More Than a Wallflower: Friendship, Change, and Growing Up

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of the best films I have watched as a high school student. The movie revolves around Charlie, a quiet and isolated freshman who is entering high school while carrying struggles from his past. His first days are extremely lonely. He has trouble talking to people, does not really have anyone to sit with, and eventually finds himself eating alone at the lunch table. He is also dealing with the death of his best friend, Michael, and memories from his childhood that he has not completely understood. Charlie spends much of the beginning of the movie feeling like he is watching everyone else live their lives while he is stuck on the outside.

Everything begins to change when Charlie decides to go to a football game by himself. There, he meets Patrick, a senior from his shop class, and Patrick's stepsister Sam. Patrick is energetic and outgoing, while Sam is more thoughtful and understanding. They invite Charlie to go with them after the game, and eventually bring him into their group of friends. What starts as one conversation at a football game turns into Charlie finally having people who actually want him around. They go to parties, watch movies together, participate in Rocky Horror Picture Show, share music, and spend time together. Charlie slowly stops feeling like an outsider and starts feeling a sense of belonging.

What makes the friendship so important is that Charlie is not the only one struggling. Patrick is dealing with his complicated relationship with Brad, while Sam is trying to figure out her own future and preparing for college. Charlie helps Sam with her SATs, while Patrick and Sam give Charlie something he desperately needs: people who make him feel like he belongs. Their friendship goes both ways. They are not simply rescuing Charlie; they are helping each other get through high school.

Charlie is not perfect either. He makes mistakes, especially when his feelings for Sam become complicated. He hurts Mary Elizabeth during a party, loses the trust of his friends for a while, and eventually becomes overwhelmed by memories from his past. As the year continues, Charlie's problems become harder to ignore. His friendship with Sam and Patrick gives him happiness, but it cannot completely erase what he has been carrying for years. Eventually, Charlie has to confront the memories he has buried and begin understanding where his pain comes from.

That is what makes this movie feel so relatable to students at SOAR. High school can sometimes feel isolating, even when you are surrounded by people. At SOAR, students are balancing high school with college classes, dual enrollment, college applications, extracurriculars, and responsibilities outside of school. There can be days when you are sitting in a classroom thinking about an exam, an assignment, or a college application while everyone else seems like they have everything figured out. Charlie shows how much having the right people beside you can change that experience.

There is also something especially meaningful about Sam leaving for college. Many SOAR students are approaching that same point in their lives. We are going to college and leaving behind teachers, friends, classrooms, routines, and places that became important to us. Even when we are excited about what comes next, it can still be difficult to realize that some of the people and experiences we have grown used to will not always be there.

The ending is what brings everything together. After everything Charlie has gone through, he is back with Sam and Patrick, driving through the tunnel. Sam stands in the back of the truck as the three of them drive through the night, and Charlie finally stops thinking about everything that is wrong. He is simply there, with his friends, experiencing the moment. For once, he is not watching life from the outside. He is actually living it. That is why the final idea of the movie is so powerful: we are infinite.