It's just like the author picked a bunch of *beep* relatable to teenage kids out of a hat and threw it together in a movie. Every damn scene is name dropping some piece of "in" music, or trying to appeal to all the lonely introverts out there. Oh, you guys sat and *beep* cried while you listened to Teen Spirit? I UNDERSTAND. Oh cool, you smoked some pot and dropped LSD? That's amazing. You and everyone you *beep* know was molested? ME TOO!
Not to mention the fact that Charlie is quite possibly the least appealing protagonist I've ever come across. He's obviously socially stunted (not to rag on the kid, I get it, he's suffered some personal traumas), made clearly evident in the scene in which he approached (and introduced himself) to Sam with the words "I had a sex dream about you last night." Don't get me wrong, I'm no Casanova, and I don't know every line in the book, but, unless I'm doing it wrong, that one would be decidedly unsuccessful.
Just the pure odds of two presumably interesting, intellectual, articulate, fun-loving individuals (who are seniors in High School) adopting some bordering schizoid freshman who LITERALLY makes every single situation as excruciatingly awkward as possible are ridiculous. I'd have a better chance of winning the lottery than finding a situation like this unfolding in the natural world.
And about Charlie "being a writer." Only goddamn intellectual trait he demonstrated was his moderate knowledge of random trivia. Oh *beep* you a factoid about Mark Twain. Write about me one day.
He's just a whiny little bastard with ridiculous worldview expectations, and I don't much appreciate books like this preaching that this type of nonsensical passivity is okay. The kid needs to pick himself up by the goddamn boot straps and learn to live his *beep* life. And yeah, I get that some people are going to argue that the book was about that very thing. But no, it wasn't. It was about Charlie somehow getting away with making everyone around him feel infinitely uncomfortable. A la the scene where he breaks up with the annoying "harvard" bitch. Jesus Christ I wanted to burn my copy of the book right then and there.
(Actually, it wasn't even my copy. It belonged to a girl who underlined every goddamn line fitting the description of 'i'm sad no one understands me.' perhaps further contributing to my seething hatred of this piece of 'literature.')
Anyway, /endrant. Just hate this piece of crap.
The Apple Scruffs Corps, 06
*~~{-]===M
reply
share