I only knew a little bit of what the book was about prior to reading it, and little did I know that it had made such an impact of people's lives, nor did I realise what an impact it would make on mine. If you're not familiar with Perks, the book is about a young, introverted boy called Charlie who is going through his first year of high school. Things aren't going too well for him until he meets two seniors named Sam and Patrick, who take him under their wing and welcome him to real world. Find out more here on Goodreads.
The book covers a whole load of various topics like suicide, depression, teen pregnancy, first loves -- you know, all that jazz. What I love about this book is that it doesn't sugarcoat anything; it's a very accurate portrayal of Highschool and life in general. Even though it's set in the 90's, the stuff that Charlie goes through is still extremely relevant today. Perks has shown teenagers that they're not alone, that many people all around the world are going through the same things. Perks has given people hope. Perks has literally saved people.
Not only did it introduce me to some crazy awesome music, it made me realise some very important things. When Emma Watson was asked "When people walk away from seeing this movie, is there a message you hope they take away from the experience of seeing it?" a part of her answer was "Everyone has a story. People tend to judge and interpret behaviour without going to the source of the behaviour ... People can change and people make mistakes and people are human and you kinda need to love them for that." I think that is a big part of what I learnt from this book - that people have a reason for acting the way they do, and that people are human and make mistakes and have imperfections, and you've got to love them for that, because that is what makes them human.
The amazing book has now been made into a feature film starring the fabulous Emma Watson, Logan Lerman and Ezra Miller, as well as many other great and talented actors (it's also directed and written by the guy who made the book!). Unfortunately, this movie isn't being released everywhere around the world, and one of those places it isn't coming to (so far, anyway) is Australia. When I heard about this, I was pretty upset, to say the least. I couldn't understand why it possibly wouldn't be over here, seeing as the book has a massive fan base and it has some pretty big names it. Here is the trailer:
Seeing how many people were upset about it not getting released here in Aus, I decided I wanted to do something about it, and I thought that if Roadshow Films (a movie distributor in Australia) saw how much people wanted to see the movie, they would get something done about it. I ended up starting a petition. So far, the petition has over 300 supporters, and that number is growing rapidly. So, if you're a Perks fan, Australian or not, I urge you to sign this petition, share it around to your friends and spread the word. This is a movie that needs to be seen, and it's a story that needs to be heard.
Sign the petition HERE.
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