Movie Review Example: Perks of Being a Wallflower

Imagine a world without condemnation, insecurities, and “standards”. In “Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Steven Chbosky,  and “Speak” by Halse Anderson, we see teens trying to follow typical “teenage” standards. Either trying to follow their parents' steps, or trying to “fit” in. In the texts, the characters develop different personas, they become a little less “pressured” once they feel like everything is okay. Yet go back to feeling overwhelmed after a while or when something goes wrong. They demonstrate how past and present generations affect how kids look and feel about themselves, as well how they express their emotions. 

At some point, all of us have tried to fit in the typical stereotypes/standards. In Perks of Being a Wallflower, there is a conversation between Charlie and Bill, relationships between teens, and Influenced actions. Charlie has always wondered how things work, relationship wise. Bill tries to talk and explain it to him, he said that it is most likely for girls to follow their moms steps, look into the “famous” magazines and take tips from that. Charlie didn't really get much of that but enough to say he understood. The meaning behind this is that most people are influenced by people around them either to do it or not do it. Another scenario would be when Bill asked Charlie if his dad ever hit him, Charlie said no. Charlie's dad was abused by his father, he never wanted to be like him, and the one time he did, he apologized and felt really bad. Although actions are influenced differently, they can always help or cause a problem. 

Living up to people's typical expectations will always be something hard, you will never see an end to it, kind of like you're never doing enough. In Speak, we can notice Melinda trying to “fit” into what people want her to be, “...a good girl...” She feels as if she smiles at everyone, no one will question her, yet her inner thoughts express differently. Melinda always seems to be calm yet has her mind “busy”. A good example of this would be when Heather kept ranting about trying to fit in, by acting in a school play, Melinda just nodded and let her continue talking. Heather’s way of trying to “fit in” is very different from Melindas, Heather wants people to know her, talk to her, and recognize her. Heather starts to get frustrated, she says things she didn't mean and apologizes, minutes later she breaks down and starts crying, all while Melinda was calm. This lets us see how some of the standards are too high, they try to follow everyone’s steps into “popularity” but only end up damaging themselves emotionally. 

Both “Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Steven Chbosky,  and “Speak” by Halse Anderson, have a similar message, Emotion, influence and expectations. As teens everyone is always confused about how they feel. Some try to fit in, for example Heather and some try to stay away, like Charlie. Some get influenced by parent figures, movies, magazines and more, for example Charlie’s dad, he strongly dislikes abuse, and we get to see why, yet doesn't know how to take in the fact that her daughters boyfriend hits her, he knows how to manage himself because he doesn't want to solve a problem with another problem. As for Heather, she tries to find new people to interact with, yet doesn't realize that she is full of mixed emotions because of that. 

Why do we try so hard to fit in? It should be something simple. Now expectations are so high, you have to act, dress, look, a certain way to even be “accepted”. Being influenced by people shouldnt be a bad thing. But we should know what we should take from those influences.