From Book to Movie

The Perks of Being a Wallflower written by Stephen Chbosky was released as a movie in 2012. Although the movie is one of the closest I have ever seen resembling a book, the film still missed the charm that makes the book so memorable. In order to successfully make this book into a movie, it needs a way to incorporate the letters into the film. The book is based on writings the main character Charlie is writing to a stranger, and the movie version could not make it work quite right. Instead of writing letters, it gives what Charlie is writing about. I feel that since they could not incorporate the letters Charlie writes, the plot peak towards the end does not reach the emotional height which it should. Charlie writes these letters because his English teacher thinks it might help him sort through some issues. Without the letters and narration, the movie lacks the outstanding knowledge of words Charlie has. The movie for the most part skips the narration which ultimately leaves out how smart he is. The book, by letter format, makes Charlie a very personal character. Charlie seems to be writing to the reader. The movie, however, seems to make the audience an outside entity looking at his life. The movie just missed that key element where Charlie was writing to the audience as a friend or a way to cope. The movie just turns the letters into a nice, flowing story.