“Perks of Being a Wallflower”: The perfect perk

By Sofía Cárdenas,

HUB Staff Writer—

“We accept the love we deserve,” and Perks of Being a Wallflower certainly deserves a lot of love.

“Perks of Being a Wallflower” was first written in 1999 by Stephen Chbosky. He sat down at his desk again to write his novels screenplay. And what a fantastic choice.

Like many books turned into movies, “Perks of Being a Wallflower” has a few things added and omitted, but the integrity of both pieces holds firm.

The story centers on Charlie, played by Logan Lerman, a high school freshman entering a school where everyone knows that just the year before he suffered a complete mental break down.

Without a group to immediately identify with, Charlie begins to feel his role is simply blending into the beige walls of his schools corridors. But he forces himself to remain optimistic knowing that his late aunt Helen would want him to make new friends.

At a football game, he is engaged in conversation with senior and class clown Patrick, played by Ezra Miller. Patrick then introduces Charlie to his step-sister and best friend Sam, played by Emma Watson.

Charlie starts spending more and more time with his new group of outsiders. Patrick when Patrick and Sam find out that Charlie’s war with his own darkness began when his aunt died in a car crash, and his best and only friend committed suicide, Patrick remarks “Charlie, you’re a wallflower,” hence the title.

The two misfits help Charlie start to love himself. Without knowing, they also treat Charlie’s reoccurring flash backs and black outs. The troubled boy finds comfort being surrounded by people just as broken.

The film remained true to its book roots, never sugarcoating or editing the painful scenes of reality so elegantly scripted in both the book and movie. This film is a must-see for young people, but especially high school students.

Though many movies involving teenagers orbit around adolescent heart break, choreographed singing and silly teen parties, “Perks of Being a Wallflower” captures what it truly means to be growing up, trying to find what kind of person you are and evolving into the person you want to be. “I’m going to be who I really am. And I’m going to figure out what that is,” says Charlie.

The film also put on display what true friendship is about (including accepting your friend whether he’s “queer as a three dollar bill”) and loving each other.

Charlie quotes Sam at the end of the movie, saying: “But even if we don’t have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there.”