The Accuracy of Mental Illness Depiction in The Perks of Being a Wallflower
We as humans are creatures of the culture that we create; as a 19-year-old girl living in the stereotypical ‘I’m lost in life and nobody can understand me’ point of my life, I’ve become fairly acquainted with the side effects of today’s complex culture. Whether it be books or movies, it is very common to see portrayals of different people wanting to be represented more accurately. Though more times than not, Hollywood gets everything wrong. The romanticization of mental illness happens daily. It’s hard to pinpoint when exactly the romanticizing of mental illness first began to bud, blossom, and flourish. It’s easy to blame the media. Movies such as Silver Linings Playbook, The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Way Way Back all create an aesthetic out of mental illnesses. They make it seem poetic and sensual by making the characters exceptionally attractive and their issues played out like a thought-provoking play write. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a movie known for its depiction of the main character living with several mental disorders, but it does not accurately represent the reality of someone struggling with a mental illness. The “mental disorders” displayed onscreen are merely struggles of a normal teenager going through hormonal changes.
So the question remains; does the movie The Perks of Being a Wallflower accurately depict mental illness? There are many ways to define this since mental illness and its representation have such a broad spectrum, it is important to analyze the protagonist and how genuine his performance is, as well as the way the plot portrays the struggles of facing a constant internal battle.
The plot of The Perks of Being a Wallflower does have beautiful moments, but also many inaccurate scenes that take away from the movie’s attempt to be genuine. The main character, Charlie, falls in the classic “sad protagonist ” category. The plot revolves around Charlie’s battle with depression and anxiety. The Mayo Clinic describes depression as “a mood disorder that causes someone to consistently feel sad and have a loss of interest,’ and describes anxiety as “an emotion that is characterized by feelings of worry, tension, and physical changes.” The movie opens up with Charlie writing a letter to his friend, and discusses how he spent time in the hospital over the summer since he attempted suicide and how he doesn’t want to be the weird sad kid in high school; immediately introducing the subject of mental health to the plot. He then meets two people; Sam (his love interest) and Patrick, who were Charlie’s first friends. Charlie continues to write to his friend throughout the movie, and through these letters, viewers can see the improvement Charlie’s wellbeing has made, as well as his feelings for Sam increasing. While there are poetic exchanges between the characters and moments that make your heart flutter such as Sam gifting Charlie a typewriter because he wants to be an author; the main critic for the plot is that it has all been done before.
Take a look at a plot from any movie that groups together teens and depression and there will be a common theme. The character is introduced with said mental disorders; the character struggles to adapt to new circumstances; then finds someone who loves them unconditionally, and wallah! Miraculously, the character feels perfect and free. One scene in particular is when Charlie decides to go to the homecoming dance alone and dances until hes accompanied by his friends. This is far from accurate with actual depression and anxiety. In many cases, people who suffer with depression and anxiety want to just lie in the dark away from civilization. They do not want to go to a huge event with people from the school they dread going to, and especially not alone. Even when they do get up and try and be optimistic, they still appear sad and lost. Because they are. It is not something that is cured by finding the supposed love of your life, or realizing you are satisfied with yourself as The Perks of Being a Wallflower portrays; that is called being a normal teenager.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower does not correctly show its audience about being young and mentally unstable; Charlie is a great character that will steal your heart, but he does not completely portray someone with a problem. To begin, Charlie, throughout the movie, narrates what is going through his head. His main priority is Sam, and his pureness and innocence contribute to his attempts at love, which was really the highlight of the movie. In one scene, there is a timelapse of the two studying for the ACT throughout the summer, fall, and winter season. And another where Sam wants to be Charlie’s first kiss so “it’ll be someone who loves him,” Sam claims. It was heartwarming seeing Charlie want to get better in order to love someone; but it also is the pinnacle of romanticizing mental illness. Another thing about Charlie is his aunt Helen- who is later revealed to have molested him as a child- is mentioned very frequently; it is obvious that Charlie has PTSD from the events involving his Aunt, but it is never made clear that that is the root of his depression and anxiety. It seems as though Charlie is not too sure himself why he is the way he is, but he reveals he takes medication and was receiving professional help, so it is a bit contradictory to say he had no idea what was going on. Also, whenever Charlie was around his friends Sam and Patrick he was completely content and constantly said that he “finally felt okay with himself.” While there is some accuracy in this, in that when you are depressed or anxious and finally find someone you’re comfortable with being your true self around, it can make a world of a difference.
However, Charlie went overboard and always appeared as if he was cured and was never going to deal with his issues again. This isn’t accurate because when someone is dealing with an actual mental disorder they tend to lose interest in maintaining relationships and participating in activities or being social. As someone who suffers from depression and anxiety, it is definitely having recurring thoughts or concerns that disrupt your everyday life. It is not throwing a fit towards your dad and mom, or crying while slamming the door and feeling enraged. When someone is diagnosed with a mental disorder, it is not just one day out of the week; there is a consistent struggle,. Every day someone struggles with going about their normal life because their inner fear and worry are too strong. The fear of constantly letting loved ones down or that something bad will happen at any given moment is a harsh reality; worrying constantly about not being good enough to complete even the simplest tasks. It is constantly being scared of possibly losing control, fear of the future, falling sick or even the weather. Mental Disorders are strong enough to lead a person into a hole because he or she is too scared to talk to people, or even be around people, or even exist.
Often times, depression and anxiety are portrayed as something cliche, something that all teenagers will face, and something that a person should want. This is not the case. Yes, at some point in life, everyone will have little fits of depression and feel a little bit anxious, but that is not having depression or having an anxiety disorder. Yes, teenagers more often fall into depression; however, it is more serious than it is portrayed. As someone who struggles with a few mental disorders of my own, it is difficult to sit through a movie in which a teenage character suffers from “mental disorders” for a very short period of time and then is cured forever.
Any mental illness takes months to years for proper treatment, but even then, there will still be days depression quietly lurks in the shadows. Anxiety is a lot more than just worrying what the future will hold; it is worrying, in general. Worrying about anything and everything, no matter how miniscule it may seem to outsiders. These mental disorders are not something that is instantly cured by getting everything you want, or something that a person wants to have, which is how The Perks of Being a Wallflower portrays it.
