Illustration by Kate Greenblatt
A movie based on the R.C. Palacio novel of the same name, Wonder, has just come out in theaters. The movie tells of a ten year old boy, Auggie, who loves Minecraft and Star Wars, and who has been separated from and ridiculed by his peers because he was born with a genetic abnormality that makes him look different from other kids. This story is unique in the way that most of the characters are younger than fifteen. It puts an interesting perspective and gives an interesting insight on the different ways a child can go about treating someone they know who is living with a genetic deformity. Auggie had been homeschooled for his entire life, up until fifth grade when his family finally decided to put him into mainstream school. From the first day, Auggie was faced with obstacles as simple as the other students looking at him in a funny way, and calling him demeaning insults. Auggie lives with his two loving parents and his sister Olivia, or “Via.”
The mom plays the typical role of “mother who has dropped everything to take care of her worrisome child.” This is not to say that Julia Roberts doesn’t do a fantastic job, the scenes she was in seemed to spark an empathy for Auggie, because when he was with his parents, in the comfort of his home shined as an outgoing and humorous little boy. The mom was hard working, smart, and always seemed to know just what to say.
The movie also goes into the story of what it is like to have a sibling who you know requires way more attention than you, for part of the film they follow Via, Auggie’s selfless, introverted older sister, who is mostly understanding, but at times gets frustrated because not having any attention because of Auggie is hard for her. Before school started, the principal of the school set up a group of students to show Auggie around the school, Julian, the school rich kid who from the get-go insults Auggie by implying that he is stupid, Charlotte, the self-absorbed child actress who ignores the discomfort of the situation completely, and Jack Will the nice boy, who came to the school on a scholarship and seems to stand up for Auggie whenever he can. As the school year goes on, Jack Will and Auggie become closer, and by the end of the movie the school grows to be more accepting of Auggie. Through lots of bravery and help from his loving family of four, Auggie survives fifth grade.
This movie does a great job of not only showing how harsh little kids can be to those who look different from them, but also how capable they are of compassion, and how much of an impact that compassion can have on a young boy like Auggie who just made his first group of good friends and learned to thrive.