Media Analysis Paper: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Department of Psychology, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
PSY 2220: Adolescent and Emerging Adulthood Development
Dr. David E. Ferrier
April 15th, 2021
The teenage years are some of the most formative years in a person’s life both developmentally and socially. Adolescence can be rife with frustration and angst but also full of beneficial relationships and education. Teenagers benefit from relating to creative cultural expressions, and the movie The Perks of Being a Wallflower can act as a mirror to young people going through the struggles of high school and growing up. In the movie, the broad topics of family, friendships, mental health, and growing up are delved into creating a narrative that is parallel to the topics covered in the book, Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood A Cultural Approach, by Jeffrey Arnett. An ongoing theme from the movie is one of hope in the face of all kinds of adversity. This is played out through a variety of different circumstances that the main character, Charlie, finds himself in.
In the media, not everything that is portrayed happens the same as it does in the real world. Sometimes though the depictions are correct within a small margin of error. In the movie, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, there are instances that line up correctly with reality. One instance of this is the portrayal of PTSD and sexual abuse that happens to Charlie. When he was young Charlie’s Aunt Helen molested him, then passed away in a car accident on his birthday. These events were very traumatic for Charlie, and he had repressed them for years until the memories started to come back. After the suicide of his best friend Michael, Charlie has fallen into a state of depression and has PTSD from his past abuse from his aunt, but he is not aware of the abuse until further on in the movie. In the book, Arnett states that “Other consequences of sexual abuse include substance abuse, higher risk for a variety of psychological disorders, and suicidal thoughts and behavior.” (Arnett, 2007, p.205) This quote was found in the section of the book that talked about sexual abuse by family members. Charlie was prone to develop psychological disorders, and he did. The progression of this development is built up throughout the movie and comes to a climax in a scene where he is on the verge of killing himself. The way the movie shows Charlie’s feelings and actions match the quote by Arnett making the portrayal of mental illness accurate.
Another character in the movie that is learning how to navigate life is a boy named Patrick who quickly befriends Charlie. Patrick is openly gay but struggles because his boyfriend is not. In the book Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood A Cultural Approach Arnett speaks on this topic by saying that, “In one study, more than three-fourths of LGB adolescents reported that they had been verbally abused because of their sexual orientation, and 15% reported physical attacks” (Arnett, 2007, p. 264). Assault because of sexual orientation is prevalent and this is acknowledged by Arnett. There is a scene in the movie where Patrick gets in a fight after being called a slur. This exemplifies how people in the LGBTQ+ face physical assault. This is an accurate depiction of this event and Patrick’s sexuality. However, there is a slight inaccuracy in some parts due to the change in society since the movie/book came out. Patrick takes Charlie to a park late at night where people who want to be discreet about their sexuality go to meet each other. This is not far from how the world works today, but now this meeting occurs mainly through technology and the internet. The discrepancy between how people of the LGTBQ+ community meet other people like themselves in the movie, and in today’s world is interesting to think about; it is not far from the truth but inaccurate enough to be talked about and explored further.
In the textbook, the stance is taken that, “Friends’ influence is a more accurate term than peer pressure for the social effects adolescents experience” (Arnett, 2007, p. 218). This means that it is not merely “peers” that influence other adolescents to partake in certain activities, but these individuals have a friendship with the person they are influencing. The very opposite of this happens at a party in The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Charlie is at a party when he is offered a brownie. He doesn’t know it but it was a brownie with marijuana in it and he ended up getting high for the first time. The people that Charlie is at the party with are all strangers with the exception of Sam and Patrick who he has just met. He is surrounded by peers in this case, not friends. This is where there is total inaccuracy when the party situation is compared to peer pressure in the text. Charlie does slowly become better friends with people in attendance later in the movie, but this also goes against the fact that teenagers normally become friends with people who are like them because the people Charlie befriends are drastically different than he is. The inaccuracy of the party scene does not mean that it did not make for great television or writing, it is just important to realize that the exact situation isn’t how events like it normally happen.
Although some scenarios in the movie are far from reality, most of the struggles that are depicted line up with the textbook and are staple coming of age scenarios. For example, in Chapter 2 the topic of Media is covered. The impact that media of all kinds has on the life of adolescents is massive. One use of media that is covered in the text and shown throughout the movie is the use of music to bring people together and to cope with the weight of the world. Charlie muses over a tape with thoughts like “And I thought about how many people have loved those songs. And how many people got through a lot of bad times because of those songs. And how many people enjoyed good times with those songs. And how much those songs really mean.” Charlie uses the lyrics in the songs to express and deal with his emotions. Arnett captures this in the following quote, “Adolescents often listen to music in the privacy of their bedrooms while pondering the themes of the songs in relation to their own lives, as part of the process of emotional self-regulation” (Arnett, 2007, p. 341). The parallel between the quote and how Charlie deals with his feelings shows another way that the portrayal of adolescents in the movie was generally correct throughout.
Being able to find a movie that can be evaluated alongside educational texts is a good way to increase analysis skills because it forces attention to detail. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a movie that captures the hardship of being young, while also providing an inspiring story by using real experiences as building blocks. Even with both accurate and inaccurate information, the movie shows what it is like to grow up surrounded by hurtful experiences. These hurtful experiences don’t have to be the end though, and this is a theme found in the movie. The intricacies of adolescence found in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood A Cultural Approach are brought to life on screen for all to see.
References
Arnett, J. J. (2018). Adolescence and emerging adulthood: A cultural approach (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ, NJ: Pearson.
Perks of Being a Wallflower. (2012). Amazon Prime.
