‘Love, Simon’: A Gay Movie for Straight People?
Addressing the criticism surrounding this queer movie
I remember when ‘Love, Simon’ came out in 2018. It wasn’t particularly new to see a movie coming out with a gay character in it, but a movie focused on the struggles of coming out and being gay in high-school? That’s something you didn’t see that often, so I was honestly stoked to go see it.
Around that time I, myself, was in high school and I was just starting to come out to my friends, so I knew right away that I would have a soft spot for this movie. I went to see it with a friend, and I remember being nervous that somebody I knew would see me enter the cinema room where this specific movie was playing. Looking back at it now sounds so silly to me, but it was still a big deal to me back then.
The premise of the film is that Simon, the protagonist, is gay, but has never told anyone and is scared to come out. One day, Simon finds out about an an online confession of a closeted gay classmate at their high school with the pseudonym “Blue”, and decides to start writing emails to him to find out more about him.
Simon quickly falls in love with Blue and starts to search his high school for clues regarding who this mysterious boy could be.
