Charlie Bartlett

This was a movie I was waiting to see because I thought it was going to be good. It was awful for so many reasons. It left this Breakfast Club feel in my mouth that shouldn't have been there. High School for some is about popularity, but for others, they just don't care. I probably cared in grade 9 and then had a real dose of reality that all these people do outside of school is party, talk shit about other people and date everyone in their circle. Let me tell you, not hanging out with the so called "popular kids" saved my life, made me a better person and made me the unique person I am now. The same statement that was made throughout the movie was: there are better things in life than being popular. And Charlie's response was "Like what?". I'm sorry, but whoever wrote this in their life placed to much importance on the acceptance and approval of their peers. The sooner you figure out that they don't know what to think at 17, the sooner you realize you are just like everyone else. If my high school boyfriend announced to over 300 people that he lost his virginity right after, I probably would beat the shit out of him. Where is the significance in sex that has no connection with religion not being said???

What is horrible is that Robert Downey Jr. even picked this role to be the principal. AWFUL. I'm sure Robert made the character better or made the movie seem more cool then it actually was, but seriously, what was he thinking? He is above this. This role was for washed out actors that can only be portrayed as a father figure in a terrible teen movie about the "stress" of not having someone to talk to in high school. WE ALL HAVE PROBLEMS. Not only as a teenager, but as an adult. This is the shit that lingers in the back of our minds all the time. By the age of 17 and you are still focusing on how different and out of place you are and being unpopular, well you should move on. THIS IS HIGH SCHOOL. IT IS ONLY 4 YEARS OF YOUR LIFE. HIGH SCHOOL DOESN'T DETERMINE WHO YOU ARE, YOU DO. If this is how people measure their lives, they are certainly going no where fast in life. The minute you finish high school you are just like everyone else that you went to school with. All those so called "special" people are no longer speical. Seriously. If those were the best 4 years of my life, then I have a long shitty life ahead of me.

This whole movie rubbed me the wrong way. First of all, what kind of message is being said that medicinal drugs will make your problems go away? There can't be some 300 or so kids that need medicinal help for their so called self-absorbed problems? It was extremely cliche, unethical portrayal of what teenagers think and feel. The more I talk about it, the more I dislike and loathe it. This is why Juno was such a hit. It was well written and a true portrait of how the strange high school students are really like. They don't care about the so called popular kids because they know how gay they all really are so why waste time trying to impress them. That being said, the whole suicidal part was poorly done, and had no real effect on how to cope with that kind of depression that guy was feeling. It was done all wrong. I don't even want to start on this section of the movie because I will end up writing 6 pages on it. Anyways, this was a crap movie.