'Love, Simon', 2018

I’ll be honest, I was fully expecting to dislike ‘Love, Simon’ (2018), just given the history of blockbuster movies with gay characters. But I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the movie, directed by Greg Berlanti, in theaters last year. Based on the novel ‘Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda’ by Becky Albertalli, the movie follows Simon, a closeted gay kid in high school, who discovers an anonymous gay kid from school online and slowly begins to develop a crush. (There’s more to the plot than just this but I don’t want to spoil it!)

Like any other cheesy teen romantic comedy, the movie is kind of predictable. But other parts of the movie kept me guessing til the end (like the identity of his secret online crush), and the main characters in the movie are relatable and struggle with the same anxieties that many teens today do as well. The film has the same vibes as John Hughes’ mid-1980s teen comedies, but without any of the racial or homophobic slurs (and with a young gay man as its main character!). And among Simon’s friends and classmates, the diversity within the cast is really pleasing to see. Simon himself feels like a realistic character, or at least is very different from the tropes about closeted gay characters that are overused in other movies (they’re angry, or loners, or self-hating, or hate their dad, etc). However, it’s worth noting that Simon is purposefully not coded as gay, and does a lot to separate himself from the only other (super-visible) queer character in the film, Ethan. It’s unfortunate that a blockbuster movie about a queer person needs to be whitewashed/subdued in some ways to be palatable for modern-day audiences, but unfortunately, it’s not very surprising.

The five words I would use to describe this movie: big-hearted, charming, tender, funny, affirming

My queer take: Like any other cheesy teen romantic comedy, some parts of the movie are predictable; but ‘Love, Simon’ is distinguished in its warm-hearted and realistic portrayal of a gay kid struggling to come out in 2018. And though this is the main theme of the movie, both straight and queer audience members alike will relate to Simon’s (and his friend’s) struggles. With super-high ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, this movie is a crowd-pleaser for sure.

CW: homophobic/transmisogynistic bullies

Fun fact: The cast contains several out queer actors, including Australian actor Keiynan Lonsdale, who plays ‘Bram’, and Joey Pollari who plays ‘Lyle’. Director Greg Berlanti is also an out gay man - read an interview with him here (or about Lonsdale here).