PSYCHOANALYTIC PERSPECTIVE ON TRAUMA IN THE FILM “THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER”

Abstract

Traumatic situations generate profound impacts on an individual’s mental health. Among them, cases of childhood sexual abuse present substantial effects on the subjectivity of the person who suffered the aggression. Even so, such forms of violence stand out due to their high rates of occurrence, yet significant underreporting and limited visibility in society. Regarding this issue, psychoanalysis offers important contributions for reflecting on the impacts on human psychism and the development of care practices for children and adolescents who have gone through these experiences. Among psychoanalytic authors, Sándor Ferenczi introduces innovations with his trauma theory, in which he characterizes trauma as a relational phenomenon, while Melanie Klein creates a theory that describes the psychic structures and processes through which human subjectivity is constructed and transformed over the course of an individual’s life from birth onward. Based on these theories, it becomes possible to reflect on the traumatic consequences resulting from childhood sexual abuse and its implications for the subject’s development. To illustrate these issues, this article proposes to analyze, from a psychoanalytic perspective, the protagonist of the film ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ (2012), Charlie, who experienced episodes of sexual abuse during his childhood. Thus, the objective is to use a fictional work to highlight possible psychic repercussions of childhood trauma and the gradual process through which the character comes into contact with these traumatic experiences.