ALO 4: Film Review of The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The protagonist of the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a teenage boy named Charlie who
is navigating through adolescence with the help of his friends, while suffering from the effects of post-
traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He enters high school after being in a psychiatric hospital over the
summer- most likely due to the fact that he had just lost his best friend to suicide. Throughout the course
of the movie, it is unclear what causes Charlie to have traumatic flashbacks, but at the end of the movie, it
is made aware that he was sexually abused by his aunt when he was a child. His aunt also passed away
soon after the sexual abuse occurred.

The DSM-5 criteria for PTSD lists that the individual personally experienced or witnessed a
traumatic event. Some of the symptoms are intrusive symptoms, avoidance, negative alterations in mood
and cognition, and marked alterations in arousal and reactivity associated with the trauma. Some of these
symptoms were experienced by Charlie. He had flashbacks of the trauma throughout the film- these are
the intrusive symptoms. He also had alternations in mood and cognition regarding the trauma and what
actually happened. An example of the alteration in cognition is associating himself with the death of his
aunt- which he thinks is his fault. Another negative alternation in mood was isolation, which Charlie is for
a bit until he makes good friends. Avoidance was also seen, as he didn’t ever talk to anyone about what
really happened with his aunt. He revealed to the psychiatrist what actually happened, and it was through
the psychiatrist when the parents found out about it.

Something else about those who struggle with PTSD is substance abuse. Though there was not
much alcohol in the case of Charlie, he did try a myriad of drugs throughout the movie. There was a scene
in the movie where Charlie tries LSD for the first time, mostly due to the peer pressure of all of the other
teenagers at the party he was at (Figure 1) After a while, he experienced hallucinations and it was a
surreal period of time for him, however, he began to have a flashback of memories of when his aunt died.
There were both positive and negative effects of taking LSD. Charlie also began to smoke after being
influenced by his friends, and starts to smoke to start calming his nerves. This could be related to the
interpersonal level of the social ecological model in which the influence of his friends and classmates has
an effect on his substance abuse. This can also relate to the effect of substance use among adolescent and
its effect on lifelong mental health.

Figure 1
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iIPjeCodMQ&ab_channel=AdelaKov%C3%A1%C5%99ov%C3%A1)

At the end of the movie, Charlie had an outburst where he continually blamed himself for his
aunt’s death. His aunt died in a car crash while on the way to buy a surprise for Charlie and Charlie felt
that he was the reason that she was in the car in the first place. He was admitted to the psychiatric hospital
and was treated with psychotherapy- this was something we explored in class. Charlie stayed in the
hospital for some time where he received intensive counseling. This was one of the final scenes in the
film where Charlie thought of all that’s happened, and in my opinion, it was such a powerful scene
considering how silent it was (Figure 2).

Figure 2

I think the film did an accurate job of depicting a real case of PTSD, and the symptoms were
represented correctly and intricately. Even though it may be evident to a viewer that Charlie had PTSD,
after analyzing the DSM 5 requirements, I was able to connect the dots very quickly and all of the
symptoms made sense. I also believe that it would not only decrease the stigma around PTSD, but also
increase awareness of it. Charlie is seen as a simple teenager who just wants to have fun with his friends,
but his PTSD acts a barrier when he gets the flashbacks. The overall tone of the movie is sort of nostalgic-
there were times of happiness and times of sadness, but there were many memories made by Charlie that
allowed the movie to end on a high note. Especially with the connection between the friend group and
music, it really provokes these emotional feelings within the audience. I think that the film increased my
understanding of PTSD, since I looked at it from a mental health perspective rather than just normally
sitting and watching. I understand why it is a recommended movie from mental health professionals
because it is properly depicts the lived experience of PTSD, with little to no exaggeration. I initially
watched the movie a long time before this assignment, and I didn’t think about it as much as I did
recently.

I did enjoy watching the film as it had elements of sadness, happiness, guilt, hopelessness, and
regret which I thought made it a great film. I would recommend others to watch it if they want to see
mental illness in the perspective of a growing teenager and how that affects his ordinary life.

References:

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th

ed.). Washington, DC: Publisher.