Having read other reviews that criticize that this movie is not realistic, I felt the urge to write my very first review here. I was thinking about the following questions:
- does this movie have to be realistic?
- what if it shows us an ideal to strive after?
- wouldn't "Wonder" be a good title?
In my opinion this movie is not necessarily realistic (yet) but optimistic. It does not have to be realistic, because it is (of course) a fictional movie and showing something most people will not have experienced in their lives. Here, I'm especially referring to people that got bullied at school. All too often, those people are left alone and stuck in their situation. Over years, they may get permanently threatened, often with no or very few external help. The reasons for that are manyfold, but often boil down to something superficial. I do know that - not really from the bullied but from the bully side.
Back at my school days, it did happen that I was in groups bullying minorities. At those moments, we felt stronger, I guess. But with hindsight, I felt actually bad, knowing that even the slightest participation in such things is bad. Even looking away is bad.
Courage is what I was missing at these days, and I regretted it. This movie shows even "stupid" people like me that there is a way out and people can manage to act differently. In that sense the movie is optimistically showing an ideal. But people often need to be taken by the hand, to be shown alternative ways of behaving, so they can strive after such behavior. This movie reminded me of that, and it felt good watching it. Even if the movie nowadays has to be titled "Wonder", it is a step towards making this wonder come alive. Believe in it!
