I Like “Love, Simon”. But I Don’t Love It.
There are a lot of things that are unrelatable to audiences of Love, Simon, the gay teen rom-com/coming out story directed by Nick Berlanti and starring Nick Robinson as the titular, Simon Spear. First, there is the affluent neighborhood where the weather is light-jacket-optional all year round. Next, there is the perfectly diverse high school populated from the politically correct catalog at Central Casting. Despite the Disney-esque backdrop, the gravity of the story still carries some hefty emotional weight that makes Love, Simon worth seeing.
The screenplay by Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker is based on the young adult novel, “Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda”, by Becky Albertalli. The story centers around 17 year-old Simon who emphasizes from the start that he is a normal kid with a normal family in a normal town. But he has a secret. He is gay and no one knows. Quickly into the film it is revealed that another local teen, at the idyllic Creekwood High School, is also lingering in the closet. He and Simon begin emailing each other anonymously about their respective struggles. Simon eventually develops feelings for “Blue”, the pseudonym of his pen pal, and tries to figure out who he might be based on clues from their interactions.
Meanwhile, Simon continues to happily exist alongside his three best pals, Leah (Katherine Langford), Abby (Alexandra Shipp) and Nick (Jorge Lendenborg Jr.), a perfectly diverse group of best friends. But life ceases to be all iced-coffees and light-jackets for Simon. He soon is blackmailed by a fellow student who discovers his secret and pressures Simon to manipulate his friends, lest that secret be revealed through social media. Thus begins our journey as Simon juggles deception, self-preservation, and a burgeoning online boyfriend.
The story itself does not reinvent the wheel. Berlanti makes no attempt to find even the most remote level of nuance in the world the story is set in. Perhaps that is for the best. The script offered by Berger and Aptaker is tightly written and moves along at an acceptable pace. It does not get bogged down with trying to explain away the world’s problems via it’s simple, but important story. When Simon’s web starts to untangle in the final act of the film it gives way to some beautiful moments. The whole movie is prescriptive in structure, but that is forgiven when Simon has tear-jerking scene after scene with the supporting characters of friends and parents. All of which go the way every queer person hopes their coming out goes but with slight variations on a theme. To that end, Love, Simon is a perfect How To Playbook for families and friends of queer teens and adults everywhere.
It is in these nicely crafted moments in this perfect town where Berlanti could have taken a turn for the saccharine. However, he manages to create sincere moments that allow the audience to suspend any disbelief they may have. Love, Simon may have some cosmetic imperfections but it gets the emotional turmoil of coming out correct, from the stress of understanding what it means to be queer; to the devastation of being outed; to the relief of being accepted — whether that be by others or by yourself.
Love, Simon does not try to tell the coming out story for every queer person and it is that lack of ambition that makes the story work. The movie is not Moonlight or Blue is the Warmest Color. Heck, it isn’t even Call Me By Your Name. But it is a sweet and heartfelt contribution to queer cinema and worth checking out. If you are queer it might give you the cathartic experience you never had and if you aren’t it will give you some insight as to the remarkable experience it still is to be a queer teen.
