Love,Simon---If you want to watch a love movie about separation of life and death, a serious and rational affirmative movie, or a propaganda film about the pride of revelry, this is not a good choice. This film, which focuses on the "coming out" of American teenagers, gets rid of the obscure, forbearing, or slanted style of the same-sex movies in the past. Instead, it uses the best creative methods of American movies to completely make this theme. A family fun drama with mainstream values. In this sense, this is the beginning of an era.
This is not to say that coming out is as easy as eating and sleeping. In today's world, even in the United States, there are still many young people suffering from their own orientation problems. But this is not the intention of this film. We have seen too many sad stories and heard too many helpless sighs. Even the warriors sometimes scream tired. This is the uniqueness of this film. He just tells you a simple truth through the first love story of a cute little gay: my first love and yours are no different.
From the very beginning, Simon Spier told us that he is an ordinary high school student, with a father, a mother, a sister, a dog, and a group of good friends who hang out with each other every day. Simon didn't choose to be different, because everything he had seemed ordinary but he was very content. However, in this world where everyone is assumed to be heterosexual, he has to be different. (There is also a wonderful reversal plot in the movie. Why does heterosexual couple do not need to come out? It is extremely funny, but if you think about it carefully, it can only be used as a teasing.)
As Simon said, he doesn't think there is any problem with his orientation, but he must consider the consequences of coming out. Whether a good friend feels awkward and alienated from him, whether his parents treat him as an alien, these are all very real questions. If the people around him just reluctantly accept it, the happy time he has now will also be greatly reduced. Seeing here, there should be many people who feel the same way. Coming out may not be as drastic as a life and death decision, but the price to be paid is still subversive.
This film is very successful in portraying Simon, an adolescent boy, who has longing for feelings, nervousness, excitement and sometimes hysterics. At the same time, it also abandoned the previous single, bitter love narrative style, and adopted a slightly suspenseful conjecture. Although it is not original, it is used just right. This also reflects the huge market and creative space for this subject from another aspect. Simultaneously with Simon's main line, several branch lines were cleverly added. For example, Leah has a crush on Simon, but feels that he may not be worthy of it and feel humble. Another example is the kind of loss that Nick had a crush on Abby but mistakenly thought that his heart belonged to him. Maybe everyone's experience is different, but the feelings of ignorance, shyness, suspicion because of love, and even low self-esteem during adolescence are very similar. Love is love. You will not lose its essence just because you are in love with the same sex. This is what this film will tell you. "It's like sitting on a Ferris wheel, the last second is the top of the world, the next second it drops to the bottom." What Simon often said does not apply to other students.
It is worth mentioning that this film also got rid of the idealized definition of gay people in the past. Simon in the film is neither a bad student, but also not an outright good person. He never stood up when he saw his fellow gay classmates being bullied, and even deliberately broke up the marriage of his friends in order to protect his secrets. It is precisely because of this that Simon has become more real and lovely. The gay group that has been wandering at the extremes of demonization and deification has finally been transformed into ordinary people. They have the same desires and selfishness as other people, and even intentionally or unintentionally hurt the people around them. This is not fundamentally different from Martin's exposing Simon in order to divert everyone's attention.
As a film with the main theme, it is almost necessary to oppose campus bullying. This part of the film is also just right. I agree with Simon's mom that there are some things that you have to experience personally to grow up, and parents can't intervene. It is commendable that the two gays in this film have strong hearts. When facing bullying, they don't have the entangled inferiority of previous films. On the contrary, they all hit back. Although the teachers and students of the school had the mentality of watching the excitement when they learned that Simon was coming out, they all came forward to help when they encountered real bullying. This may be exactly what the film said, it's 2018. Does anyone really care if you like men or women? Yes, it's the 21st century, who cares about this? It has to be said that mainstream American public opinion has been improving, and social progress has given individuals a stronger heart. You have to face your difficulties bravely, because you are never alone.
What's interesting is the handling of several bullies in the film is also very plump. Two guys who like to imitate others have a surpassing interest in gays. It is not so much that they behave badly, as it is out of a certain jealousy. Perhaps in their opinion, those who can come out generously in search of true love are just naked comparisons of themselves. As a major negative character, Martin also has a few shining points. He is delicate and easy to let go. In the end, it is a bit sweet to make Simon not embarrassed to lie to him as Blue. This kind of treatment also points back to the subject again. We and you are really not that big difference.
Simon was forced out of the closet in the whole school. This may be the worst nightmare for those hiding in the closet. But other than that, his journey is really smooth. Friends understand that family relationships have become closer. If you imagine carefully, the real contradiction in the whole film is that he cheats on friends and finds online boyfriends, and these are not what other people will experience and worry about?
You deserve everything you want in life, Simon's mother told him.
Yes, in the end Simon and his friends continued to hang out together, but this time they joined a new member, Blue. His life is back to "normal". When everyone is out of the cabinet, the cabinet will not exist. From the perspective of coming out of the closet, this film shows a world without a closet. After all the prejudices are cast aside, what is the difference between your first love and my first love?
