The Perks of Being a Wallflower

What the heck is a wallflower? That was my very first thought when I read that Emma Watson is going to act in this movie. And that was many months ago. With such a peculiar title, it was difficult to even guess what the story would be like and it just simply goes out of radar. 

Fast forward a few months, I was bored, and I happened to read a brief synopsis of the movie which was released 2 days ago. Only then I knew that it was based on a book. I googled "wallflower" and it turns out to be a proper english word which means "a type of loner. seemingly shy folks who no one really knows. often some of the most interesting people if one actually talks to them. cute.". With that, I set my mind to watch it.

The movie may seem uninteresting at first. However, it is much deeper than the surface of "typical high school stories". Underneath, there are themes like sexual abuse and psychological problems which are dealty quite subtlely.

Not exactly a favourite but I think I had a good time watching it nonetheless. I think I sort of a wallflower too. Even up to now, I often eat meals alone, go out alone, and watch movies alone. Haha.. Perhaps my JC (i.e high school) was sort of the worst as I disliked almost all of my classmates and ended up sitting alone in lecture and at meal times. So it is rather personal as I can relate to it. I left feeling rather emo as unlike Charlie, I am not blessed with good friends eventually.

Acting-wise, I think Logan Lerman is superb. I sort of like him from Percy Jackson as he seems to be a decent, cute, innocent guy, still not corrupted by Hollywood yet. Of course the acting in Percy Jackson was rather dull. However, he is awesome here. His natural facial expression suits the description of a wallflower. Other than that, he can act as being "high" on drugs, being shy on the love-related matters, being angry when his dear ones got hurt, and near the end.. being depressed and all that. Simply wow!

It is difficult to see Emma Watson not as Hermione, especially when her character shares some of Hermione's traits such as bossiness and being more mature than the boys around her. However, she still convincingly acts as a crazy party girl here.

Unexpectedly, the star of the show is Ezra Miller. I never see or read or know him previously. His acting is also terrific. He can act flamboyantly as a gay and in his tranny theater show, as a good "big brother", as well as the Mr. Funny throughout the show. I thought it was hilarious when he told his lecturer "If you fail me, you get me again next semester".

Near the end, something kinda struck me when I see another similarity with my personal life. I am not so into having a relationship even though there is someone I like. I always think that I suck and she deserves someone better. Perhaps what Sam said to Charlie near the end is true: there is no point thinking/behaving that way as the person you like will not even know/feel anything if you are not doing/saying anything. Aargh.. should I just wait for a girl to make her first move?? I know but I am a lousy guy..

So where are my perks of being a wallflower? I also wish that I can also find my Emma Watson someday..