Wonder Captures the Attention of Greendale Students

Many GHS students have been touched by the recent movie, Wonder based on the novel by R.J. Palacio.

The story of Auggie Pullman is based on an experience the author had a number of years ago.  Palacio took her six-year-old son to buy ice cream one day, and they saw a little girl with facial deformities. Her son cried in fear of the little girl and the author fled the ice cream store due to her own discomfort as well.

“And that got me thinking a lot about what it must be like to … have to face a world every day that doesn’t know how to face you back,” said Palacio in an interview on npr.org.

Palacio feels guilty and regrets her decision today because she feels she should’ve taught her kids that there is nothing to be afraid of. Although she couldn’t take back that day to teach her son that there is nothing wrong with looking different, she believed that one thing she could do, was to take this event and turn it into an inspiring story.

This movie stars Jacob Tremblay who plays the role of August Pullman, the main character of the story as well as Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson as her parents.

“I know I’ll never be an ordinary kid. People don’t like to touch me because they think I’m contagious,” his character states.

The message of the movie varies from different perspectives. All in all, the story was meant to inspire people. A precept from the novel reads: “When given the choice between being right and being kind, always choose kind.”

Third through fifth grade students from each of the Greendale Elementary Schools and Greendale Middle School students went to see the movie Wonder.

“I think that one of the biggest lessons from the movie (and the book) is that it’s never too late to make changes in how you treat others and how you view the world,” said third grade teacher Laurie Drangstveit. “Some of the characters started off one way, but by the end of the story they had learned from their experiences and changed as people.”

Freshman Andrea Ligocki read the book and thinks that it had a great message.

“The message of the movie, I believe, is that outward appearance doesn’t matter,” Ligocki said. “Many people are shallow, so you shouldn’t be. You have to look beyond what you see because you will never truly know someone and their story just at a glance.”

All students who saw the movie expressed their love for the story.

“Wonder is a very good movie because it teaches a great lesson,” said sophomore Sarrah Delong. “Not only does this movie relate to real life, but it’s important because so many people have insecurities about the way they look and act, and this movie shows us that you shouldn’t be ashamed to be different.”

Drangstveit agreed. “I thought the movie was very well done. Obviously they couldn’t cover every detail from the book, but I thought the movie version did a nice job of highlighting the relationships between the different characters, even some of the more complicated ones like the one between Via and her mom,” she said. “To me, this is a valuable lesson for students to learn – that they are in charge of how they treat others and how they view the world around them.”

The movie was inspiring and many who read the book plan to see the movie. Many have read the book, and fell in love with the story from the start.

“I plan on seeing it because the book tackled real issues in a great way, and the cast is full of amazing actors,” Ligocki said.

“I also plan on seeing the movie because I remember reading that book all the way back in 5th grade and it was a very sentimental book! I can’t wait to see how they portray the message in the new movie,” said freshman Sabrina Benali.

Drangstveit said all the students enjoyed the movie.

“It’s rare that an event comes along like the movie Wonder that relates to students of so many grade levels. It’s amazing to me that third grade students were viewing the same movie and reading the same book that students in eighth grade were,” Drangstveit said. “I think it shows the power of the story and how important it is in today’s world that we take the time to have conversations about appreciating the differences of others and looking within ourselves to see if we are working to leave behind a positive legacy.”