower he is today, and if you don’t know a wallflower is a person who is shy and typically stands or sits alone instead of engaging. As time goes by Charlie sees his sister and her boyfriend have gotten back together like nothing happened, this gives him a flashback to his aunt Helen. If you watch carefully you can see this memory is clear as water for him, meaning it may be a core memory. Issue in the matter is, why did the situation with charlie sister trigger him to remember a memory with his aunt; In reality the only reason i can think of is Charlie was abused by her. 

Just when that scene ends the next one is Charlie at the highschool dance observerving the area. It seems that he is trying to fit in, without knowing how. While Partick and Sam are dancing Charlie is watching from the corner feeling insecure, but as the music keeps going he starts to get confident and slowly gets on the dance floor joining his 2 new friends. This was cool to watch because the music was also adding more to the story. The song was, “Come on Eline” and the lyrics that played as he got comfortable was, “Come on now you are grown now you have shown”. Depicting how he is growing out of his old ways and is showing he can interact and get better. With this confidence Charlie is gaining he ends up at his first highschool party; full of popular kids, outkast, stoners, and of course one wallflower. To a degree, the writers cooked (did there thang) when they mixed all these personalities in one party. I mean think about it, in most movies the popular kids don’t hang out with others or the outkast only hang out with each other. Although in this movie they do, to show that no matter who you are or what kind of traits and characteristics you have, everyone needs a way to get out of their mind and escape their real life. 

At the party one of the stoners gives Charlie an edible and doesn’t tell him when his friends are away. As it starts to kick in his initial awkwardness in conversation is overshadowed by a genuine enthusiasm that resonates with his peers. Despite his disjointed speech, his newfound companions appreciate his company and perspective. Through Charlie’s interactions, a poignant realization emerges: regardless of individual struggles and challenges, there exists a common humanity that unites people, offering solace and connection in shared experiences. Now you know me even though this was a great part of the movie something slightly did piss me off. One of the lines said this was Charlie’s first party as if that was obvious, that is one thing I hate about movies they tell me instead of showing. 

Back to the movie Sam comes to check on Charlie and sees he is high, she is the first person to actually become concerned because it’s obviously his first time. After he said all he wanted was a milkshake Sam goes and makes one for him while they talk. The conversation starts to go deeper than the surface, and Sam realizes Charlie isn’t a normal loser and actually has been through some things. When Charlie dismisses himself and goes to the bathroom he finds Patrick kissing one of the popular kids. Patrick told him he cannot tell anyone which made their friendship thicken because they are now sharing secrets. When Patrick comes back downstairs to find Sam she tells him Charlie’s situation and how he has no friends. When they realized Charlie wasn’t normal they gave him a toast and said, “ You see things and you know things”. This part stuck out to me because all of his soon to be friends have lore and it’s as if they see who he truly is because they understand the pain and struggle of being someone you don’t even like. 

When the 3 friends leave the party they are driving and a beautiful song comes on. They start to speed up and Sam sticks her head out the window. This was a relatable and profound  part in the movie; I stick my head out the window pretty often because it gives the sensation of feeling free. Then I know its not just my opinion because the song that was playing is, “Heroes’ ‘ by David Bowie and the line that Charlie said while watching was “I feel infinite’ ‘. As this scene ends the next one is a 5 minute montage of Charlie with his friends.In the back there is a monologue of him describing all of his friends. It seems like he analyzes them, and this is interesting because proven people who do this either have low self esteem or want to become a better friend. Maybe Charlie is both. In the monologue he is telling the audience his friends’ lore, aspirations, and traits. Although he tells us the bad he also says he doesn’t care. This is a representation on how he doesn’t judge no matter what, this is a good trait that charlie has because he also understands its difficult to recover from a sordid past and reputation. 

Later on his friends remake a Rocky Horror Show, this may seem like a small detail in the movie but the message is bigger. A Rocky Horror Show is about acceptance and being different. This part of the movie added some emotion for me. The movie finally showed us something instead of telling. The scene also gets better because the show is performed by his friends, revealing he is accepted and loved by them even with all of their differences. 

The show ends and they go out after receiving their SAT scores, and out of everyone Sam is in a tizzy because hers were not up to the expectation. As some would say, “Her SAT scores are a little weird”. Yet Charlie didn’t care; this gave him an opportunity to help her study. In some predicaments people help for their own good but I think Charlie helped because he has seen what Sam has been through and wants her to gain a sense of purpose and find meaning. After talking about the SAT they converse about their past and Sam starts to tell Charlie a scenario she imagined about finding the right one. She wanted to find him in a party and see him across the room with colorful lights and just get the feeling of sureness it was him. Somewhat describing exactly what happened when Charlie met Sam. The last lines before the scene was over was Sam asking Charlie if he understood what she was saying, and without a doubt in mind he says, “Yeah”. 

Away from the deep talk they just had, the next camera shot is Sam and her new “Friend” dancing. But comes to find out this is not new for Sam, in the back you hear the rest of the friend group talk about how all of her past relationships are horrible. Right after it cuts to the next day and Charlie is in school, he sees his favorite teacher and goes to ask him a question. He asked, “ Why do nice people choose the wrong people to date?”. The teacher tells him, “We accept the love we think we deserve”. This means your early experiences determine the love you know, seek, and think you deserve.  In the movie you see everyone has their own past, and they all accept love they don’t deserve. So it shows the audience after you’ve been through so much you start to settle for less because you compare it to your past and not your worth. 

Right after they talk about trying to make others know their worth so they gain better morals it goes to Charlie and Sam studying for the SAT. Telling the audience no matter what you deserve to be loved properly. During this studying timeline Christmas came up and Charlie had a dedication to give everyone a sentimental gift that meant something to them. When the friend group received all of their gifts they were very grateful. They all felt heard and known, this shows that listening to others has a positive outcome even when you don’t know it. 

Since it is christmas everyone heads home to their families and when Charlie gets to his home we realize it is his birthday. His big brother comes home from college and hugs everyone with much love, but when it gets to Charlie he is hesitant. Eventually it’s Charlie time to blow his candles and make a wish, when he closes his eyes he sees this same distinctive memory of him and his aunt. It’s something we don’t know about but it’s starting to truly look like Charlie has PTSD and his aunt was not a good person. 

Well now is where the movie gets tricky and I lose all hope and even the understanding of the movie. Charlie was hanging out with one of the other girls in the friend group and he thought it was regular, but to her it was not. Throughout the day together it was no flirting from Charlie and hers was undetectable. Well let’s say the woman Mary Elizabeth got the crazy idea to kiss Charlie and say, “I can’t believe you’re my boyfriend”. With this Charlie doesn’t know what to do, he has never had a girlfriend or had confrontation. He starts to notice he should’ve been honest with his feelings but he doesn’t want to hurt hers.  So he tries to make it work and go on double dates with Sam because that’s who he actually loves. Honestly I don’t think Charlie is a bad guy, it was obvious he didn’t want this and she knows his personality. I mean come on he didn’t answer any phone calls, didn’t know anything about her, and when they did talk he just listened with no interaction. Therefore she put herself into this. 

You know in the end this did not work out, he ended up breaking things off in the worst way. Him and his friends were playing truth or dare, and his dare was to kiss the prettiest girl in the room. Instead of kissing his girlfriend he chose Sam. Everyone in the room went silent and Charlie ended up needing to leave. Patrick told him he had to stay  away for awhile, but this ended up being more than a few days.  Charlie keeps trying to get the friend group back but because of his blunt honesty he has made a catastrophic environment. However one day comes around when Patrick and the popular boy he’s having relations with ends because the boy’s dad found them together and beat his son. So obviously when it comes to school the popular boy Brad has to act as if he hates him even more. Brad ends up calling Patrick a f***** and this pushes him off the rails. Patrick hits him first and before you know it all hell breaks loose. Brad’s friends start to join forces and literally beat Patrick. Charlie sees this and before he could even think he finished all of them off and helped Patrick get up. This put Charlie in the position to become their friend again. 

In spite of the fact that they became friends again, Sam did not break up with her boyfriend. So one night she goes to the movie with him and Patrick asks Charlie if they want to hang out ; instead of third wheeling. This seems like a good idea, but it ends up being horrible. They are telling stories about life, and this soon ends up to be a trauma dump. Patrick tells Charlie about the Brad situation and says all he wants is to find  the right guy. This ends with Patrick kissing Charlie and crying, I know right confusing. The movie never gave clarity on this, and I’m not sure if I can either. Due to nothing happening after, it seems like when Sam got her acceptance letter all Patrick could do was talk about college. Just finding another thing to distract him basically. 

As the last day of school approaches the teacher is asking a question to the class. None of the class say anything or raise their hands, but Charlie does. Showing the growth and progress he has gained, in the beginning he would write his answer. Now he feels comfortable to raise his hand, even when nobody else does. In a way his friends did teach him something, he did matter and people do notice him when he lets them. Soonly after Sam has a go away party, and Charlie gives her his books and other sentimental gifts. Revealing he truly cares for her. Shortly after their heart to heart talk and goodbye Sam officially leaves. This makes Charlie get flashbacks about his aunt, sister abuse, and every bad incident that happened. He ends up calling his sister saying he killed his aunt. Instead of being destroyed about it how he usually is he says he wanted her to die. Leaving me confused because I’m still not sure what she has done to Charlie. He ends up in the hospital again for a few months, so he can heal from his problems properly. The doctor finally figures out the nasty truth about Charlie’s aunt and gets him comfortable with himself alone. When Charlie gets home he has his family and his friends to greet him. He leaves and drives with his friends like they did in the beginning to the same David Bowie song. Although this time Charlie truly feels free and in the moment, he is okay with knowing one day these acts will just be memories and nothing will matter. Yet right now it’s not a memory of his life and he is happy with living it not knowing what will happen next. 

Well, well, well. The Perks of Being a wallflower everyone. Honestly everytime I finish this movie I do not know what to think. I mean how did we get here, I thought it was a regular coming of age movie. Obviously it’s not and truly it leaves me speechless. Nevertheless I still have to rate this movie. Due to the lack of music components, editing skills, and color theory it lost many points. Even though it lost some it did not lose all. The movie still had many relatable moments, decent acting, and slight emotional impact. Sadly leaving it at a solid 3.  Don’t get me wrong I loved the movie before I analyzed it, but after I realized it was not a cinematic masterpiece. The movie is mediocre and used to make others feel better about themselves. Truly I don’t know if I’ll be able to watch the movie the same, I hope you can.