The Perks of Being a Wallflower - the movie, the music

Logan Lerman is amazing as Charlie.

the movie

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is probably one of the finest movies about teens, ever made.  Set in 1991, it stars Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief) as Charlie, a troubled, introverted kid, who is just starting his freshman year at high school.  Having been quickly shunned by the popular kids, jocks and pretty much everybody else, he falls in with a group of outcast seniors; led by the brilliantly flamboyant Patrick (Ezra Miller-We need to talk about Kevin) and his step-sister Sam, played by a convincingly American accented Emma Watson.  Together, they introduce Charlie to new friends and new experiences.  To say much else would spoil the movie, but this really is an exceptional piece of work, truly emotional and life affirming.

the music

 

The kids are brought together through a love of music (mix tapes!), beautifully illustrated in these two scenes; firstly Charlie awkwardly emerges from the shadows to publicly join his friends.

Here, Patrick and Sam introduce Charlie to a sort of right of passage, going through the tunnel. Could there be some semiotics at work here?