Friday 9 January 2015

Representation



The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a coming-of-age comedy drama film starring Logan Lerman, Emma Watson and Ezra Miller.

Charlie, played by Logan Lerman is just starting high school and many stereotypes given to new kids are reinforced in the film. For example, his character appears shy, anti-social and friendless; everything you would expect a new student to be like, because this is how they are always portrayed in films and TV. He also seems vulnerable and an easy target for bullies and peer pressure, a demeanour he shows when he is standing at the back of the hall at the homecoming by himself, not really fitting in, which is again another way we would expect new people without friends to act.

We can tell that Patrick, an older boy who befriends Charlie shortly after he joins the school, is gay. We can tell this because at 0:56 when Charlie asks if he likes football, he says “love it,” and then joins in with the cheer leading, making us realise that he loves the cheer leading rather than the football. This is a typical stereotype of gay people; that they like 'girly' activities rather than 'manly' activities, and this is how the filmmakers have portrayed him.

Sam, a girl, also older, and already friends with Patrick is given a nickname at 1:25 by Patrick which is 'slut'. This is a derogatory term for a girl who has casual sex with more than one man. Although here it’s a joke between two friends, it's a common name given to many girls. However, there is not a common name given to men who do the same thing. This shows that males feel they can call girls that name frequently because girls are seemingly too weak to tell them to stop which is how they are portrayed, especially later in the trailer at 1:44 when it looks like a man is leading Sam into another room, apparently controlling her.

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