Movie Review.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a movie where Charlie, a freshman in high school is the main actor. Charlie has had mental illness in the past, in school, he makes friends with two senior students Patrick, who is gay and Sam who is a stepsister to Patrick after they meet at a school dance. Mr. Anderson, a literature teacher, also becomes a friend to Charlie and lends him a book. Charlie falls in love with Sam after they spend time studying together, as he helps her study for her SATs, so she can get into Penn State her dream school. Though he is so much in love with Sam, he lacks the courage to make his move (Anderson 2012, p.7). Charlie then decides to start seeing Mary Elizabeth, but these two break up in a school party when Charlie is asked to kiss the most beautiful girl, he kisses Sam. His friendship with Sam ends and these events drive Charlie further into isolation. Charlie often thinks about his aunt, Helen, who died in a car accident and visited her grave often. Earlier, Helen used to molest Charlie. Towards the end of the movie, Charlie passes out and Dr. Burton a psychiatrist helps him.
The background of the film was conceived from the ideas of the novelist. The author is quite critical in the creation of the film as the film is mostly based on the characters that were prevalent in his life and the film is from a personal perspective. The author put his entire focus on the struggles that people face from day to day and what drives the passion of individuals in society. The characters are well illustrated by the author as some of them represent true behavioral aspects in the life of the author i.e. Sam and Patrick who are a depiction of the people he met and children who were gay from an early age.
Research questions.
In the film clocks are repeatedly shown. Charlie counts down the days until he finishes school, time seems to be his enemy since his best friends finish school and have to leave for college (Anderson 2012, p. 22). When his friends leave, Charlie is more depressed and isolated and blames himself for the death of his aunt, Helen. Earlier Patrick gives Charlie a clock that he made in his shop class as his birthday present. The clock is messy and terrible. Earlier Patrick is depressed over his relationship and tries to make out with Charlie, and they happen to kiss. Later Patrick apologizes to Charlie for pushing him to make out with him. The terrible clock shows that Patrick can be crazy and confused.
The clock that Patrick gave to Charlie was messy and awful, in real life, a clock is made out of a standard minute and hour hand and has a clock face. The essential materials needed include a colored tape, a construction paper to represent an analog clock .plastic, metal, rubber markers, colored pencils or crayons and gears. Knowledge of angles and the concept of rotation are also important.
In this movie, the clock could have been owned and used by Charlie. He spends time analyzing everything thinking about some of his life’s mysteries and has many ideas of whom he aspires to be when he grows up but does not seem to work toward his targets. He has friends who finally finish school and leave him in high school as they leave for college, Sam works hard and gets to her dream school. Charlie is left alone and is again mentally ill out of depression and isolation.
This movie's location is Pittsburgh, which is a large city with a massive infrastructure. Pittsburgh is where Charlie’s home is. Charlie is said to have bought all his friends presents as Christmas was approaching. He has an older brother, who is in college and a leader in the school's team to nationals. Charlie has a close relationship with his brother. Charlie's sister is his senior in the same school. Her relationship with Charlie, is distant. His father has most of his attention towards his eldest son and sister hence a quite distant relationship with Charlie. The prop, that’s the clock is messy and doesn’t match the location and socioeconomic status of the Charlie.
Work cited
Anderson, John. ‘Perk of Being a Wallflower’ review: Life in high school (2012)
