Wonder, based on the novel by RJ Palacio

Wonder, based on the novel by RJ Palacio

                This pre-eminent film has been nominated for one Academy Award and one BAFTA.

However, the prizes would be in the technical category of Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling.

                It is commendable, but perhaps this feature deserves more recognition.

One reason for this lack of tremendous acknowledgement might the familiarity of the narrative.

The Graduate was just about a teenager who was too shy when meeting famous Mrs. Robinson, but Rainman had a man with a challenge at its core, then we have My Left Foot, wherein the hero has to use his foot, the only anatomical part that moves, in order to paint, Born on the Fourth of July has the protagonist trapped in a wheelchair for most of the motion picture and the list is long.

Wonder is different, even if there would be similarities with other movies with a disability theme, and it is not just the main character, who is a child portrayed with incredible talent by Jacob Tremblay, the wondrous hero from Room, that has a face which scares some, attracts the mockery of others.

The facial differences say nothing about the Bravery, Vitality, Creativity, Curiosity, Persistence, Kindness, Social Intelligence, Gratitude, Humor, Modesty, Love of Learning- all Character Strengths that the hero has.

August “Auggie” Pullman has had to stay away from the education system and his mother had educated him at home, on account of his different look that could cause various reactions in colleagues.

When they decide to take him to school, the parents, played with grace by Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson, discuss the matter with the principal and he in turn has conversations with students, encouraging them to treat the new, would be schoolmate with special care, which alas, would backfire at some stage.

When a girl comes to sit with the lonely Auggie in the cafeteria, after a clash with other boys, the protagonist doubts her reasons, having learned about the official request form the master of the school and suspecting that whoever interacts with him does so because he or she was told to do so by some official.

There are some elements in this account that may distract audiences, like the story of the sister, Via, and her frustrations, the feeling she has that her mother, for instance does not pay enough attention to her, giving all the affection to her brother, who has the special condition, but still, she also needs to be noticed, loved and accepted.

Via’s part of the feature could be perceived as contributing to the overall fresco, but for this viewer it was not so satisfying, perhaps with the exception of the school play, where an act of unselfishness and sacrifice is committed.

Auggie is not just extremely intelligent, he also benefits from a very high Emotional Intelligence level, which psychology studies made especially by the ultimate expert in the field, Daniel Goleman, have demonstrated that it is at least as important, but probably more than IQ.

However, he is just an innocent ten year old and he had not known the element of imposition that had been included in the boy’s attitude towards him, he befriends one colleague, who, in the first place had had little desire to approach August Pullman, but would gradually become attached to the different boy.

In one instance, Auggie is dressed for Halloween, his favorite day because he says that “he can walk with his head high and not looking at the ground to avoid the strange manner in which the others observe him, for he is wearing a costume and mask, like everyone else”…

He walks into a room where his friend is talking to others and claiming that he thinks like the rest about Auggie, and the rebarbative attitude of some individuals is- “this is a freak, you will get the plague if you touch him”…indeed, one boy, badly educated by repellent parents, even modifies a group photo to eliminate August and writes: “why don’t you do all a service and just die”, message that his mother thinks is nothing but a service, for this is the “real world”…

Auggie is extremely disappointed and depressed, for he had thought that he had had a real friend, but he just discovered he had a false companion, only this impression would soon be changed, for the classmate was actually fond of August and he even fights the fellow who had written the despicable, death wish, with blows and fists, on a corridor in school.

The place that the hero hates most is the main courtyard, where all pupils gather and he soon becomes the center of unwanted attention, with students watching him, then turning away and looking again, in a significant manner.

It is however incredible, breathtaking to watch the very young protagonist behave with composure, at times what looks like self-derogatory style, comprehension, maturity, noblesse (qui oblige”, and the aforementioned outstanding Emotional Intelligence that makes him perceive the image that others have of him, their misapprehension, reluctance to get beyond the rather disturbing looking face.

One could also refer to the insightful, extraordinary We Are All Completely Besides Ourselves, by Karen Joy Fowler, wherein the notion of Uncanny Valley response is explained and might be applied in the case of Auggie, who, albeit a brilliant, superior, more endowed child, is rejected because he is familiar, but also different…

The concept of the uncanny valley suggests humanoid objects which appear almost, but not exactly, like real human beings elicit uncanny, or strangely familiar, feelings of eeriness and revulsion in observers.

Wonder invites the audiences to mediate and consider people, perhaps animals as well, with emphasis on their character and not their surface, which is a human tendency, stated in the Harding Effect, detailed in another quintessential work: Blink, The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by the great Malcolm Gladwell.