I know what you’re thinking, “Isn’t it about time to wrap this marathon up?” Well, here’s the thing. We do what we want. And we only got to the 80s with Boyz N the Hood. The way we see it, we gotta take this Coming-of-Age Marathon all the way to today. Or, at least the aughts. With that in mind, we enter part five of our marathon, move into the 90s and discuss the emotional gut-puncher, The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Stephen Chbosky’s coming-of-age drama, based on his own novel, is a powerful story of trauma, high school and being noticed. The first time director does a marvelous job bringing his book to the screen. Set in 1992, Charlie (Logan Lerman) is about to start Freshman year while dealing with depression and anxiety. Charlie doesn’t fit in. His sister tends to ignore him at school, and his middle school friends have moved on. Then, he meets Patrick (Ezra Miller) and Sam (Emma Watson). The senior step-siblings take Charlie under their wing and give him a place to bloom. But, high school is never easy.
As we deliver our Perks of Being a Wallflower analysis, we get a little personal. We talk about our own personal high school cocoons, and how it affected our interaction with pop culture. We dive into the films handling of masculinity, trauma and grief. Finally, we discuss the film as a coming-of-age move versus a high school film. To kick all of this discussion off though, we “Build A Mixtape” for our game.
There’s the bell, time to head out, but we’ll see you next week!
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Arthur is a creator of content, lover of movies, and father of dogs. If you want to keep the conversation going, then click here to follow Arthur on Twitter. If you would like to keep up with what Arthur is watching, then head over to Letterboxd and give him a follow!
