I'd always wondered why all the couples in teen movies looked like Cady and Aaron from "Mean Girls." Why were straight couples the default?
And then there's the off chance that they decide to represent the LGBTQ+ community in a teen movie and it's always made to be either over-sexualized or made into a sob story about how the family doesn't accept them for who they are. There's never been a teen movie where it's your run of the mill high school movie and it just so happens that the main character is gay with accepting family and friends.
And then "Love, Simon" came out.
This movie changed everything, not just for me but for a whole community. I could go to the movies and see myself in someone that wasn't a straight girl. I could, finally, see my story represented on the big screen. My coming out process much like Simon's was: scary, because like any secret it's nerve-wracking to share with the world, there's always the "what if" in the back of your head that convinces you that the people you hope will accept you just might not.
I think our community needs this movie because it will start conversations between parents and kids about coming out and about the way parents should handle it, just as the Spiers do in the film. We need this movie because everyone deserves to see Nick Robinson do a choreographed number to "I wanna dance with somebody."
We need this movie because it stresses the importance of people coming out on their own terms.
So many people think outing people is okay and this movie shows that if you do Nick Robinson will cuss you out in the school parking lot (maybe that is specific to the movie but you get the point).
At the time of publication, I've seen the movie six times. FYI, I haven't seen a movie that many times since "Zootopia" which single-handedly saved the film industry. But that's for another article. I continue to see this movie because it's a feel-good film that the world needs, with a young cast that will take over Hollywood.
If you know what's good for you I would get some iced coffee and Halloween Oreos and sit back and enjoy the world of Simon Spier.