While my days of high school are over, I found a little bit of myself in “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.”

Stephen Chbosky, the director of the film and writer of the book, captures the insecurities that come with adolescence when viewed through the eyes of Charlie (played by Logan Lerman), a bright young man struggling with a depression and an aversion to people. 

Summer has ended, and Charlie can no longer take to hiding in his bedroom. 

On his first day of school, he faces something that I, and maybe everybody else, have faced at some point in their lives: finding a spot at a table during lunch.

Walking through the cafeteria aisle, he looks around aimlessly, and under Chbosky’s microscope, the insecurities stirring up inside of Charlie reverberate—creating a climactic scene that compares to an avalance out of such an insignificant moment. 

In all his misery during his first day of school, he finds friends in Sam and Patrick, played by Emma Watson and Ezra Miller. 

Watson is changing her film career’s image, as she is shedding her former identity as Hermoine, and Miller steals several scenes with his portrayal of a gay teenager in high school. 

Miller’s character is bubbly, confident and seems to be the only member of the trio who is truly comfortable in his skin. 

His performance is a departure from his role in “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” where he played a sadistic teenager who takes pleasure in tormenting his family, but especially his mother. 

As wonderful as the acting and writing is, some of the lines are enough to make you hurl.

At a scene in a party, Sam says to Charlie, “Welcome to the island of misfits.”

If someone said that to me, I would probably walk away. No, I would leave the party altogether. 

But as far as high school clichés in movies go, Chbosky’s writing evades the simple dichotomy of popular kids versus unpopular—no traces of “Mean Girls” here (Sorry, Tina Fey).

Charlie travels around with a pack of misfits, artists and punks, but as introverted and different as they are, the pack helps him find the ropes in the jungle that is high school, with sex, alcohol, drugs and drama.

Through these high-schoolers, Charlie slowly leaves his former self and finds that even with his insecurities and depression, there will always be friends who will love him and accept him. 

Guiding him in his freshman year of high school is Mr. Anderson, his English teacher, played by Paul Rudd.

From the sidelines, Mr. Anderson teaches him more and more about growing up; Charlie also wants to be a writer. 

Both characters are observing high school life from the outside, the way poets and singers and artists do. And we, as the audience, are fortunate enough to watch this story unfold. 

Jaime Lopez can be reached at 581-2812 or jlopez@eiu.edu.