Wonder is a 2017 American drama film directed by Stephen Chbosky and written by Jack Thorne, Chbosky, and Stephen Conrad. The film was based on the 2012 novel Wonder by R.J. Palacio. The film followed the character August Pullman and was released on November 17, 2017. The boy, August “Auggie,” the main character in the film, was living with his mother, Isabel, father, Nate, older sister Olivia, and dog Daisy in Brooklyn. August was born with “mandibulofacial dysostosis” and underwent 27 surgeries to hear, speak, and smell. Auggie was home-schooled, but when he approached grade five, his parents decided against enrolling him in Beecher Prep school, where he formed a friendship with Jack, his classmate. Auggie wore a Ghostface mask during Halloween because Daisy had accidentally ruined the Bob Fett he planned to wear. As Auggie arrives at his homeroom, Jack does not identify him but instead joins Julian and his friends, who dislike Auggie and start to make fun of him, saying that if he looked like Auggie, he would kill himself. Auggie splits with Jack and later forms a new friendship with Summer. Julian provokes Jack during the science class and calls Auggie a freak making them start fighting. The fight makes Jack suspended, but later he writes a letter defending Auggie, which makes Jack apologize to Auggie, and they reconcile. Auggie’s circle of friends increases, but Julian and his friends continue to harass him. As the film finishes, Aggie leaves a message to observers and quotes a statement by Mr. Browne “Be kind; everyone is fighting a very hard battle. And if you want to see what people are, all you have to do is look.”
Before the transformation of the character Auggie in Wonder, he had a rare facial deformity. The facial deformity only allowed Auggie to attend a regular school once he approached fifth grade. In school, Julian bullied Auggie, and other children later joined in bullying Jack and Auggie. Auggie’s teachers found his appearance to be bad looking, making to be cruel to him and isolating him from others. Most of the time, Auggie was so happy and shy. Auggie’s appearance made him feel insecure and more sensitive, mainly when other children offended him about his face. Auggie’s eyes are an inch beneath where they are supposed to be. His nose looks immense for his face, and the head is pinched towards the side where the ears should be situated. Aggie faces the challenge of being accepted by his peers and is fearless with his facial deformity. Before adjusting to the school environment, Auggie was adjudged by classmates because of his facial deformity.
In the last scene of the film Wonder, Auggie becomes sure of himself and more confident. He changed from being unsure and timid to a confident student and a friend to many. He never feared to be the attention of many nor ashamed of his appearance. Auggie did not lose hope for himself and stopped all the school bullies (Afif & Amelia, 2021). According to Aristotle, recognition makes Auggie change his motivation about his looks and everything he does. In Wonder, Auggie undergoes many obstacles and tries hard to overcome them. He has dealt with many hardships since birth, including the 27 surgeries he underwent. Auggie learns how essential it is to do things for his benefit despite what people around him think.
After watching the film Wonder, the observer experiences catharsis. Viewers of the film purge emotions full of sadness towards what the character goes through. Catharsis leads to an affirmative change in Auggie’s life. Viewers have an emotional release on the hard times that Auggie goes through when he joins the school. I can relate Auggie’s transformation to my personal life. At some point in life, I have been insulated from friends and the people around me due to my eye deformity. Friends take me to be so different from them, making me unworthy of being close to them. The challenges that Auggie faces in school help me understand that being kind can bring change in someone’s life. We learn the theme of respect, kindness, and acceptance through the transformation of the character. Lessons from the film Wonder include not judging people using their appearance and learning to be ourselves and be kind.
Work Cited
http://www.Wonder.movie
Afif, R. S., & Amelia, D. (2021). HUMANISTIC HIERARCHY OF NEEDS ON AUGGIE’S PERSONALITY IN WONDER MOVIE. Linguistics and Literature Journal, 2(2), 69-74.
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