This weekend I watched the movie Love, Simon, and it exceeded all expectations. The most compelling part about the movie was the story it had to tell. In summary, the movie is about a boy named Simon. He has a loving family, a great group of friends, and lives a regular life. Simon is like most of us. The only difference is he has a huge secret; he’s gay. Throughout the movie, Simon writes letters online to a mysterious boy code-named “Blue” who is also gay. Together they help each other deal with the challenges of coming out as gay. Essentially, Simon spends the movie trying to figure out who Blue is until the film reaches its surprising conclusion. This movie is special because of the message it sends. It normalizes gay love and diversity. A decade ago, a story like this would not be so freely publicized and accepted. Five decades ago, one could not be openly gay in public. It was not until 1978 that we elected our first openly gay politician, Harvey Milk, and even then, this was very controversial. In the 1980’s people associated HIV/AIDS mainly with homosexuals, not based on research, but because many still felt gay love was wrong. Today, some people still struggle to accept gay marriage. We’re still far from perfect, but Love, Simon goes to show how far we’ve come in terms of acceptance as a society.
Aside from its stellar message, Love, Simon is an emotional roller coaster. Sometimes you’re sad when people don’t accept Simon for being gay. Other times you’re happy when life works out in Simon’s favor. At other times still, you are inspired by Simon’s courage and perseverance. I laughed, I cried, and I smiled continuously throughout the movie and left the theater with a warm heart. So, what are you waiting for? Go out and see Love, Simon now!