The Perks Of Being A Wallflower is a book written in 1999 by Stephen Chbosky and a popular 2012 movie. The story follows a 14-year-old boy named Charlie as he enters his first year of high school. It follows his journey with mental health and his difficult coming-of-age experience. Now, this covers lots of topics like mental health, homosexuality, and homophobia and they do it wonderfully.
My absolute favorite thing is how Stephen Chbosky approached mental health in his work. I’ve been reading books and watching films that handle mental health oddly, often they approach it with minor “typical” symptoms. However, The Perks Of Being a Wallflower does not sugarcoat Charlie’s mental health. We see his anxiety, his stuttering, the way he rocks back and forth a bit when he’s anxious, crying, everything. Even in the book, because of his mental health, Charlie develops an addiction to smoking as a coping mechanism. Chbosky included all these things intending to show a deeper side of depression and anxiety – and Logan Lerman beautifully portrayed it in the movies. After reading the book, watching it come to life in the movie was truly a heart-melting experience for me. I had already found that the book was relatable but being able to see it, it hit close to home. I resonated with it so much more. The way they filmed Charlie’s breakdown at that height of the action was done realistically in my opinion. We can see the pain in his face, his disheveled appearance, the cuts of each scene, and the scene where he sees a knife left on the counter. It felt real, like you were there struggling and life was going in and out in abrupt scenes until you reached your breaking point. All for it to end with Charlie in the hospital finally getting help with his illness. He learns to accept everything and that life can get better. I just absolutely love the way Charlie’s mental health was portrayed. It was realistic, painful, and tragically beautiful. It was done in a way that can make the watcher/reader feel not alone and look at things through a new lens.
Another major journey we see throughout is Patrick’s experience of being gay and dealing with homophobia. And let me just say – Patrick is precious. We see his self-expression; he knows this about himself and isn’t ashamed of it and that’s a beautiful thing to show the world. He gets his own mini storyline where he is in love with another man who wants to keep him a secret. Until one day, they are caught by the guy’s homophobic father and are then pushed away. After this incident, the same guy he loves calls him slurs to save his own image. It is so heartbreaking to watch it makes you just want to give Patrick a hug. Patrick puts on his facade before revealing that he actually is in pain when he breaks down in tears. It makes it all real. Speaking from experience, this is something that happens more than once in a lifetime. It was raw and real. The way Chbosky handled this topic seriously and as something that shouldn’t be taken delicately. They acknowledged that this is a real problem that people have to deal with.
Overall, the way Chbosky handles every theme in The Perks Of Being a Wallflower with sensitivity and care is what makes it so wonderful. He made dark things to go through come into the light to be acknowledged and let others know they aren’t the only ones and it is a very real thing.
