Close Viewing-Discussion (Perks of Being a Wallflower)

Perks of Being a Wallflower

Close Viewing Discussion

Moving on to the next topic in English which is Film study. The class voted on which film we're going to look at, and had 3 options. Perks of Being a Wallflower obviously won over Slum Dog and The Dark Horse. 

Perks of Being a Wallflower is about a high school freshman boy going through a lot of things. He came out from his shell and approached reality. Mainly, the story shows love, friendship, and family. When you hear the word 'wallflower' what is the first thing that comes to your mind? It's PG 13 by the way.


One important lesson that I learned from the story is that communication is very very very important for every individual. NOT a surface level communication but deep. This is first noticed when Charlie took all of his courage and approached Patrick, a senior student, in a football game. Additionally, this is when Charlie's life begun to change. He first talked to Patrick, then with Sam, and so on. It's really amazing what taking one little step at a time could do.

Stephen Chbosky, author/director of the story, said that he didn't want to make any bad characters. His statements gave contrast to Ponytail Derek (Candace's ex-boyfriend), the smart girl in Charlie's English Class, and especially Aunt Helen. Ponytail Derek is an abusive person and likely to control his relationship that links to Aunt Helen's marriage. The smart girl bullied Charlie throughout the plot but did not have enough details about it. Aunt Helen sexually abused Charlie when he's young but still, she's his favourite person. My thought about that is maybe Charlie forced his self to forget what she did because his aunt died while thinking it was his fault. That part is very complex so I don't have any say more.


I guess the Stephen Chbosky left us with a hidden message or subtext from this story and it's up to us to figure it out.