Relationship Spotlight: Patrick & Sam (The Perks of Being a Wallflower)

Curses and damnation, I once again neglected to post.  Have one now and enjoy a second later tonight, after I've made it home from Buster Keaton Land and have had time to catch up on Who.

I was taken with The Perks of Being a Wallflower from the first time I saw the trailer.  The movie didn’t entirely live up to my giddy expectations, since chunks of the plot are a bit rote and meandering, but where characters and relationships are concerned, it delivers 100%.  (Note – I did read the book after seeing the film, but I’m mainly focusing on the more vibrantly-realized characters of the movie.  Luckily, Stephn Chbosky wrote both, so the film versions are just as canon.)  And much as the trailer first indicated, the film’s greatest assets are the spectacular characters Patrick and Sam and the delightful relationship between them.

Sam and Patrick are two people that spring to mind when I think of the term “platonic soul mate.”  Their connection is so innate that, when Charlie initially hangs out with them, he thinks they’re a couple rather than stepsiblings.  Not that there are any creepy vibes going on.  Rather, they’re simply so close and so in sync that it doesn’t occur to Charlie that other types of relationships could be so important.  In every way, they just fit.

Both characters have been through some rough stuff.  They’re both presumably children of divorce, Patrick has a secret boyfriend with a strong streak of internalized homophobia, and Sam has been knocked around six ways to Sunday.  They’re there for one another when they need it, but more than that, they bring such genuine happiness into each other’s lives.  Looking at them when they’re together, you wouldn’t think either is dealing with anything heavy.  Rather, they joke, they do crazy teenage things, and they listen to music like it was written for them.  Everywhere from football games to parties to midnight showings, they have fun with an us-against-the-world flair that’s somehow both determined and happy-go-lucky.

The story does a fine job showing how indispensable teenagers’ interests are to them, that almost spiritual bond that’s forged when they find someone who’s into the same things that they are.  It goes beyond shared pastimes or conversation fodder; it’s a validation that tells them they’re okay, and the more underground the interest, the more significant the bond.  This is an affinity that Patrick and Sam have in spades, with their mutual love of “cool music” (one of the most subjective phrases in the English language) and Rocky Horror.  Even when their present passions don’t wholly align, their tastes are similar enough that they can easily turn one another onto whatever they like.  This is also a big part of what makes Charlie gravitate toward them.  He’s hungry for that bond, and in his pursuit of it, he discovers plenty of new hobbies and life-changing music (music is always life-changing at that age.)

I really love that they’re stepbrother and stepsister.  Such tight, supportive sibling relationships in and of themselves are rare enough – yes, I know you can name any number of counterexamples, but I’m talking about the grand scheme of things here – but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a stepsibling relationship like this.  I’m madly curious to know how old they were when their parents got together, if they already knew each other/were friends before this, and if they were this close from the start or if they had some growing pains.  Alas, though they’re integral to the story, they’re still only supporting characters, and we don’t get details like that.  Regardless, it’s a very different sort of connection.  They’re not lovers, they have no blood ties, and if they met through their parents, they were thrown together rather than choosing one another for friendship.  And yet, their link is unbreakable.  I just adore that.