Sunday 19 May 2013

Fight prejudice, Watch movies

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is probably one of my favorite movies of all time. I remember watching it in the cinema last year, it absolutely blew my mind. One of those movies that makes you think, a movie that you can't stop talking about with your friends afterwords. The cast was amazing and the acting was sublime.



The movie is actually based on the novel from Steven Chbosky (who also wrote & directed the movie). And it's honestly one of the best novel adaptations that I've ever seen. I bought the book the same weekend and read it in no time. The book is completely different then the movie, it's basically a compilation of letters that Charlie (the main character) wrote. While this is partially used in the movie, it's not the main focus. I love how the movie actually adds a lot to the story by showing things that aren't directly mentioned in the book, but do contribute to the overall storyline. The movie and novel only strengthen each other, which is a rare thing.

Understanding Charlie
But I didn't just make this post to tell you how much I liked this movie. There's one aspect of this movie that is really interesting. This movie sheds a light on certain issues like abuse and mental illnesses. Many movies have tried to capture how one would feel experiencing those things. But in my humble opinion this movie has succeeded in that like no other movie has before. And because of that it has the ability to make viewers understand what it's like. It's hard to understand why people do some things or how they could feel a certain way. But somehow while watching this movie, you understand. Good movies can have this strange power to relieve people from prejudice and give others an opportunity to be understood.

And another great thing is that this movie has been embraced by a younger audience (Emma Watson is probably a big reason for this). And the message in this movie is so important for them. It shows them that they are not alone, it shows a realistic high school experience. And for those people it's so important to have something to relate to and possibly learn from.

If you haven't watched this movie, you're missing out.