About the movie WONDER:
In WONDER, August "Auggie" Pullman (Jacob Tremblay) is about to start fifth grade -- marking his first time at a school with other kids, rather than learning at home from his mom, Isabel (Julia Roberts). That would be plenty nerve-wracking on its own, but Auggie has more to worry about than the average new middle schooler: Born with a genetic abnormality, he has a significant facial difference. Twenty-plus surgeries in his short life have left him able to hear, see, and speak like other kids, but he definitely doesn't look like them. And since he can't wear his beloved astronaut helmet all day at school, he has to face them all in person. It's far from easy; kids call him names ("Darth Hideous," "Gollum") and bully him, and even his parents can't talk away the hurt. But Auggie isn't the only one facing challenges: His older sister, Via (Izabela Vidovic), feels like their parents (Isabel and Nate, played by Owen Wilson) barely pay attention to her because Auggie needs so much from them. His new friend, Jack Will (Noah Jupe), genuinely likes Auggie but doesn't know how to speak up for him in school. Via's former best friend, Miranda (Danielle Rose Russell), seems tough on the outside but is grappling with difficult family issues. And even bully Julian (Bryce Gheisar) has his own problems. As Auggie navigates his first year of school, he -- and all the people around him -- learn to think more of others and find happiness inside themselves.
My Review:
This is one of the best movies I've ever seen! Bring the tissues. It's for everyone of all ages. It's rated PG, but really could have been rated G. Please go see it. Please take your children ages five and up to go see it with you. Then make sure you talk to your children about bullying. Wonder has a great message to except everyone for who they are, and not what they look like. Ask your children if someone is bullying or teasing them. This movie helps to open up some great conversation between parents and children.
This movie hit close to home because my ten year old son Matthew, has high functioning Asperger's Syndrome. He is made fun of at school because he's a little slow, has trouble with his fine motor skills, daydreams, takes more of his teacher's attention then the other children and more. I get emails everyday from his teachers telling me throughout every school day how well he's doing, or how bad he's doing. Or asking me to come to the school to try to talk him into doing his classwork or to take a test. I feel heartbroken for him most days. I have to push myself to push him. If I didn't stand up for him and push him to do his school work and tests, he wouldn't be in fourth grade right now. Who would have known that fourth grade would be the hardest for him, and for me? Now after watching "Wonder," I am worried about him next year in fifth grade, and in middle school. My heart hearts for my son and other children who feel, act and look differently.
Wonder is like no movie you've ever seen. It's about the relationships between parents and children with special needs and differences. It's also about the relationship between mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, husbands and wives. But most of all, it's about how hard children can be on one another, and about how some parents teach their children to act differently towards children with differences. I saw this when one of the boys in this movie edited out Auggie from the class photo because she didn't want her friends to ask her questions about Auggie. She wanted her friends to see her son, and not Auggie. Therefore, she was teaching her son that it was ok to treat Auggie differently and in return, her son was bullying Auggie.
"You can't blend in, when you were born to stand out."
For more information, please check out the official Wonder website: http://www.wonder.movie/?home
