Oh my goodness! The last passion post! This being the last post of the entire year, I thought “why not diverge a little from what I have written so far?” 

So today’s post is on . . . Love, Simon!

This film premiered in 2018 when I was in middle school. I actually remember watching the film for the first time in theaters with a good friend of mine who now goes to Penn State with me. As the first rom-com produced by a major Hollywood Studio to feature a gay teen protagonist, I was so excited for this movie to come out and I was not disappointed.

Summary

This coming of age rom com centers around Simon Spier (Nick Robinson), a high school student who wants a great love story like anyone else. However, it might not be as easy for him. You see, he has a secret: he’s gay. When that secret is threatened, he must come to terms with his identity and face everyone around him with the truth.

Why I Love This Film

Not only does this film have fantastic diverse casting, the production design is great as well. Set to be bright and attractive, this film is both funny and emotional with great pacing and great character development. Each of the supporting characters seem to have their own backstory, with some of Simon’s friends coming from single parent homes or mulit-ethnic families. But rather than make a big show out of it, the presentation of these characters is natural (something that I love). Not everyone can enjoy a coming out as clean as Simon’s, but at least Love, Simon gives many of these teens a couple that reach the type of romantic, happy ending that LGBTQ film has clearly been lacking over the past several decades.

One of My Fav Movie Moms

In my mind, Jennifer Garner is what pops up in my head anytime I think about classic movie moms. Casting her as Simon’s mom was such a fantastic choice and one of my favorite scenes in the movie is the coming out conversation she has with Simon. It brought me and my own mother to tears the first time I watched it, but apparently this scene was not originally written into the script! It was Jennifer’s idea to add the mother/son moment, and let me just say I am so glad they followed through on her idea. The love and emotion in this scene is so beautiful; I do not know that it could have been executed any better.

Final Thoughts

I was so happy when this movie came out. It was great to see representation in such a mainstream film, and as an incoming high school freshman, it felt fairly realistic to me. If I had to describe this film I would say that it is truly heartfelt and inspiring. I really hope to continue seeing such representation in film and tv moving forward with the quality that Love, Simon put forth. I know I always say it, but if you have not yet seen this movie, you should most definitely give it a watch.