During my few days home for Easter break, my sister and I decided to go see the movie Love, Simon after reading some positive reviews on it. Despite everything I had read about it, I was still a little weary about going to see it. Movies about high school, especially high school love, tend to fall into the trap of being over dramatic and unrealistic. All of the actors look like the should be playing people in their mid-twenties, not young teens just entering sophomore year and the plot points are too far fetched to even buy into. However, Love, Simon avoided these mistakes and excelled because of it.
Simon is a normal teenager, with a normal family and normal friends, living life like anyone else. The only difference is, he hasn't told anyone that he is gay because he is afraid that his secret will alter his life.
Simon is pretty content with keeping his sexuality a secret until he begins emailing someone from his school who anonymously came out as gay on their school's gossip website. Their charming back and forth emails leads to romantic feelings on Simon's side and he begins looking for signs of his pen pal everywhere he goes.
After some failures, fights, embarrassment and triumphs, without giving too much away, Simon is able to come to terms with himself and those around him are able to do the same. The ending of this movie is as sweet as they come without being overbearingly cheesy and you'll just have to see it for yourself because I won't give any spoilers... it is just that good.
Love, Simon is hilarious and the cast is diverse, but more important than that, it sends a message of tolerance and acceptance to a world that has made progress in this area, but still needs a lot of work until everyone has these same values. In addition to this, it breaks the stereotype of the attractive jock and the girl who they only realize is pretty once she takes her glasses off that typically accompanies high school movies, but it finally tells the story of how difficult it can be to truly be yourself and the importance of coming out on your own terms. Simon's love story isn't easy and it isn't typical, but it is still beautiful.
Personally, I loved this movie because it showed a struggle that I have never really thought about. The movie's main point, "Why is straight always the default" when it comes to sexuality raises the question of why do only those who are gay have to come out and announce it to the world. Being gay is not something that should be looked at as against the grain, but instead just as another norm. Love, Simon is one of the first major movies to do this in a way that the message reaches all kinds of audiences.
If you are there for the romance, you leave with a better sense of other's struggles and hopefully more knowledge of it. If you are there as someone who has gone through the same situation as Simon has, you leave feeling connected and supported. Either way, you leave feeling uplifted by a heart warming movie unlike anything you have ever seen before. So if you find yourself free for a few hours, do yourself a favor and see Love, Simon. You won't be disappointed.