I grew up in the height of teen coming of age movies. Movie teens of today just don't seem to have the same passion or angst that we had growing up. There's no internal, high school revolution to be had. It's all parties and girl/boy troubles with a little bit of bullying thrown in. There's no breakfast club, dancing to prove yourself, risky businesses to run or Heathers drama to overcome.
Fortunately for this generation seeing The Perks of Being a Wallflower will give them a taste of the teen worlds we were a part of growing up. It has an amazing cast including Emma Watson breaking away from Harry Potter. It was semi based on the writer/director's life during his sophomore year in high school. The entire audience, which was about 10 years younger than me, had read the book which the movie was adapted from. Let's just say that after seeing this I had to read the book, it was that good.
After the screening I was privileges to hear the director, Stephen Chbosky, talk about the film and his book. (TJ was super excited, because he the director created Jericho as well). He spoke of this feeling of being infinite, and how he was surprised that it was never used before. He also spoke about how teens often feel infinite, there's so many possibilities ahead for them. As adults we don't often feel infinite anymore. For me this movie rekindled this feeling that with a few good friends and a place that you belong, I can do anything and I'm already standing on top of the world. Like every teen should.
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