Move Review: Love, Simon (2018)
Well, after months of putting it off for no real reason, we finally watched the newest gay-themed film released to theaters, Love, Simon. Directed by Greg Berlanti (who also directed and wrote The Broken Hearts Club (2000) a movie I really enjoyed), Love, Simon basically tells the story of high school senior Simon Spier coming to terms with his sexuality and coming out of the closet. Simon is surrounded by great friends and a loving family (mom and dad are Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel, who looks quite good in the film!) but no one knows his big secret. He comes across a posting on a facebook-style high school gossip web-page-thing, about a boy in his school who is afraid of coming out, signing his post only with the name “Blue”. Simon creates a gmail account and the two of them start an anonymous friendship over e-mail.
I really enjoyed this movie, probably more than I should have, mostly due to the charisma of the actors and Greg Berlanti’s evoking of John Hughes’ style of high school drama. I don’t mean that as an insult, I’m a child of the 80’s and grew up on Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985), and, my personal favorite, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986). There were even several times in the movie when Simon, played by Nick Robinson, really reminded me of young Ferris. Mostly his smile and his charisma, but, again, these are good things. All of the actors are good looking, intelligent, funny, and extremely likable. As I started the film, my first thought was “Hallmark Movie Channel”, and my happy little cynical movie critic smiled, “Yeah! I get to trash a movie!”. But it’s undeniable charm won me over.
There are some points of the movie that did irk me, though. As Simon is e-mailing his new virtual boyfriend, blue, he’s either using his own laptop, or his cell phone. However, at one point, he’s using a computer in the school library, gets interrupted, and walks away from the computer without signing off. This might sound like a quibble, but for a kid who is desperately hiding his sexuality, this seems unlikely. But, in order for there to be drama, someone has to sign on to that exact same computer, read the e-mails, take pictures of them, and then blackmail Simon into helping him “get with a girl” who happens to be good friends with the closeted teen.
This leads to Simon behaving…well…not like Simon. He lies to his closest friends, and manipulates things so the blackmailer and Abby (played by a radiant Alexandra Shipp) can get together. It doesn’t end well. I think the story would have played better skipping the annoying, forced, idiot plot, blackmail scheme and just have Simon come out to his friends, and then decide wether or not to tell his family, or even let the rest of the school know. But, again, it’s a minor complaint. I do feel I have to admit that I liked the movie because it was a coming out story. And a good coming out story, at that.
In many parts of this country, homosexuality just isn’t that big of a deal anymore. I know of many kids who have come out in high school at 14 or 15, taken a boyfriend/girlfriend to prom and nobody cared. No slurs, no violence, just a big “whatever” from the students. Gay bars are closing left and right as young gay men and women prefer to be out in mixed bars, holding hands while being ignored by their straight counterparts. This isn’t the case in ALL parts of the country, and certainly not in most parts of the world, but the times have changed…and that’s mostly a good thing.
I say “mostly” because I’ve noticed young gay men and women don’t seem to realize how hard things were in times past, and how important gay bars and “gay-borhoods” were. I see gay dating apps where everyone is put into a “tribe” or a “type”, labeled this way and that, and it bothers me. This is why the movie actually choked me up a few times (and please note, getting me to cry is like getting Trump to admit he’s wrong; Tommy, however, was blubbering throughout most of the film).
The one thing that brought gay people together, whether it be a bar, restaurant, or a bath house, is that we always had at least one thing in common: Our coming out story. As people got to know one another, telling the story of accepting who they are, and telling their family, friends, and co-workers, would bond strangers, no matter how different. The bear in the corner and the twink on top of the bar share that history. The bull dykes, lipstick lesbians, drag queens, otters, leathermen, drag kings, musclemen, and military studs ALL came out at some time. It didn’t matter when you came out, either. Out at 16? Great! 74? Good for you, welcome to the club! First time in a gay bar and your parents don’t know yet? Fine, let me get you a drink.
So Love, Simon has two coming out stories, the one we watch (Simon’s), and the one we experience through the anonymous Blue’s e-mails. They have different backgrounds and experiences, but share the common denominator of having to accept who they are, and having to accept the fear that when people find out, they might not like them anymore. It’s been a long time since I’ve thought about my coming out, and it brought back memories to Tommy, as well. I understand that many people will say the movie is too sanitized and “after school special-y”, and it is. To be honest, if I had come out at 16 and found out another student was gay, too, I’d have had my hands down his pants before the end-of-day bell rang, screw that chaste little kiss and hand holding.
So check out Love, Simon and, if you’re gay, remember your coming out story: The fear, the pain, the happiness…the release. Remember that, no matter what you do, you will always have something in common with an amazing group of people, wherever you go.
P.S. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the performances of Natasha Rothwell, as the drama teacher Ms. Albright, and Clark Moore as the “out at 16” Ethan. Both are hysterical and really lit up the screen.
P.S.S. Part of the fun of the movie is trying to figure out who Blue is. They trick you a bit, but his identity is actually given away during the movie…I just didn’t notice it until I remembered a joke and…well, the joke gives it away…not gonna tell yah, though! HAH!