charlie

I'm gonna write a little about the movie I just saw. I'll try my best not to spoil anything. I'll do heads ups if I will be going into some potential spoilers.

Before anything, I thought it was funny how Emma Watson tried pretty hard to cover her British accent. She did a pretty good job, only a few slips here and there :)

----

Laughter, heart strings, and teary eyes reminded me once again how much I loved the book. The movie lived up to my expectations. As my friend pointed out, given that Chbosky directed the movie himself, the movie turned out extremely well. Some omitted events from the book were still captured in the main scheme of the film, some in different forms, some in more subtle  methods.

Like the book, the movie brought out deeper and more buried scheme of life. It's perhaps not the best representation of high school, but it's a story that hit on many many topics: relationships, love, trauma, loss of loved ones, guilt, the real world, coping, fitting in, friendship, acknowledging feelings, sense of belonging, living in the past, true characters, forgiveness, understanding.

A wallflower sees things, keeps quiet, and understands.

It's not listening to happy songs when you're sad; it's the choice to feel; it's letting happiness come to you; it's the choice to be sensitive; it's choosing reality over dreams; it's knowing letting go is never really letting go.

It's accepting the love we think we deserve.

Charlie is not everyone, and not everyone is a wallflower, either. As the wallflower, Charlie becomes the side of all of us that exists at many points in our lives. He's the person when we feel most invisible, some more often than others.

POTENTIAL SPOILER.

Not everyone has had Charlie's traumatic past, but the idea is that everyone has their own past to deal with, and that one's history has ultimately shaped their person as a whole, whether he has lost many loved ones before or that if she has lived and conquered a disease. Everyone's story is different, and it's only fair to realize those battles out there exist, rather than only your internal quarrels.

Charlie's relationship with Sam is a heartfelt and mutual one. It is worth noting that this is only possible when Sam sees what he been through wasn't just a bad grade in school or a bad friendship. Even though she doesn't know the entire story, it is clear that she knows that her approach needs to be sensitive. Same with Patrick (who is, by the way, my favorite character, both from the book and the movie). The two of them make the almost ideal thoughtful and caring friends one could ask for.

END OF POTENTIAL SPOILER. 

The story touches on a very important idea: love is independent of relationships. One fuels on expectations, while the other is the fuel. It's not relationships that we want, but simply love. Relationship itself has no meaning. Friends are not friends if you feel you can't be open with them. The only way to know if they are your friend is to open up slightly and see if they do the same. That's what Charlie does, Sam, and Patrick.

I think without these friends, you can't call other friends your friends.

Like Morrie says, love can flow just between two people, with words or silence.

I want to be able to be able to not talk about anything, heavy or light, to just be there together, and be enough.

I loved it. I absolutely loved it. It's no doubt one of my favorite movies now.


-h-