A wall flower, a person who does not really fit in with the rest of the crowd and almost thrives living on the outskirts of a social hierarchy. The movie “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” follows the main character Charlie through his challenging first year as a high school freshman where he is thrown into an entirely new environment at the bottom of the totem pole all alone with no friends to help him. Eventually he meets Sam and Patrick, step-siblings who are part of a group of outcasts from the his school, the scene that is being analyzed here is the first meeting of the three of these characters that would spark an iconic friendship. Through the use of a wide shot and the placement of the main characters in the foreground and some minor characters in the background the scene itself has certain complexities that point toward the movies main motif or theme of finding oneself. 

While the photo itself is not an establishing shot but is in fact a wide shot, the shot does a good job of establishing the scene and setting. The focus of the photo is clearly the main characters in the center of the photo, you can tell by the simple fact that they are in the center of the photo and in the foreground. Also the main characters are the only subjects in the scene that are totally in focus. Everything else in the photo is slightly out of focus, not enough to where you cannot see what else is going on but enough to where it does not deliberately draw attention away from the main characters in the center of the scene. 

This particular part of the scene depicts Charlie, Sam, and Patrick in a booth at a diner after a big football game. In the background there are many people celebrating the football victory including one of the minor characters, Brad. Brad is the star player on the football team and has to act like it, but a major problem that he faces is with his sexuality. Early in the movie you discover that Brad and Patrick are secretly dating and have been for quite a while. Brad’s status poses a huge problem for their relationship, while they may love each other they have to keep a distance because Brad has an image to maintain and does not want his social status to be tarnished by people finding out he is gay. This scene subtly depicts their dilemma by placing them in the same area but separated from both a physical and social stand point. In the scene we see Patrick in the foreground closest to the camera far away from the group of students in the background, this shows how Brad and Patrick have to keep their distance from each other physically as to not raise any suspicion of their relationship. The scene also depicts their social separation. Patrick is sitting away from the large group while Brad seems to be the center of attention, this shows that they keep themselves removed from each other even in their social circles as to once again not raise any suspicion of their relationship. What is interesting about this scene is that Brad seems to be looking over the shoulder of the football player he is talking to, looking in the direction of Patrick in his booth. This shows Brads desire to be himself, which further exemplifies the idea of finding oneself. Even though this seems like a major subject of this photo, it is not even the main focus of this scene, the main focus being the three best friends in the center of the photo. 

The simple fact that the three main characters are all sitting together exemplifies the main theme of the scene and the movie in itself. Charlie is a scared freshman who entered high school knowing three people, his sister, his sister’s boyfriend, and Brad, and none of them were making any strides to be his guide in his new journey, but Sam and Patrick were. In the scene Sam and Patrick are sitting opposite to Charlie who is sitting alone in his side of the booth which embodies the idea that he is currently alone. Charlie’s head is down while Patrick and Sam’s heads are both up looking at Charlie almost looking down on him, seemingly looking over him like guardians ready to take him under their wings. This is the beginning of Charlie finding himself. Charlies new found friendships in Sam and Patrick help him through all the trials and tribulations of his freshman year including his first kiss, first girlfriend, first time, and much more that is crucial to help find who he wants to be.

Through close reading into this screen capture of this iconic scene from “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” it can be seen that even in the simplicity of this scene the main theme of finding oneself is still prevalent. The camera shot establishes the main subjects of the scene. When looking deeper into the photo there is a deeper meaning in the distance between Patrick and Brad, it can be argued that it is a metaphor for their relationship and Brad’s lust to find himself. The positioning and the poses that the main subjects are in at the center of the scene foreshadow Sam and Patrick’s impact on Charlie and Charlie’s eventual growth to find himself later in the film. In the context of the film this scene is crucial to the idea of the innocence of Charlie and the beginning of his journey to finding himself as a boy and turning into a man. 
