"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" Comes With a Strong Set of Rose-Tinted Glasses

 

    I remember first reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and then watching the accompanying movie. It was about 10 years ago at that point, and tumblr still held relevancy, especially on Instagram where people would love posting about these sorts of things. To me they were all iconic, the scene where Sam goes through the tunnel, the living room routine between both Sam and Patrick, Patrick claiming he was the hottest in the room. Looking back, and finishing the movie, all I've come to realize is that the reason I liked it was because I was probably a bit like Charlie all along, in sort of a young naive way.

    I mean if you write out the plot, you start to see how creepy and ridiculous it is. Weird, anti-social kid who's a freshman struggles to make friends, and then a bunch of seniors decide to pick him up, and take him under their wing. They end up dragging him along the entire way, and coerce him into many things, such as taking drugs, participating in what is very clearly an uncomfortable performance of The Rocky Horror Show and involve him in all the drama and relationships he's very clearly too unfamiliar to really consent with. They seem to just drag him along without regard, and even in the end he admits that he's just doing all of this because he seems happy that other people were happy.

    I mean, ethically, it's all just fuzzy, I mean this kid has some very clear trauma, and their solution is to just bring him on a leash like the awkward person he is while they treat him like a child. Not to mention, in general they just seem way less cool than I originally thought? This is where the Tumblr comparisons come in because if you were a kid trying to come up with a personality, or felt a little awkward like Charlie, or had no experience with relationships, you'd think these two seniors are like the coolest people ever. I mean I did, but it is kind of funny looking back.

    These two have essentially become the two pretentious stuck-up hispters people love to make fun of. They're super rich, have terrible relationship problems, somehow can't recognize David Bowie's Heroes and think the Smiths are the coolest band in existence. Like if I saw them today I'd start laughing at them they'd be the most annoying people ever who think that they could manifest anything they put their mind to. I mean Charlie just seems to have not much of a personality, he just latches on to them and also seems to idolize them, which I suppose shows how he's kind of realistic, as someone whose still trying to find their footing in what is very clearly supposed to be a coming-of-age movie.

    I don't know, I mean I liked the film, but in retrospect it's hard to gloss past what are some very unrealistic scenes, I mean he quite literally just managed to beat up a bunch of bullies? He just gets dragged along by a bunch of rich asshole seniors. I suppose part of the issue is that he's supposed to be 13 or 14 at best, but he very much looks the part of a senior or even a college kid already, so it's hard to imagine Logan Lerman actually being someone still trying to find their way.

Final Score: 65/100

    I mean I liked it warts and all, but it's certainly not the groundbreaking iconic movie I once thought it was. I mean it had realistic parts, clinging onto the first people you meet when you're still trying to find yourself or find your footing is something I did when I was younger, maybe it was in elementary school but the point still stands. I think in terms of coming-of-age movies it's solid, but I would have liked a stronger critique on the whole relationship between Charlie and his friend group that's not really explored. Not to mention he sort of starts his second year in the exact same spot as his first.