If you’ve been in high school at any point since 1999, you’ve at least heard about The Perks of Being a Wallflower, if not read it. The novel, written by Steven Chbosky, became popular amongst the angsty crowd who felt like they didn’t fit in and saw themselves in the sullen lead character of Charlie. That it was published by MTV was lost on its fanbase, but funny for the rest of us to point out. A decade later, Chbosky is taking his novel to the big-screen, directing his own adaptation. A couple of official stills have been released in support of the movie, showcasing its two stars Logan Lerman and Emma Watson, and you can check them out above and below or in much bigger form over at Collider.
Here’s the synopsis, also taken from Collider:
15-year-old Charlie (Lerman), an endearing and naive outsider, copes with first love (Emma Watson), the suicide of his best friend, and his own mental illness while struggling to find a group of people with whom he belongs.
Most likely a good chunk of you groaned while looking over the images and I don’t blame you; The Perks of Being a Wallflower just feels so generic. What made the book a success has been explored in other similar teenage coming of age stories since the book’s release and even though the images don’t show much, I feel like I could just paste the heads of Freddie Highmore and Emma Roberts on their bodies and pass it off as an official The Art of Getting By still. The fact that Chblosky is adapting his own work also makes me a little nervous; I think it could have benefited from someone on the outside taking a crack at the material.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower will most likely show up at some point in 2012, so get ready for heavy cross promotion on MTV once a release date is set. Once again, the irony of seeing ads for the movie during episodes of Jersey Shore and Teen Mom will be lost on the audience but at least it’ll make me giggle.
Do you think The Perks of Being a Wallflower will resonate with movie audiences the way it did with those who read the book?