ShmoopTube
Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.
Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos
Friendship Videos 27 videos
This video provides a summary of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. When George and Lennie find new work during the Great Depression, fights, frie...
Have you ever pretended to be super happy for your BFF when they win an award when, really, you just wanted to rip it out of their undeserving, ung...
The Perks of Being a Wallflower 34712 Views
Share It!
Description:
What are the perks of being a wallflower? Shmoop amongst yourselves.
Transcript
- 00:04
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, a la Shmoop. Flowers have it pretty easy. Soak up the sun,
- 00:13
feed some honeybees, and maybe try to fit in a little photosynthesis before dinner.
- 00:18
But flowers aren’t really known for their social skills. Mostly, they’re content to
- 00:22
be a part of the scenery. In Stephen Chbosky’s <Shah-boss-key’s>
- 00:26
novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Charlie…
Full Transcript
- 00:29
…the “Guy With No Last Name”…
- 00:31
…spends more time in his head than he does in the real world.
- 00:35
He’s a wannabe writer who doesn’t write…
- 00:39
…And he’d rather spin records… or tapes… than hit the dance floor.
- 00:45
He also has romantic problems. He’d rather suffer through a boring relationship than
- 00:50
end it…
- 00:51
…and when his crush breaks up with her boyfriend, he takes action by… doing nothing.
- 00:59
Charlie seems content to live life as a passenger…
- 01:01
… instead of taking the wheel himself.
- 01:06
While this is one way of surviving high school, is it necessarily the best way?
- 01:11
What are the perks of being a wallflower? Well, since shy people aren’t exactly known
- 01:17
for their game…
- 01:19
…their close friends are there because of the real person beneath all the issues…
- 01:25
…not the candy coated outside.
- 01:27
Charlie’s a great listener, and his zipped lips are really good at keeping secrets. What’s
- 01:34
not to love?
- 01:36
Charlie doesn’t have a ton of friends, but he’s definitely doing something right, since
- 01:40
Patrick and Sam are willing to stick with him through the hard times.
- 01:44
That’s much better than a random hookup. Also, wallflowers get all the good dirt.
- 01:55
Charlie absorbs all of the human interaction around him, good or bad. He seems to see or
- 02:00
hear anything, from secret gay relationships to who’s pregnant.
- 02:07
Attention to detail is a handy tool for a writer…
- 02:12
…and Charlie’s keen eye for the human experience will definitely help him out--if
- 02:16
he ever gets around to writing anything. Or maybe there are no perks. Charlie isn’t
- 02:25
exactly a happy dude, and sometimes he loses it in a pretty big way.
- 02:33
His observations make him a more sensitive person, but they also cause him to shut down
- 02:38
emotionally.
- 02:38
Charlie protects Patrick and Sam, but he doesn’t take very good care of himself. It’s obvious
- 02:47
that he’s got some secrets which need to be told.
- 02:53
By the end of the book, our wallflower is ready for some fresh air.
- 02:58
So what are the perks of being a wallflower?
- 03:01
The ability to form close, genuine relationships? …
- 03:04
…Those uncanny observational skills?
- 03:06
Or is being a wallflower… not all it’s cracked up to be?
- 03:10
Shmoop amongst yourselves.
Related Videos
They say that honesty is the best policy, but Jack lies about his identity and still gets the girl. Does that mean we should all lie to get what we...
Ever wish you could remember everything that you ever studied? How about everything that everyone has ever studied? Yeah, pretty sure our brains ju...
Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is an American classic. Hope you're not expecting any exciting shower scenes though. It's not that kind of book.
Do not go gentle into that good night. In fact, if it's past your curfew, don't go at all into that good night. You just stay in your good bed and...