I am not one to like movies all that much. I would much rather read a book in the comfort of my home rather than pay $12 for a movie ticket and even more for low-quality popcorn. However, "Love, Simon" was a movie that not only entertained me but made me learn a thing or two and that was worth all of the discomfort of a movie theater. In a world full of hatred and unhappy endings, "Love, Simon" was the movie everyone needed and more people need to be talking about it.
"Love, Simon" is a movie based on the novel "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" written by Becky Albertalli, starring Nick Robinson as Simon Spier. In the movie, Simon is an average high school senior. His parents are the picture perfect quarterback who married the beautiful valedictorian and basically depends on his son to help him function.
His little sister is a master chef in the making and uses her family to try out her creations. He has three best friends that he loves dearly and spends his days trying to make it out of high school as quickly as possible. In the words of Simon himself, "he's just like you, except he has one huge-ass secret". Simon is gay.
Without giving away too much, we find out early on that there is an anonymous gay kid at his school going by the name Blue. Simon finds his email and under a pseudonym begins to explore his sexuality, his life's issues, and the possibility of falling in love with a total stranger. Throughout the movie we watch Simon combat the pressures of trying to keep a blackmailing classmate from spilling his secret to the entire student body, while also wracking his brain to uncover the mystery that is Blue.
Simon battles lying to his family, his friends, and everyone around him in order to protect his secret and keep Blue from going missing. Unfortunately, Simon's coming out didn't at all go the way he planned. The beauty of watching Simon find himself and assist Blue along the way was amazing.
Put all of that with an ending that will no doubt making you teary eyed, and you have one hell of a movie. While it may have been a little messy and chaotic on Simon's part, it painted the very realistic picture of what plenty of teens are going through.
I can admit, the movie was an emotional roller coaster and I may or may not have cried quite a bit. "Love, Simon" beautifully represented what I can only imagine as the struggles that many LGBTQ+ youth go through. The struggle to understand themselves and who they are, the struggle to come to terms with something they never expected, and the struggle to want to finally be themselves without consequence. Not to mention the awful people that give them nothing but an endless rain of garbage for trying to be who they are.
Simon's character takes away the overwhelming stereotype society presents gay men to be. The stereotype we often see in movies or t.v. where over feminized men who wear cardigans and pastel colors that speak with lisps are used as the butt end of jokes. Not that there is anything wrong with people who realistically look and speak this way. But for once, an LGBTQ+ character in a movie isn't being used to poke fun. He is just a teenager who wears hoodies and jeans, drives an old car, and has the desire to love and be loved.
Simon makes a point to say that there isn't anything wrong with being gay or being who you are. Nor does it really matter what other people think of you. It is about how you think of you and you should have control of how and when you tell the world about who you are. The way the movie was executed in the view point of an average teen is sparking conversation between people and their loved ones and is sparking more responses of acceptance.
"Love, Simon" is the film full of representation, love, youth, and the beauty that is acceptance that everyone needed. You don't even have to be a member of the LGBTQ+ community to relate to the over all meaning of the film. If you haven't seen it, I strongly recommend that you do. If you need any further convincing, here's the trailer:
