The Perks of Being a Wallflower — Plot Discussion

If you’ve checked out our Instagram page, you’ll know that this week’s discussion movie is The Perks of Being a Wallflower — YAY!

This beautiful movie was directed by Stephen Chbosky, released in 2012, and stars Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Paul Rudd and many more.

When it first came out, I remember hearing a lot of positive things about the movie, however, I never actually watched it. But it therefore came to no surprise, that it was one of the first recommendations I got when asking about indie films.

The movie is an adaption of Stephen Chbosky’s 1999 novel ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’. Even though he initially hesitated to sell the rights to this novel, for it to become a movie, he did eventually agree to it, as long has he could write and direct the screenplay…and so he did.

Before we start, I do want to say that I absolutely adored this movie and that it certainly exceeded my expectations.

**As per usual, this post will contain SPOILERS! If you haven’t seen the movie, please go and do so first**

The film tells the story of Charlie Kelmeckis, a 15-year old High School freshmen, who is struggling to find and make friends. Like many teenagers, he is faced with mental trauma from his past, bullying, shyness and loneliness. Until one day he meets Sam and Patrick, two seniors at his school, who end up changing his life.

The movie jumps right into action, showing us Charlie writing an email to an unknown pen-pal, describing his rather lonely summer and his approach to conquering his freshman year.

We don’t get much information on Charlie before we meet him, but the movie indicated that he does seem to have some mental health problems, having had bad periods in the past. Since the movie never really describes what happened during these bad periods, it leaves the viewer to question in what way Charlie is facing mental health issues — is it depression, self-harm, anxiety, violence?

Societal Issues

When reflecting back on this movie, the first thing that comes to mind is that the story tried to incorporate near to any struggle a teenager, or person for that matter, could experience.
The film touches upon many (societal) issue such as:

• Bullying
• Loneliness
• Mental Health
• Child Abuse (Sexual)
• Physically Abusive Relationships
• LGBTQ and its lack of acceptance
• Unfaithfulness in Relationships
• Suicidal Thoughts
• School Violence
• Drugs and Drinking

If you showed me this list, I would think that the movie simply wanted to include as many issues as possible, making it seem near to impossible to create a natural story including all of the above mentioned. However, to my surprise, the film manages to create a story in which these experiences flow in seemingly well, without making it seem fake or over the top.

Of course we can ask, was it really necessary to include all of these topics?

But I believe the answer is YES. While some people may be lucky to only experience a few of these issues, others do in fact face many of them, often at the same time. Therefore, I think it’s great that a movie like this tries to draw attention to this issues and the consequences they bring.

Let’s start by looking at how some of these topics were incorporated in the movie and how it affects the characters.

Child Abuse

I think it was very interesting how the movie touched upon this subject. Even though it is such a fundamental aspect to the story and to Charlie’s character, we are only being told the truth at the end of the movie. Up until then, the character of aunt Helen and her relationship with Charlie is very ambiguous, and even misleading.

When we are first being introduced to aunt Helen, she is being described as someone who was abused by her ex boyfriend, causing us to naturally empathise with her.

Throughout the movie, Charlie keeps having these flashbacks leading up to his 7th birthday, portraying a very loving and caring relationship between him and his aunt Helen. Charlie even describes her as his favourite person in the world and having a very special bond with her. Many of Charlie’s flashbacks are related to the last time he saw Helen, as well as the moment when the police knocks on their door, informing them about Helen’s fatal accident. All of these aspect lead us to believe that Charlie and Helen really just had a close relationship and that he in fact simply liked her a lot.

The first time we start to believe that there could have been something else, is when Sam confesses that her first kiss was at the age of 11, with a man called Robert, who turned out to be her father’s boss. Even though not much is being said about it afterwards, it does tell us that she had been suffering from sexual abuse in her childhood. It is not until Charlie says that him and Sam ‘have gone through the same stuff’, that we believe that maybe his relationship with aunt Helen was more than what we believe.

In order to comfort Sam, Charlie tells her that his aunt had also been sexually abused, but that she was able to turn her life around. It is interesting to see how he still somehow protects her and sees the good in her, putting her into a good light. This nicely shows the relationship between the victim and its abuser, as the victims never talk bad about the abuser, justifying and even glorifying them as a person and their character.

Physical Abuse

This relationship between abuser and victim is also reflected in Charlie’s sister’s relationship with her boyfriend. During an argument, Charlie sees his sister Candace being slapped by her boyfriend Derek, immediately triggering a sort of protectiveness in him. When he wants to rush towards Derek, his sister stops him, reassuring him that she is fine and that she can handle Derek. It becomes clear that she too is aware that this physicality is a trigger for Charlie.

Again, like most victims do, Candace excuses Derek’s outlash with ‘this is the first time he’s hit me, he’s very sorry and he’ll never do it again’.

LGBTQ

Another large topic of the movie is the LGBTQ community, as Patrick outs himself as queer. Not only him, but also the school’s main football player and total jock turns out to be queer and in a secret relationship with Patrick.

However, while Patrick is openly queer, his boyfriend Brad is not. Not only would it impact his status at school, but Brad fears his father’s reaction, which would include violence and threats of ‘going to hell’. This fear and guilt has lead Brad to start drinking excessively, even needing to be drunk before being with Patrick. However, Patrick was able to help him sober up and the two have kept their relationship a secret ever since then.

The relationship escalates when Brad’s father catches them at home, resulting in him beating Brad, with Patrick pleading him to stop as he would otherwise kill him. After this incident, Brad hides his homosexuality even more, laughing when one of his football friends trips Patrick in the cafeteria. Even after Patrick is asking him to do something about it, Brad pretends like he doesn’t know Patrick, even calling him a Faggot.

This pushes Patrick over the top, punching Brad, who is then being defended by his fellow football players, who grab and start beating up Patrick. It isn’t until Charlie comes to his rescue, hitting one of the football players, that they let go of Patrick.

I believe that the movie nicely portrays how many teenagers are struggling to accept and express their sexuality, either in society or at home. Not only does it show the negative responses they would get, e.g. Brad’s father beating him, but the immense pressure and hate they put on themselves, trying to hide and possibly change this part of themselves.

Mental Health

While we don’t exactly know with what Charlie has struggled in the past, we can assume it goes into the direction of depression, possible self-harm. Throughout the entire movie, Charlie convinces everyone around him that he is fine, even though his family is concerned and keeps asking about his wellbeing. Charlie doesn’t tell anyone about the flashbacks he keeps seeing involving his aunt Helen, trying to make sense of them himself. Only at the end, when a touch from Sam reminds him of something his aunt Helen used to do to him, do we, and possible Charlie, realise that his aunt had in fact been sexually abusing him.

This results in Charlie spiralling, calling his sister Candace crying about his aunt’s death. We again see that this must not have been the first time, as Candace immediately tells her friend to call the police and send them to her house, while she tries to keep Charlie calm and on the phone with her.

He continues to confess to Candace that he blames himself for the death, telling her that he maybe even wanted her to die. In this moment, we realise how much pain Helen had caused Charlie and that, even at 7 years old, he may have even wanted her to die, just so he can be free from her.

Just before Charlie passes out, we see him looking at a knife, indicating that he is thinking of possible harming or even taking his own life.

The next moment, Charlie wakes up in the hospital, where he, for the first time, tries to tell the psychiatrist about his childhood abuse, who then informs his parents and helps him get better.

How to Cope

Another aspect which I believe the movie shows nicely is how differently each individual copes with their trauma.

Charlie writes about it, either in a story or to his pen-pal. However, there are also a lot of things he doesn’t want to talk about, resulting in them boiling up in him until he eventually explodes. He often denies his past’s trauma, struggling to not only tell someone else, but to actually make sense of it himself.

Sam seems to cope through her pain with her actions. The sexual abuse she experienced as a child, led to her drinking a lot, as well as sleeping with guys who treated her like shit — giving her a certain reputation. This abuse has also led her to think that she doesn’t deserve much, completely giving up on herself.

Patrick likes to be very bubbly, cracking jokes and making others laugh. However, once his relationship with Brad ends, we can clearly see that he uses laughter to make himself forget about his pain. Charlie describes Patrick as ‘starting every night free as a bird, until he runs out of things to stay numb, and that’s when he becomes miserable’.

These way of coping just represent the difficulty many people face when dealing with these kind of traumas. Actually understanding and realising what happened to them is one thing, but to find someone they can talk to and who can help them get better, is a completely different step. Most people who struggle with mental issues don’t have the strength, or even feel ashamed to admit what they have been going through.

Being Free

One of the most iconic scene of the movie is the tunnel scene, when Sam stands on the back of the truck, spreading her arms and listening to the song on the radio. This scene is so beautiful as it shows this feeling of freedom, not having to worry about anything. Moreover, I love how Charlie describes it as a moment where We are Infinite. It also shows how valuable it is for us to have this escape, even if not for long, where we can feel happy.

Clock as Symbolism

Time plays an important role in this movie, as Charlie starts his freshmen year, counting down the days until his graduation (1385 days). Moreover, Charlie’s and Patrick’s shop class assignment is to build a clock…coincidence?

I would be very interested to know if you too, dear reader, see the clock as a symbolism for this movie and, if yes/no, why?

I believe that it is used to symbolise that everything is temporary, nothing will last forever. Therefore, as hard as it is, we should look around and enjoy the time we are in, rather than focusing on when it will be over. Charlie starts the movie by talking a lot about how long it will be until he is done with High School, however, over time, you can see how he is actually trying to stop time, to enjoy the moments he has with Sam and Patrick. Towards the end he even sees the passing time as something bad, as he counts the hours and minutes he has left with Sam, before she goes off to college.

Life Lessons

What I love most about this movie is that it conveys so many truths and life lessons. Not only are these quotes true to the characters, but they are true to many of us viewers. The movie sometimes even feels like a therapy lesson, where we can step back and realise that some of the aspects in the movie might also apply in our personal lives.

To end this discussion, here are some of the best quotes of the movie:

• Why do nice people choose the wrong people to date?
• We except the love we think we deserve.
• We can’t choose where we come from, but we can choose where to go from there.
• I can see it…this one moment when you are not a sad story…you are alive…and you stand up and see the lights on the building and everything that makes you wonder…and you’re listening to that song on the drive with the people you love most in this world…and in this moment…I swear…WE ARE INFINITE.

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This is it for our first discussion on The Perk of Being a Wallflower.

Please let me know in the comments what your thoughts are on the movie and don’t forget to come back on Thursday for our discussion on the Characters.

I wish you all a lovely day!