I Broke My Rule

I have a rule that you have to read the book before you see the movie.  Sometimes, the movie is not even necessary after reading the book.  Other times, you begrudgingly see the movie only to be horribly disappointed, or satisfied by the overall effort, but ticked that a few crucial lines or moments were omitted.  I'm a book lover, not a movie lover, so when at all possible, I read the book.

I had The Perks of Being a Wallflower on my mind for a while now, and I meant to read it, I really did.  Then my friends told me that they loved the movie.  They said it was a lot better than Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, at which point I might have gone all screechy and told them that Nick and Nora was awesome, but I read the book first.

So, Sunday afternoon rolls around and my hubby and I want to watch a stupid movie and nap.  We start searching our on demand channels in vain.  So many movies, but none with the right blend of lightness, comedy, and napability, so I finally said "Let's just watch Perks of Being a Wallflower."

Mistake.

Perks of Being a Wallflower is an emotionally draining movie.  Charlie is an outcast since he had a rough time in middle school, but he is brave enough to reach out to a guy in his shop class, Patrick, and starts to hang out with him and Sam, his step sister.  Their misadventures though high school lead to Charlie coming out of himself a bit, but an ill-fated game of truth or date brings that crashing down as Charlie is exiled from the group and begins to go dark again.

It's a touching movie.  I was personally ugly crying for an hour.  The whole tone of the movie made me want to cry.  Each of these characters is just so broken.  But you get the feeling that there is more, much more to all of them.  And that's where the book comes in.

I'll have to read it.  I downloaded it after we finished the movie.  But since I'm still thinking about the movie, I'll need some time off before I start it.  Or it might be like The Fault in Our Stars, that great book that I never read because I am too afraid of how it will effect me.

Or, I'll read it this summer, out on the deck, in the sunshine.  Everything, even dark tales of child abuse, is a little more positive in the sun.  Sounds like a plan to me.

Until then, I'm reading Eleanor and Park, which is like Wallflower in a way.  Two people connecting through music.  But I already know that this book is not going to be all sunshine and roses.  Blast!  I could really use one of those books right now!

And does anyone else find it even a little interesting that the tunnel song, Heroes by David Bowie, was recorded by The Wallflowers in 1998.  The Wallflowers rerecorded a song used in Perks of Being a Wallflower.  I think I am the only person that finds that interesting.

Sidenote:  What ever happened to The Wallflowers?  Their CD, Bringing Down the Horse, was the first CD I ever owned.  I still have it somewhere too.

In conclusion, Perks of Being a Wallflower was a great movie, and I do highly recommend it.  I still recommend that you read the book first, but I know that most people don't have rules like that, and that's fine.  Live your life without knowing the joy literature, it's none of my business.

But if you just want a fun movie to watch while you sporadically nap, you'd be much better off with Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist!

Happy, ah, Watching!