“I need to read this book. Really, I do. I’d heard this book referred to as the next generation’s Catcher in the Rye. I knew it was a coming of age story (a bildungsroman, if you will) about an outcast high school kid. That’s something I wish I couldn’t relate to so well. Watching the movie, I could very much relate to our leading wallflower, Charlie, played by Logan Lerman. But once we got to the last fifteen minutes or so, it just hit me hard in the chest. I know the spoiler rules, but it just took a dark turn. That’s what really affected me.
Not sure how much I’ve gone into this here, but high school was really \m/ tough for me. Like Charlie, I really didnt have any friends. I did have a good, loving, and supportive family, but they had no clue what was going on. I was really depressed and for a good while did not see a way out. Didn’t really have anything to get me thru. Eventually I did find punk rock which gave me (as cheesey as this sounds) strength to make it and survive until I could get out, but I did not find real friends until I got to college. When I did find them, it was like Charlie hanging with Patrick (Ezra Miller) and Sam (Emma Watson), but things were dark for a while there.
I very much loved our leading trio. Logan Lerman was soulfully pouty. He may have been depressed, but didn’t drag down the film. He carried it with ease. Of course, much of the talk for this film was Emma Watson in her first post-Hermione Granger role as Sam. Wow. She is very appropriately distanced from that role, without forcing herself to be too different. She’s wavered back on forth as to whether or not she’s gonna continue acting, but after seeing her here, I really hope she does keep going. However, my favorite character was Patrick, played by We Have to Talk About Kevin’s Ezra Miller. Yeah I’m predictable. My favorie is always the gay best friend. Such a total 360 from his role as …Kevin, but he was the movie’s source of charisma, which then made his character’s issues that much more impactful.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower – \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/