A boy lingers outside his high school, it’s the first day jitters that every child will know; for me; I have vague recollections of a photoshoot at my house, an unflattering uniform and a sense I was going somewhere alien; but what if; you felt like you were the alien? Wonder; directed by Steven Chbosky most recently known as the director of The Perks of Being a Wallflower; another story which explored similar themes of alienation in high school.
Wonder tells the story of a child born with severe facial deformities and all of the baggage associated with it, which comes to a head within the narrative of this heartwarming drama. This is the kind of story that makes you teenage acne feel like a birthday present; we really don’t know how lucky we are to be born with everything in the supposedly right place.
We begin at the birth of our protagonist: Auggie played sensitively by Jacob Tremblay, it’s no easy feat to play someone with a disability with such grace, a less skilled performer would have delivered something more Edward Scissorhands than anything serious and this is one of the strongest points of the film; it’s believable; despite not exactly being entirely realistic.
Auggie grows up; homeschooled by his mother; crashing around in an astronaut helmet: he’s constantly surrounded by his childhood imagination and all the trappings that come with it; he has a good family; Owen Wilson is his dad…(I’d trade a normal life for this alone) and his mother Isabel; played by Julia Roberts is somehow a stay-at-home mom and a science wiz; which later comes in handy with one-upping the bullies.
If there’s anything negative that could be said about Wonder; it’s the lack of realism that comes from telling such a story: It’s a story fully worth telling; but its need to clean everything up, so that Auggie is accepted fully: robs it of some of it’s emotional power: but this is a “feel good” movie and I for one think that the fact Wonder was adapted into a film at all a sign that we haven’t fully descended down the greasy pole lined with superhero movies and remakes.
Some of the high-school extras feel like they are straight out of Saved By The Bell or any American television series set in a high school: You have the stock bullies over here; the kooky, yet charismatic science teacher: all the tropes are here; you have to suspend your disbelief somewhat and Wonder does a great service in showing you a child’s imagination: as various characters from Star Wars show up to support Auggie along the way:
One thing that really came across is how students can be so cruel in comparing those who are different with any manner of pop cultures figures that they may have come across,sniping at each other mercilessly and without constraint;
Anyone who’s experienced this; either as the bully or bullied will find something here and you could argue that Wonder should be shown in schools, in-order to at least get children thinking about this issue. Why not have more anti-bullying workshops in schools? It would be better than gym class; where all these insecurities and petty fights occur in the first place.
The narrative structure here is what makes Wonder stand out; we begin with Auggie’s perspective; but it rightly takes into account the varying characters such as his long suffering sister; who has been out of the frame in their family portrait. Overall, Wonder is indeed a wonder and despite it’s Americanized setting; will appeal to those in Britain.
¡Hola! Carlos 