THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER- DRAMA

 

 ‘The perks of being a Wallflower’ written by Stephen Chbosky and released in 2012 opens the film through the narration of a boy, who we assume as the main protagonist in the narrative.  

To begin with, the narrative is instantly established through the use of non-diegetic narration of the protagonist as we are introduced through a zoom from a close up of the boy's reflection to an establishing shot of his location: his bedroom. As the scene progresses, it soon becomes clear of the protagonists social anxiety as he navigates his way through his first day of high school; a key convention used to establish this prediction is through dialogue spoken within this clip as all of the protagonists dialogue is spoken purely through non-diegetic voice over narration whereas all other characters dialogue are diegetic and conversational which suggests to the audience of his social disability to comfortably converse amongst his peers, instantly gaining our sympathy. We instantly gain some understanding as to what the narrative will consist of as the scene is located predominantly within the boys' surroundings: the school. The use of this embellishment of the location and the characters within the high school, we can clearly predict this film to be roughly based around this boy's high school experience and from his social disability, perhaps how he overcomes it. Furthermore, the introduction of other characters via the boy's narration could also build this narrative of the pursuit for meaningful relationships and interactions, ones that are so universal and prominent in each of our lives specifically as we grow up. 

The introduction of these various characters through the boy's perspective clearly confirms to the audience of their relationship with the protagonist as it is purely from his opinion and views; for example, as we are introduced to his English teacher, we can clearly understand the respect and comfort that this character brings. A key example of this would be through the use of the camera tracking this teaching through the perspective of the boy as it uses a handheld shot which establishes the attention that the boy brings to the teacher and likewise respect. This introductory relationship between the boy and the teacher again builds this predictable narrative of perhaps the teacher's significant impact over the boy's high school experience. We also understand the boys significance within the plot as all of these characters are linked through him; his sister and her boyfriend, his old school friend Susan, his brother's old friend Brad and his teacher Mr. Anderson. His teacher specifically draws the audiences attention as the shot duration is elongated on him through the scene, showing the significance of his impact upon the protagonist, expressing hope and encouragement.  

This links into the target audience for this film, as this opening itself already recognizes the established location being predominantly set in his high school and therefore the adolescent ages at which the plot will focus on which translates to a coming-of-age narrative which will attract younger audiences. Furthermore, the use of costume choices also acknowledges the characters youth and modern era and thus attracting the target audience even more so through the relatability of not only the style but also the universal high school experience. However, one could argue that this film also hints around some deeper issues perhaps through the melancholic atmosphere set using the darker lighting at the beginning focusing on the boy which suggests darker themes and thus attracting a wider age range of audience.  

To conclude, this opening successfully reaches its aims to engage the audience through the relatability of the characters and their surroundings which simultaneously attracts the youth of the target audience. This opening also successfully builds the audiences expectations of the themes and tone set already around the perspective of the boy as he experiences his first. I would argue however that this opening lacks the depth at which dramas hold, blurring the translation of what genre is being shown to the audience which works in its favor to gradually build this sense of emotion throughout the narrative.