Popcorn in the Pages - Episode 11: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Currently Reading
Meredith Schwartz
4.7 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 29 May 2025
⏱️ 58 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Welcome, readers. We are thrilled to continue this new content from the creators of Currently Reading Podcast! This spin-off podcast series will tackle book to screen adaptations in a spoiler-FILLED format. Be sure you’ve read the book and watched the film version before listening to the episode, because we don’t shy away from strong opinions OR from all the spoilers, unlike our regular episodes.
Show notes for this series will not be time-stamped, but will still include links to Bookshop dot org or Amazon for any books or resources referenced in the episode. These are affiliate links, so they kick back a small percentage to us if you buy through them, and help support the work we do on Currently Reading.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
1:24 - Setup
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
3:42 - Previews
Release date. Sales info and awards.
Released in 1999
NYT #1 Bestseller
ALA’s Best Book for Reluctant Readers in 2000
“Cult classic”
Movie name and release date. Box office and awards.
Released September 2012
20 Wins, 51 Nominations
Budget of 13M, Earned 33M
“Cult classic”
6:59 - The Cutting Room
Pivotal Book scenes and how they translated to the screen
The tunnel
Charlie being high
Charlie’s revelation at the end
Changes from Book to Movie
Change from love story as secondary plot to main plot
Friendships with Charlie seemed disingenuous in the movie
Song in the tunnel is changed from Fleetwood Mac to David Bowie
Mary Elizabeth’s college acceptance
Bill’s girlfriend is now his wife in the movie
Bill and Charlie’s relationship in the movie
Left out of the adaptation
Charlie doesn’t cry in the movie
Masturbation scene
Developed relationship between Charlie and his sister
Abortion
Lack of importance of Rocky Horror
The scene where Sam tells Charlie not to think of her that way
Added to the movie
Charlie’s siblings have names
Charlie is a “normie”
Casting and alternates
Charlie: LoganLerman → Freddie Highmore, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Nicholas Hoult, Asa Butterfield
Sam: Emma Watson → Jennifer Lawrence, Sarah Hyland, Emma Roberts, Brie Larson
Patrick: Ezra Miller → Timothee Chalamet,
Mary Elizabeth: Mae Whitman → Rebel Wilson, Alison Brie, Rose McIver
Problematic elements
Lack of POC
Queer representation
Excessive drug and alcohol usage
32:41 - Award Season
Worst and best parts of the adaptation.
Film quality
Unbelievable characters due to casting/age
Casting - outside main characters
20 years later letter was omitted from the movie (a best part)
Paul Rudd
Derek’s ponytail
Charlie’s hot brother
Worst and best actors.
Emma Watson - Sam
Paul Rudd - Bill
Ezra Miller - Patrick
Worst and best book characters.
Mary Elizabeth
Sam
Patrick
44:26 - Book/Flick Energy
Book scored on a 5 star scale.
Movie scored on a 10 point scale.
50:20 - A Leftover Popcorn Kernel
If they made an after school special about our time in high school, what do you think would be the most after school special plot point? (Kaytee)
If you could do high school all over again, would you? (Shad)
What’s your most significant or best memory from high school? (Shad)
56:30 - End Credits
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The movie is available to stream on HBO Max for a limited time but is available to rent on other streaming services
Connect With Us:
Currently Reading Podcast | Kaytee | Meredith
Shad is in the Bookish Friends FB Group (for our Patreon supporters)
Support Us:
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, readers, welcome to Popcorn in the Pages. |
| 0:19.2 | In this spin-off episode series from Currently |
| 0:21.8 | Reading Podcast, we'll be exploring book-to-screen adaptations and what makes them great or awful. |
| 0:27.3 | In each episode, we'll tackle the book, the adaptation, and the ways they compliment each other, |
| 0:31.7 | and as always, we love a strong opinion as we definitely have them. I'm Katie Cobb, co-host of |
| 0:36.4 | the Currently Reading podcast, and I will read nearly anything |
| 0:39.2 | but keep my screen watching to sitcoms and book adaptations. |
| 0:43.0 | And I'm Shad Casconi, and I read exactly what I'm told to, just like a good book reading |
| 0:47.4 | partner. |
| 0:48.3 | Unlike our regular episodes, these ones are full of spoilers. |
| 0:51.5 | We are going to spill all the tea. |
| 0:54.0 | So, be warned if you have not read |
| 0:56.4 | the book yet. This is episode number 11 of this series, but you can listen in any order. Today, |
| 1:02.0 | we are tackling the perks of being a wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, which I spelled |
| 1:07.1 | wrong in my notes. It's hard. When I was doing research today on it, people spelled Chibosky, however they wanted, apparently. |
| 1:13.8 | Every single way. |
| 1:14.7 | None of them were the same, and they were mostly all wrong. |
| 1:17.9 | Mine says Chobsky. |
| 1:19.5 | Oh, maybe we'll blame auto-correct. |
| 1:22.0 | How does that sound? |
| 1:23.0 | Okay, let's talk about the setup for this book. I am going to read the publisher verb and then I'm going to tear it apart because I hate it. So here's what the publisher says about it. This is the story of what it's like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. |
| 1:45.3 | We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying |
... |
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