Lessons in Film

Pretty good Sunday overall. I went to church this morning before heading to a theater to see a film with my friends. The movie was called The Perks of Being a Wallflower. imdb.com describes it as "An introvert freshman is taken under the wings of two seniors who welcome him to the real world". This of course does not even begin to encompass the plot, but can be used as a very brief summary.



The movie is based on a book which contains the letters of an introverted high school freshman struggling through life. The movie of course encompasses the letter aspects in some ways with small bits of narration, but overall just focuses on the life of this struggling freshman boy named Charlie.

Charlie has obviously had a lot of troubles in his life. The viewer of the movie is introduced to him in a way that sparks sympathy, easily drawing him or her into the premise of the film. Charlie has been away from other people for a while because he was in the hospital. Charlie does not see fit to elaborate on that until later in the film, but it becomes clearer when he is seen taking medications, having flashbacks of his aunt, and talking about his friend who committed suicide. Charlie is obviously a boy who is struggling with the world.

The viewer cringes as Charlie faces bullying in high school, and may even feel a few tears gather as the young hero attempts to just fit in and get by, relying on his high school English course to pull him away from the realities of his painful life. The only source of hope is in two seniors he befriends who help to give him a new experience in life.



To many this film would be something that would be on a list of movies not to see because they are far from the "Christian" world view. On the other hand, I believe that even in movies like this there are still ways to see God at work. Due to my C.S. Lewis class I have seen just as my favorite author once did, that even amongst ancient pagan myths or other non-Christian stories there can still be elements of Christianity.

I think the realities of The Perks of Being a Wallflower expose a world without Christ. In many ways that was what I took away from it spiritually. It is a picture of the brokenness and hurt that comes from this world. Charlie is keeping secrets of past abuse, of depression, of horrible problems which are holding him back. His friends are also keeping their own secrets which in many ways only serve to hurt them more.

This last week in chapel we had a speaker named Anne Jackson come and talk to us about the things we can't talk about in church. She spoke of the need to keep secrets in our lives because of how afraid we are of being judged, and rejected. She spoke of how these secrets will chip away at us over time. Our speaker told her own story of a sexual addiction she harbored for most of her life through guilt and shame until a friend finally confessed to going through the same thing and she had a chance to begin healing.

And in many ways that theme of secrets is a reality in life. In all different spectrums, Christian, and non-Christian, it is difficult to be open even with our closest friends. We all harbor some secret we never want people to know.

My C.S. Lewis class I think has touched on this issue in some ways too. I just finished reading The Screwtape Letters a collection of letters from a senior devil to a younger less experienced one. In it there is a clear picture of spiritual warfare.



To me this idea of spiritual warfare is probably the basis of the need to keep secrets. I believe Satan has made it so we no longer believe we can be open. He whispers softly that no one must ever know, because if they did they would hate us, or think less of us. He tells us to merely hold onto that burden which we should be easily surrendering to God and to the help of others. And if somehow we beat that fear of speaking out often he may move in others to do as we fear: to judge us, to reject us, to not support us in the way we need.  And when they do we are hurt even worse.

From the beginning of time we were taught to keep secrets, to not just openly confess the ways we had sinned, or the ways we had been hurt. When Adam and Eve eat from the tree instead of telling God (who already knows) what has happened, they hide. They lie to him. They try to keep it all a secret.

To me The Perks of Being a Wallflower was about these things. It was about the brokenness of the world we live in, where people turn to drugs, sex, alcohol and other worldly things to release their pain. Where people harbor secrets instead of sharing them to have them healed. Where those around us judge us instead of simply accepting our past or our faults. Where sometimes all that can be experienced is pain and dissatisfaction.

In many ways Charlie and I shared similarities. We are both introverts. We both know what it is like to be rejected, hurt, and lonely. We both have faced the realities of not fitting in, of losing ourselves in literature, writing, or music instead of facing the realities of life. My freshman year was a little like Charlie's at the beginning. I ate lunch alone. I noticed my inability to fit in. I felt different from everyone, and connected only with my teachers instead of my fears. Unlike Charlie, I was not pulled out of those hurts and pains by two equally broken seniors. Instead I was pulled out by God.



I will admit I do not suffer as Charlie has in all respects. I know nothing of the true brokenness of this shy young hero. But there are elements I know and understand, and in many ways I wonder what life might have been like for Charlie had he found God instead of worldly pleasures, and problematic friendships. Perhaps it is naive to think that things might have been better, but that hope that lies deep within me likes to think that Charlie might have been helped more by God.

God knows our secrets. He knows the ways we have messed up, and the ways others have injured us. He is aware of how broken and dirty we are, and still he doesn't care. We are still so like Adam and Eve. We don't only try to hide secrets from those around us, but also try to hide from God. And that does nothing for us. God is not coming after us in the garden with anger and judgement in his voice. He speaks softly, trying to ask us to come to him even in the wrongs we have done. God knows, he accepts, and he easily forgives. After all...he sent Jesus to us for a reason. Perhaps that's what we need to realize when we try to hide. Jesus died so that all our sins could be laid out on the table, and so that the wouldn't matter one bit to God.

God is calling. Surrender. Let him heal the pain and brokenness inside, and set you free.