In the movie, The Perks of Being a Wallflower the audience learns a great deal about, Charlie, the main character’s life and how his past traumas affect him psychologically (Chbosky, 2012). Charlie is a 15-year-old boy who is coping with his best friend’s suicide, in addition to struggling with Posttraumic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (Chbosky, 2012). When Charlie was younger, his favorite Aunt, Helen, raped him, although he did not seem to fully understand that until he was hospitalized (Chbosky, 2012). However, Charlie was not hospitalized until right after he learned his best friend, Michael, committed suicide. Charlie is also shy, therefore has difficulties making friends. At the beginning of the movie, Charlie is writing to a new friend and …show more content…
Although Charlie also suffers from suicidal thoughts, he also displays positive coping methods, like expressing himself in letters to his anonymous new friend. Furthermore, Charlie also acquires defense mechanisms like repression, as previously mentioned, and is expressed in his refusal to consciously remember the threatening or conflicting situation of being raped by his aunt. Another defense mechanism that we see Charlie expressing in The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) is rationalization. Rationalization occurs when individuals being to make up excuses for unacceptable behavior, such as being raped. In various scenes of the movie we hear Charlie rationalizing his aunt’s behavior and her death, since she was, as he claims, his “favorite aunt” (Chbosky, 2012). It is clear that Charlie still cares for his aunt and even takes on some of the blame for her by saying things like “my Aunt Helen would still be alive today if she just bought me one present like everyone else”, or saying “she would be if I were born on a day that it didn’t snow”, in reference to his aunt’s death (Chbosky, …show more content…
I would most likely begin by asking more simplistic questions inquiring about his history of depression, flashbacks, anxiety, difficulties sleeping, etc., along with asking him when he first sought a mental health professional and his previous experiences in therapy or at the psychiatric hospital. Although CBT is time-limited, I feel that it would be crucial to make time to focus on the recent loss of his best friend, and how his suicide affected, or still is affecting, him especially because Charlie is experiencing depressive symptoms with thoughts of suicide. I also think it is important to find out more about Charlie’s overall relationship with his family growing up. While discussing his family I would be curious to know if they, or anyone else, was aware of what his aunt was doing to him, and if they did know how long did they know and did they do anything about it. Furthermore, in this type of situation I feel that it is also significant to speak with his parents to gather more information regarding family history, as well as the onset and development of Charlies
He had cut through the screen and was prying the door open when Bill and Glenna Thomas drove up. They took in the ravaged screen door, Charlie’s furious red face, and Jo Ann’s pale frightened one and demanded to know what was going on. So terrified that she could barely speak, Jo Ann mumbled, “Ask Charles.” His version was that she attacked him, and he was only protecting himself. The Thomases didn’t believe him, and Charlie got a whipping. He was adapted to a life of violence and loneliness. He kept to himself and didn’t have any friends. Charlie was an observer; he never got involved or talked to people (twisted minds). He became accustomed to the life of trouble with the law ranging from reform schools and juvenile halls, when he got older he was lacking attention and was in and out of jail constantly and convicted with rape drug use, pimping, stealing, and fraud.
When Charlie was really young, his Aunt Helen sexually abused Charlie up until her death. This causes as whole new set of symptoms for Charlie, including the PTSD categories of intrusion and avoidance. Charlie experiences flashbacks (dissociative reactions) of the nights that his Aunt Helen would violate him, and what was happening during that time. He has intense distress in response to reminders of this, which is evident when Sam touches Charlie 's hand, and then he remembers how his Aunt Helen used to touch his hand the same way before she would sexually violate him. Charlie also experiences avoidance symptoms, because he works hard in trying to avoid internal reminders of the
The Perks of Being a Wallflower was brought to screen in 2012 by author and director Stephen Chbosky. The movie is about a 15 year old adolescent named Charlie who is beginning high school with a little more baggage than the normal freshman. The viewer quickly discovers that Charlie’s best friend, Michael, committed suicide during May of their 8th grade school year and the viewer later learns that Charlie’s aunt Helen molested him as a child. Charlie begins school determined to make some new friends and is befriended by step siblings Patrick and Sam during the first week of school. The movie spans for Charlie’s entire freshman year and shows the struggles he has with relationships, bullying, risky behaviors, as well remnants from his past trauma. He has a lot in common with Sam and falls in love with her, but accidentally ends up in a relationship with another one of the members of their clique, Mary Elizabeth. His relationship with her ends poorly and he is exiled from the clique for a few weeks. Upon the school year ending, Charlie is faced with the harsh reality that his group of friends, including his love Sam, are all seniors and are all going on to college. Charlie has a mental breakdown, but is able to reconcile many of his past struggles with the help of a doctor and the support from his parents and siblings. The movie ends with Sam and Patrick coming
...concerns appropriate interventions were assigned to each one. For the priority concern of the family’s ability to cope and their risk of depression commendation and interventative questioning were the chosen interventions. For the priority concern of Gilberts care giver burnout and risk for compassion fatigue commendation and encouraging respite were chosen. The Grape family is a fitting example of the complex difficulties a family can have when they are faced with the difficulty of dealing with a chronic illness and tragedy. This paper demonstrates the importance of assessing and creating interventions for a family in a way which includes every member of the family not only the ones with complications. Raising the question should patients who are suffering from chronic illnesses better off to be treated as an individual or as a member of a functional family unit?
For example, on (Keyes 292) it states” Now I know what it means when they say "to pull a Charlie Gordon." I'm ashamed.” He finally realizes what his friends do to him and sees that his friends aren’t really his friends. His confidence goes down a lot he gets depressed for a while and he is ashamed which affects him a lot in a bad way. Another example is on (Keyes 295) it says” I wanted to take Joe Carp and Frank Reilly out to lunch to celebrate, but Joe said he had to buy some things for his wife, and Frank said he was meeting his cousin for lunch”. If it was the dumber Charlie they all would have went to make fun of him but now sense he is smart nobody would have gone because he is no
The role of identity plays an important role in all adolescence which can help shape their future. In psychology, identity is the conception, qualities, beliefs, and expressions that make a person or group. The movie, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”, illustrates how teens struggle with identity. Charlie is an anti-social freshman who is befriended by a group of high school seniors, who introduces him to the world of drugs, love, sexulatity, friendship, and lies. His friends play a huge role in his development. Throughout the movie, Charlie was able to build upon his character and develop friendships that gave him a new perspective that life needs, to live life rather than watching it.
In one scene, Mr. Anderson is asked by Charlie why people stay with others who are wrong for them, speaking of Sam and her boyfriend, and he responds with his famous quote, “We accept the love we think we deserve.” That statement is very powerful and makes a lot of sense in the world of psychology. It is shown that many of the characters in the film accepted the love they thought they deserved whether it be Sam with her boyfriend, Patrick with Brad, or even Charlie with Mary Elizabeth. However, with the ability of change, they all stood up for themselves and one another and started to embrace pure love and friendship and accepted nothing that defies that. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a very emotional and influential movie that could easily be used for a psychological analysis. (Halfon, Malkovich, Smith & Chbosky,
We can all sympathize with Charlie on the surface, we have all made mistakes that we have to live with. Charlie is attempting to move forward with his life and erase the mistakes of his past. The ghosts of his past torment him repeatedly throughout the story, his child's guardians despise him and his old friends do not understand him.
...of all responsibility (for, of course, there is no way that a normal person could ever kill.) In keeping with this principle the film attempts to absolve Young Charlie from all responsibility in her Uncle's death, for it is seen as an accident that occurred when Young Charlie was fighting her Uncle in self-defence. In the final stages of the film we are brought back to the small town introduced to us in the beginning, this time, however, it is in morning for a beloved son. Charlie's death has brought Graham back to Young Charlie. We can see the good side has won the battle for her. As in early situational Charlie has learned her moral lesson and the episode may end.
The coming of age novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky, follows the self-discovery of an introverted 15-year-old boy named Charlie. The novel is written in a series of letters to an anonymous person, which he sends, as he needs someone to talk to after his best friend’s suicide
In adolescence social interactions are a very important part of young adult development. Within this transitional period the young adult experiences social changes even though such changes vary from youth to youth. In The Perks of being a wallflower Charlie was socially awkward, but intellectually he was a genius. He was faced with a few social extremes throughout the movie. For instance, His social awkwardness is partially due to the death of his best friend Michael. The summer before High School started Michael committed suicide. Dealing with this trauma was no easy feat for Charlie. As a result, he withdrew from the world around him. Upon entering High School Charlie was weary of his surroundings. He tried to reach out to a girl whom was in Middle School with him but she acted as if she did not know him. He was left feeling alone. As the movie went on he was exposed to yet another social
He describes them as pigs and explains that all they care about is their money and what they buy with that money which in in this case, is jewelry. At the end of his speech, young Charlie boasts the statement, “But they’re alive, they’re human beings”! This is the beginning of the ultimate end of young Charlie’s self-control relative to her depressing mind state. A few seconds later young Charlie’s father’s friend, Herbert enters the room and strolls over to him with a napkin wrapping something. Herbert and Joe, Charlie’s father begin to discuss the act of killing someone and how to get away with it. A few seconds into this conversation little Charlie jumps out of her seat because she cannot handle her compulsive thinking and worrying anymore and exclaims, “What’s the matter with you two? Do you always have to talk about killing people?”. This is when we, the audience are able to see what has ultimately happened to her in result of the negativity surrounding her and the mass amount of worrying she had been the victim of. After jumping out of her dinner seat and yelling, young Charlie storms away. Her uncle chases after her to speak with her and after approximately five minutes they end up sitting across from one another in a bar. At this point, little Charlie has calmed down some, but now it is Uncle Charlie’s turn to reach his
“It would be very nice to have a friend again. I would like that even more than a date,” (21) Charlie remarks when he feels lonely. In the novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky, the author uses the theme of friendship to help Charlie overcome obstacles. The novel is about a friendless boy named Charlie who struggles with some demons from his past. Charlie finds a group of friends, sort of misfits like himself, who take him under their wings and introduce him to experiences that are common in teens, including parties, drugs, and sex. His new group of friends gives Charlie something precious that he has never had before, a sense of belonging. After Michael 's death, Charlie is eagerly craving any sort of social interaction.
... reason that Charlie is the way he is. Once he was in touch with his feelings, he can understand and progress in his life. The novel ends with Charlie forgiving his Aunt Helen, and finding the strength to move on with his life.
The perks of being a wallflowers is about Charlie, a 15 year old freshman student that is about to start his high school year. He lives with his parents and older sister. Charlie has as an older brother too, but he lives away because he is attending college. As the movie starts goes, it is implied that when Charlie was a kid he was molested by his aunt, who later dies in a car accident on Christmas Eve, (which is also Charlie’s birthday). His family seems to have a strong bond, they each follow a role, and they support each other. During some scenes in the movie, Charlie seems to be having internalizing problems. As the movie progressed, it is revealed that Charlie had a friend that committed suicide, and this event made Charlie to feel sorrowful. When he enters high school, Charlie appears to be very concern of what others may think about him, as well as