“Love, Simon” is a coming of age film that focuses on the story of a closeted gay high schooler. The main character, Simon, has an anonymous emailing relationship with another classmate who he falls in love with. Throughout the film he struggles to uncover the identity of the other boy and with his own decision to come out. Love, Simon was powerful to watch and was important for the LGBTQ+ community because of its representation of LGBTQ+ characters in a traditionally non-inclusive genre.
I went to see the film twice because I enjoyed it so much, and I’m glad I did because each experience was so different. The first time I went was planned a week in advance and my friend and I had even read the book (“Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda”), and were both excited to see how well it compared. Both of us are also huge romantic comedy fans so we had high expectations for the movie, and it lived up to every single one. The theater we saw it in was quiet with only about two other people besides us, which made the experience more individual and most of my time was spent analyzing the movie and its relation to the book. I concluded that the film did the book justice while still creating its own story.
The second time I saw the film it was spontaneous and with a friend who knew very little about the movie. When I watched the film again, I enjoyed it as a movie separate from the book and was more engaged. The fact that it was opening night and the theater was packed made the experience so much better. Seeing so many people cheer for a gay protagonist and his love story was exciting and beautiful.
This film does an amazing job of showing support for the LGBTQ+ community because it gives their stories a chance to be heard. Two actors felt so inspired by the movie that they decided to come out after shooting the film. The best part about this movie is how it starts a conversation and brings people together. It is a must see!!