In his introspective film, Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky illustrates that human connections are necessary for growth. The story takes place in a high school in the early 1990’s and follows the life of Charlie; a freshman with a traumatic past and emotional issues. Charlie struggles to make friends, not even finding solidarity with his sister Candace and her boyfriend Derek. It isn’t until he meets Sam and Patrick, two seniors who welcome him into their group of “Wallflowers” that Charlie finds a place he belongs. Throughout the film, music creates a common experience; strengthening the connection between characters and exposing the nature of their relationship. The song “Heroes” provides the emotional connection between Sam, …show more content…
For example, in the beginning of the movie, Derek hands Candace a mixtape, saying, “I hope you love the mix I made. The cover is hand-painted”; immediately after, she hands Charlie the mixtape (Perks). Candace’s disregard for Derek’s romantic gesture of the mixtape illustrates the unreciprocated feelings and gap within their relationship. Candice is unable to understand the emotions Derek conveys through the mixtape, resulting in her inability to recognize and connect with the feeling’s Derek portrays only through music. To contrast, in the middle of the story, Charlie is listening to Sam’s music and in a voiceover he says, “I've been making her a mixtape so she will know how I feel” (Perks). Charlie uses music to express his emotions and Sam's similar taste allows her to understand Charlie and the feeling he communicates through the music. The music they mutually enjoy strengthens the connection between Charlie and Sam as they bond over the feelings evoked by the track on the mixtape. Candace and Derek's lack of connection is illustrated through her inability to enjoy Derek's mixtape, contradictory to the strong bond between Sam and Charlie which grows as they share
I see Charlie attempting desperately to act out of character. Adept at business he has shown ability, humility and perseverance. However, he seems to be out of touch with the manifested feelings of others his path has crossed.
During the course of the movie, Charlie learns about Raymond's autism. Raymond has savant autism. As a result of it, he had outstanding recall abilities although usually having little understanding of the subjects he recalls. He also has the ability to count a large number of objects at once. He is also sticks to strict routines because he is easily upset with change. He shows little emotional expression unless he is in distress and avoids eye contact. He also learns about how his brother came to be separated from his family, as a result of an accident when he was left alone with Charlie when Charlie was a baby. Raymond also sings "I Saw Her Standing There" by The Beatles like he did when Charlie was young. This causes...
The movie, The Perks of Being A Wallflower, released in 2012, is based on the book written by Stephen Chbosky, which was originally published in 1999. The book is all about the main character, Charlie, as he deals with his first year in high school, after the tragic death of his Aunt Helen. The movie opens with Charlie writing in a journal, which is a part of his therapy for the mental illness he suffers from on account of his Aunt 's death. The past year or so before this, Charlie had been suffering from memories and flashbacks of the way his Aunt died in a car accident. He is hopeful that high school will bring new things for him, but after the first day, is disappointed after the bullying and neglect he finds from other students. Things
Charlie also shows a lot of cleverness.... ... middle of paper ... ... This shows that Charlie realizes that his friends like him for whom he is, not for how smart he is.
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.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a coming of age film that chronicles the life of a boy named Charlie. Charlie is 15 years old and has just begun his first year of high school. He will give a detailed account of the joys and pains of his freshman year in high school. He begins by writing letters to an unknown stranger, but then, you realize that stranger is you. Through these Charlie tells his story from his perspective. He will experience many highs and lows related to the adolescence phase. The highlights of the paper will focus on the biological/physical, psychological, social, spiritual, cultural issues, as well as his strengths and challenges.
“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.
They are all middle to upper middle class Caucasian adolescents living in a suburban environment. Sam, Patrick, and the other 3 members of their clique are all seniors in high school and Charlie is only a freshman. Through the experiences of Charlie and his new friends, The Perks of Being a Wallflower provides excellent examples of cliques and crowds, dating scripts, the identity status model, externalizing problems, internalizing problems, and
One big difference between theses boys are there families. Charlie's family was very close to him especially his sister and older brother. Throughout the film you see how they are there for him and support him through everything he is going through. The scene where he calls his sister when he was having suicidal thoughts it really shows how much she cared for him. How she was willing to dropped everything to make sure he was okay. In his story family meant everything to him and helped to push him through the hard times of growing up and coming of age. On the other side of things in Dementia he didn't have a close family. His dad wasn't part of his life when he got older and we can infer that from when he said “But there was nothing, so I left him.” His mom also wasn’t there for him when he needed her the most, he showed us this when he said “My mother, who’d never protected me from my father.” This effected him because when you're growing up and coming of age your family is who you rely on the most to help you through it and he didn't have that. Another difference is how in one of the stories someone killed themselves yet in another how the scars where on the main character. In the Perks of being a Wallflower Charlie’s best friend killed himself right before the start of freshman year. This event hurt Charlie so much and changed his world. Friends are very important in growing up and when you are coming of age.
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
The character that I felt the most connected to in The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky was Charlie mainly due to the fact that the book is narrated by Charlie in forms of letters sent to a friend. The author purposely concealed the identity of the person whom Charlie is writing to and so we, the reader cannot help but think that we are the friend. Charlie writes his letters as if it were his diary and shares all his deep thoughts and feelings which makes it feel more intimate with what Charlie has to deal with. Through his writing we start to understand what Charlie is going through and making it easy for us to connect and relate to him as well as to feel apart of his world. Throughout the book, Charlie is portrayed as a clueless, troubled boy who spends more time in his head than the real world and
Charlie goes through an intense emotional episode of crying upon learning of the death of his friend. The effects of Charlie’s loss can be seen in his personality, in his docile nature and his extreme sensitivity. While Holden is brash and critical, Charlie is introverted and consolatory. Charlie even becomes dismissive of his own ostracization, thinking that “…other people have it a lot worse.” (Chbosky, 4-5). He tries to put things in perspective in relation to the bigger picture. This is where the “wallflower” tendencies of Charlie become apparent. He is a spectator of his own life, rather than a participant. Rather than acknowledging what causes his personal issues, he instead tries to interpret how other people see
When we were out of my neighborhood I asked where we were going and Kolin said we were going to Dre's apartment first; afterwards we would take the Metro down to Northwest because he had to meet up with some people for a drug deal. Mark began to roll a joint and he said, "Look, I scored some KB off this idiot high-school kid who thought it was swag. It's my treat ladies." We rolled up to Dre's apartment, drank a little and hot-boxed the van. As we sat there smoking, Kolin, Mark, and Dre began to talk about the recent events. "That party last Friday was fucking stupid. I can't believe they gave you shit at the door," said Kolin.
Recently, Hempstead High School has decided to use the book The Perks of Being a Wallflower as required reading for their senior English class. It’s an intriguing book with many lessons to be learned from it, and it’s written in such a style that teenagers have an easy time connecting with. However, about thirteen parents have complained of the book’s “obscene nature,” specifically the fact that the characters have sex, use drugs, and drink alcohol. These people are asking the Dubuque School Board to ban the book from required reading use. There are many others who are in support of the book being used in the classroom as well, pointing out how these actions are merely a way to make the characters more realistic, and the book points out how the use of drugs and alcohol are bad ways to cope with your problems.
An example of this is when Jenna Maroney is speaking with Jack Donaghy about the show as classical music plays softly in the background. This serious conversation is ruined as assistant Kenneth Parcell brings Jenna her hemorrhoid cream and interrupts both the music and discussion. The music reiterates the comedic effect of hemorrhoid cream and makes the change of tone even more obvious. In a like manner, the music also indicates a scene change. For example, when actor Tracy Jordan and Liz Lemon leave the fancy restaurant and enter a home-style cooking restaurant, the music fades from elegant to a jazz-inspired piece.