One movie I feel like everyone should watch at least twice is Wonder. It is one of those movies where to get deeper understanding, you must watch again and look for certain behaviors or foreshadowing on the second watch. An example of this is when the first time I watched Wonder I did not realize how closed off and left out Via (the main character Auggie’s sister) was in her own house. After reading the book though, I noticed some differences that are not just about how much more detail was displayed. If you didn’t know already, wonder follows the story of a little boy with facial deformities starting 5th grade after being home-schooled for all years prior. This applies to both the movie and book. The first thing I realized while looking at the book was how the table of contents displayed many other perspectives, in comparison to only getting to hear 3 characters’ point of views in the movie. On Auggies introduction on the first few pages we learn that he had friends before entering school. His main friend was Christopher, and that is whose house he was at when he found out he was going to actual school. In the book though, he found out he was going to a real school when he overheard his parents having an argument about it at their house. In the movie, the first to talk to Auggie was Jack-Will and then Summer joins in after he slowly goes away, while in the book Summer was the first to befriend him. In the movie, after every little inconvenience when Auggie gets bullied or does not feel at place at school, he has a temper tantrum that makes him look like a whiny kid, while in the book we hear more of his internal conflict and why he reacts the
way he reacts. I feel like this is key to getting further understanding and would have made the movie ten times better. Something else in the book that I realized was a contrast to the movie was Auggie getting hearing aids, but they never covered that topic in the movie. This isn’t any hate on the movie because this is one of my top movies, but they could have done a better job at detailing and following the book a bit better. Overall, Stephen Chbosky and his team did a fantastic job at making Wonder, but it skipped many details from the book, just to fit in important moments that were key to the plot. It felt rushed in that way. There were also some characters we did not get to meet in the movie that had parts in the book. Despite this, the movie and book were similar. I like how the book talks about Via’s internal dialogue more because personally that’s one of my favorite parts in the movie.
If you haven’t read or watched Wonder, I advise you to. It gives you a new perspective on acceptance (in others and yourself) and showing kindness. I also feel as if little kids should watch and learn to treat others the way they want to be treated, and to remain who they are and not to change themselves for someone else’s expectations of who they should be.