Post #4: Adaption of Perks of Being a Wallflower

Some challenges of making The Perks of Being a Wallflower into a movie would be that there would have to be a lot more detail to the scenes and the plot. Most of what Charlie says is somewhat detailed but not enough for the movie. In the book the mood of how Charlie feels is shown through the word choice and structure of his writing. In the movie there would have to be a lot of detail and a lot less of skipping around to different things being talked about since the book is in letter structure.

One scene essential to The Perks of Being a Wallflower is when Charlie sees Sam. This is what the whole book basically revolves around. When Charlie sees her the scene is very intense. It’s like everything around them stops and it’s only Sam that’s important to Charlie.  From this point on in the book Charlie is part of their group and spends all his time with them or talking about them in the letters sent to his ‘friend’. Without this scene there would be no point of the book, it wouldn’t be as special either if they tried to replace this scene and somehow incorporate it in another way.

Another scene essential to The Perks of Being a Wallflower is when it is Christmas time and Charlie’s birthday. Charlie becomes very depressed, and we figure out why the rest of the book he has been so sad. His aunt had died on his birthday years before and it changed his life.  It made him feel sorrow and pain but also it made him be different from the others because he felt his aunt’s death was his fault or responsibility. Without this scene Charlie’s character wouldn’t make as much sense, nor his actions.

One more scene that is essential to The Perks of Being a Wallflower is when Charlie kisses Sam at the party. After this scene everything changes for Charlie for a while. He isn’t able to hang around the people he normally does. There is also tension between him, Sam, and Mary Elizabeth and leaves him feeling more alone. This is when he starts to drink and get involved in drugs more. Without this scene in the book people wouldn’t see the problems or situations that Charlie goes through in his life.

One part of The Perks of Being a Wallflower that would need to be cut out in the movie to make sure that only the important parts of the story was focused on would be Charlie’s description of his grandpa and the rest of his family. Other than his immediate family and his aunt, the other members of his family do not affect him or the story.

Another part of The Perks of Being a Wallflower that would have to be cut out in order to make sure that only the important parts of the story are focused on would be when Charlie is describing what he sees when he is at the mall. It really has no effect on Charlie or the story and would need to be cut out.