Movie shines light on experiences of the unpopular student

    Happiness, success, all the things that make our lives bearable, they’re like lightning. They strike and our lives are suddenly filled with energy. This is the case for senior Carson Phillips from “Struck by Lightning,” written, directed and acted in by Chris Colfer (“Glee”).           

 Some might call it a coming of age drama, or maybe even a comedy. But I call it an accurate portrayal of life. Especially life as a high school student. The sassy remarks, the urge to escape your hometown, the film is as accurate as could be, down to each and every little heartbreak. And that’s what Colfer wants it to be: an edgy film about life as a social reject in high school.
           

Colfer stars as Carson, editor of his school’s newspaper, editor of the writer’s club, and the most underappreciated kid in his small-town high school. As the school “nerd,” a name earned by his involvement in the literary arts, Carson is the recipient of a continuous barrage of taunts, insults and pranks. But he never lets anyone walk over him. His sass is one of the great attributes of his character, not to mention it allows for a break from the constant masquerade that is high school.
          

 Besides the great comedic moments, the film offers some real life advice. Carson asks a classmate, “What grade do we stop believing in ourselves? I mean, someone has to be a Nobel Peace Prize winner; someone has to be a ballerina.” The surprising thing is that the movie is full of lines like those. And that’s something I really appreciate about it.

Movies about high school or high school students are so often centered around one thing; and that is finding yourself in the crowd. While there is nothing wrong with that, because people are always going to need help finding themselves, this film brings a different angle. Life is more than just high school and the friends we keep. Life is the happy moments, the sad moments, and every single moment in between. Carson’s best friend, Malerie Baggs, played by Rebel Wilson, spends the majority of the movie filming the goings on of high school on her camera. When asked why, she replies, “What isn’t worth remembering? With good memories come bad memories.”

Chock full of witty one-liners and the more meaningful statements about life, “Struck by Lightning” is definitely something to see. In a special interview conducted in a video chatroom by several high school journalists, including myself, Colfer explained the film to be something he had been fostering for many years, something that meant a lot to him. One journalist asked why Carson met such a sad end (I hope I’m not giving away too much) and he said “I always hoped that (the audience) saw all potential that he was robbed of, and I hope that helped them find all the potential in themselves.”