Love, Simon 2018

i don't know what to say, other than i love this goddamn movie. i can truly say that my experience was enhanced by the fact that i'm not straight, as i definitely feel like this was a movie made for people who are struggling/have struggled with coming out. that's not to say it can't be enjoyed by a wide demographic of people (as it obviously can and has been), but i definitely feel like they got the "gay high school experience" down to a t in a way that it makes it all the more enjoyable if you've been through it. all of simon's mannerisms are incredibly relatable, and the dialogue is especially touching and well written (i cried buckets). their tagline, "everyone deserves a great love story" pretty much sums up my feelings, and not to be dramatic (too late), but it's a rom-com that i can really connect with on a deeper level and for that i'm grateful.

in addition to literally everybody, i encourage any lgbt+ people to see this if you're struggling with your identity or the fear of what others will think, or even the fear that you'll never find anybody to love or that loves you. this is truly a movie that you watch and think, "this guy gets it".

About a month ago, a friend invited me to a preview screening of Love, Simon. At the time I thought it’s just okay, and I let myself be overtaken by all the second-hand high school embarrassment the movie caused me. Perhaps a deliberate move: being too cynical to not allow myself to enjoy the film and be left exposed like that to someone again. But I knew that Love, Simon was a story that needed to be told, to be seen, to exist.

I went to the theatre to see this again, only that this time by myself. For the most part because I was very subconscious of what people close to me would say if they saw how this movie affected me, what would they ask, what would they think to themselves? And partially because when I went to see Thelma (2017) with someone I barely knew I had an actual panic attack about 10mins into the movie and I’ve avoided that person ever since. What I realized this time is that despite the rom-com clichés Love, Simon is telling a truth that rings to anyone who has gone through his experience: it constantly feels like you’re holding your breath from time to time until you feel like you can finally exhale –and sometimes, the process repeats over and over again. Throughout the movie you see Simon struggle, not because he doesn’t want to be who he is because in the end he’s proud to be that person but because he’s afraid of things changing once everyone around him learn his truth. Trying to hold onto the relationships you have even when it means lying to everyone constantly because despite how much you may hurt them and how much it hurts you, the mere idea of things changing just because of who you truly are is even worse. Being paranoid and constantly subconscious of what people might think if you do or say something or that they might figure it out. And the loneliness and fear that inherently comes with all of it.

I went to see it again but solo to deliberately allow myself to take it all in despite the effect it could possibly have. And it did give me second-hand high school embarrassment again, but it also brought up a lot of high school «trauma» and I cried. And then I cried more because I realized what this movie will mean –and already does– to a so many people. Had this been straight, I wouldn’t have cared a bit. But seeing a story as common as this on such a big mainstream production, I can’t help it but care because it’s been long overdue.

I've watched a couple of sexuality themed films now, but this is by far the best. Many of the others are often so dramatic that they may frighten people to come out the closet. This is the first film I've ever seen that demonstrates my point of view: Nobody has to make any announcement. Straight people don't announce their sexuality, and so gay or bi people should not feel obliged either. And yet, it still doesn't encourage anyone to hide who they are, because nobody should have to feel that way either!
It was a nicely balanced look at a young lad coming to terms with his sexuality, and dealing with the relationships with his friends and family.

I love the mystery in working out who 'Blue' was in the emails. We know it's one of his school mates, but as the audience, we're constantly trying to work out who it is, while convincing ourselves "there's bound to be a twist.... or is there?" And we begin to wonder if we will ever find out who this mysterious person is.... But I'm not gonna spoil it. Watch it, and find out for yourself!

The most important aspect of this film is that throughout all of it, it's very light-hearted. Even though it does take you on an emotional journey, it's never afraid to put plenty of comedy in there. Even in the most heartbreaking scene, you got a good gag.... And that's brilliant, because that represents life... Those who think miserable dramas that show constant doom and gloom are representative of real life are very negative people. It's refreshing to see a gay-themed film that doesn't make you depressed!

The great thing about this film is that you care deeply about all the characters. The casting was excellent, because the acting was believable throughout, and gave depth to even some of the smallest parts. Very well written. The camera work was also fantastic too, because it didn't go overboard with any artsy-farsey shots or constantly had objects pointing in the middle of the screen just so they could use that annoying focus pull that every modern camera operator seems to use these days. The film did what it was supposed to do: Tell a good story. And quite frankly, it is one of the best films I've seen this year.

*You get to exhale now, Simon*
I finally watched this and it was perfect, this is beautiful, and very necessary!
My favorite scene was by far Jennifer Garner's speech, that if you watched the movie, you probably know what i'm talking about.
There's probably just a few little things I didn't like, especially some of the classic topics and stereotypes that this genre of film usually has, but still, it's amazing.

We need more films like this. Fun, heartwarming, and just fantastic all around!!

Also, a reminder if this wasn't enough: Be yourself. Be happy. You deserve it. (At 31, I still have not had the luck to find my true love, it's sad but it's true.)

My Score: 8/10.

*Trivias*
_ +Just as the film went into production, Nick Robinson's younger brother came out as gay.
+This was the first film produced by a major Hollywood studio to feature a gay teenage protagonist.
+Keiynan Lonsdale was inspired to publicly come out through his involvement in this film.
+Jennifer Garner's "exhale" speech wasn't originally included in the film: there was just one 'parent scene', and a scene with the dad. When Jennifer became interested in the role of Emily, she asked director Greg Berlanti for a scene that has her connect with Simon, so they built it again and wrote what would become essentially the message of the movie.
+Director Greg Berlanti revealed in an interview that there were clips of the "friend group" (Simon, Leah, Abby, and Nick) that were filmed without the actors' knowledge. In order to capture the authenticity of a group of friends beyond the confines of acting, the director would sometimes tell the actors to "cut" but have the cameras keep rolling. Many of these unscripted interactions of friends just being friends (including the dancing in the car scene) made the final cut.
+Kristen Bell, Neil Patrick Harris, Matt Bomer, Tyler Oakley, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, screenwriter Martin Gero, Benj Pasek, Andrew Rannells, Joey Graceffa, Scott Hoying and Superfruit's Mitch Grassi were so moved by the film that they bought out theaters in their hometowns so it would reach as many people as possible. Jennifer Garner, Greg Berlanti and Berlanti's husband Robbie Rogers were so proud of being part of the film that they also did the same thing.
+The production code for the film was "Blue," which is the pseudonym of the person Simon E-mails.
+In Simon's bedroom, there is a copy of Becky Albertalli's (the author of "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda") second novel, "The Upside of Unrequited" on his bookshelf. "The Upside of Unrequieted" also takes place in the "Simon-verse" and revolves around Abby's cousins.
+Although the movie is titled "Love, Simon," it was actually an adaptation of the book "Simon vs. The Homosapiens Agenda." The movie originally had the same name as the book, but it was too long to say, hence the name change.
+The words "hour to hour note to note" can be seen written on Simon's wall, which is a nod to the E-mail ("[email protected]") Simon used in the book to talk to Blue. It was changed in the film to "[email protected]."
+In Simon's bedroom there is an Elliott Smith poster which is a nod to Simon's favorite musician from the book, which he shares with Blue and later connects him with Blue.
+Colton Haynes had a small role in a deleted scene as man who approaches Simon at a gay bar, mistaking him for someone else he knows, and ends up asking Simon to dance.
+Love, Simon (2018) marks the second time major studio 20th Century Fox has made a film that showcases a sympathetic portrayal of a leading homosexual character coming to terms with his orientation and ending on a happy note. The first was Making Love (1982) in 1982.
+Singer Shawn Mendes was invited to audition for the role of Simon but was allegedly unable to do so, as he did not have enough time.
+In the international trailer voice-over, Blue refers to Simon as Simon, not Jacques.
+On the DVD commentary, Greg Berlanti, Isaac Aptaker, and Isaac Klausner discuss the fact that it was surprisingly difficult to settle on the musical that Simon and some of his friends are rehearsing during much of the movie. In the source novel, the musical was Oliver!, but the producers couldn't get the rights to that. For a while, their solution was to have the screenwriters work on an original musical adaptation of the classic teen romance movie Say Anything. Some of that musical was actually written before they decided instead to go with Cabaret, which the rightsholders said was allowed as long as they didn't show the Sally Bowles character in a top hat (which would have suggested that the high school was performing the movie or revival versions of the show instead of the original 1960s stage musical). Berlanti, Aptaker, and Klausner also appreciated the resonances between Cabaret and Love, Simon--both contain closeted gay male characters coming to terms with their sexuality.
+Originally Blake Neely, the general composer for director Greg Berlanti's TV shows, was attached to score the film.
+Simon's coming out dream sequence is to Whitney Houston's "Dance With Somebody." His movie mom, Jennifer Garner, gets ready for a night out on the town to the same song in the movie "13 Going on 30."
+On Simon's bedroom door, there's a poster for the 2007 of Montreal album, "Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?"; an album about a transgender rock star. of Montreal are known for their flamboyant stage personas and frontman, Kevin Barnes, has always been misconstrued as bisexual, but that band are advocates for LGBTQ+ rights.
+It was confirmed by Becky Albertalli (author of "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda") that Alice Spier (Simon's older sister) is not present in the film.
+It was confirmed by Becky Albertalli (author of "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda") that Simon only wears glasses in flashbacks, compared to the book where he always wears glasses.
+Temple Hill Entertainment, who produced the movie, is known for adapting other young adult novels such as The Fault in Our Stars (2014) and The Maze Runner (2014).
+In the closing scene to the movie, when Simon and his friends drive off through the neighborhood, they drive by the house that was used in Life As We Know it. Life As We Know it also starred Josh Duhamel who plays Simon's dad.
+Katherine Langford and Miles Heizer previously starred together in the Netflix Original series 13 Reasons Why (2017).
+Director Greg Berlanti previously worked with Keiynan Lonsdale on The Flash (2014).
+Simon has a theatre program for "Hamilton" displayed in his bedroom next to the window.
+Love, Simon premiered at the Mardi Gras Film Festival on February 27, 2018.
+Nick Robinson and Talitha Eliana Bateman previously worked together in the young adult film The 5th Wave (2016).
+This was the second project where director Greg Berlanti and Josh Duhamel worked together. They previously worked on Life as We Know It (2010).
+In the movie, Simon has a reaccuring dream about Daniel Radcliffe, who starred as Harry Potter in the "Harry Potter" franchise. On his wall, Simon has a Hufflepuff crest. Hufflepuff was one of the four houses in "Harry Potter."
+Though the name of the high school that the main characters attend, Creekwood High, comes from the source novel, it is also reminiscent of director Greg Berlanti's first job on television: as a writer for the teen drama Dawson's Creek. Like this movie, that show also broke ground in its depiction of gay teen romance.
+Logan Miller and Jennifer Garner previously appeared together in the movie Ghost of Girlfriends Past (2009).
+It is based on the novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli.
+Joshua Mikel and Logan Miller appeared on The Walking Dead (2010) together.
+Spier, Simons surname is dutch for muscle
+One of the stickers on Simon's bedroom wall is a picture of a banana. This is the cover art to the first Velvet Underground album, created by Andy Warhol (who was also that band's manager and producer when that album came out in 1967). Warhol was gay, making this an appropriate sticker for Simon's room.
+There are several little moments through the film which hint that Simon's best friend Leah (Katherine Langford) may have some undisclosed feelings for Abby (Alexandra Shipp). This is further explored in "Leah on the Offbeat", the sequel to the original book, although it isn't known if that story will be adapted into a movie.
+At one point in the film, Martin makes a joke to Abby that you would call a Black and a Jewish person "Blewish" (or, Blue-ish). This is essentially revealed to be Blue's identity in the end - he is indeed black and Jewish.
+The last cast member to be announced was Blue. Book fans spent months waiting to discover the actor who would be playing Simon's E-mail buddy. Throughout the whole of filming, no pictures were released of the actor.
+Foreshadowing: At the start of the film Nick talks about a dream he had where he had to choose between red and blue. Abby responds that he is a cross between Cristiano Ronaldo and Sigmund Freud. Of the two people Nick asks out in the film, Leah is at this point wearing blue, and Abby is wearing red. At the Halloween party, the two people who go on to ask Abby out are Nick, who is dressed as Ronaldo, and Martin, who is dressed as Freud.
+In the original book "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda," Bram reveals the inspiration for his username, Blugreen118, comes from his full name - Abraham Louis Greenfeld - and birthday (January 18th).
+Actors playing Simon and Blue have both played a character named 'Olly.' Nick Robinson as Olly in 'Everything, Everything' and Keiynan Lonsdale as Olly in 'Dance Academy'

^^Cameo^^
Robbie Rogers: Director Greg Berlanti's real life husband briefly appears as the soccer coach. _

My friend really recommended me this movie after she saw it, so I decided to follow her example. Well... I was disappointed.

The concept is fine: texting a stranger about the most guarded secret of both of you, and finding out who's the one you've been talking with. The problem is that most of the scenes were really exaggerated. The blackmailing, the love polygon between a group of friends, the friends being everything but friends in the time of need (even if they had their reasons to be mad at Simon; he explained all that and said sorry too), then the ex-friends becoming friendly again without any transition... [Edit: Sorry, the word of the day must've been "friend" for me...] And I didn't even mention all the clichés (Martin's super nerdiness, cyber- and public bullying, etc).

I didn't feel the development of the feelings at all. Simon literally fell in love with a stranger by sending a few e-mails back and forth with him. He ran out of class after just the first message he sent to check if Blue had answered him. I don't think this obsessiveness suits Simon's character.
I enjoyed the guess-who-is-Blue game (hell, I even participated), but the result was truly disappointing. Not because it was who it was, but because it had no logic in it. IMO they should've sneaked some of Blue's said things (like the Oreo or the Jon Snow crush) to Bram. Or maybe he should've gotten more screentime so the viewers could actually guess who Blue was, khm.
[Edit: Okay, I just remembered that when Martin flirted at the cafeteria with Abby, he a told a joke like "what do you call a black jew? - Blue". Now, that was some pretty dope foreshadowing!]

I loved the acting, fell in love with Nick Robinson, but sadly his talent wasn't enough to make this movie acceptable for me.

This is a very sweet, very cute movie. And it has a nice positive message.

Still, is it just me or did the whole romantic aspect feel brutally abrupt? Like, one minute there were some emails going back and forth, and suddenly we're talking about being in love. What? And I get clicking with someone without physically meeting them, cause that isn't really physical. But being attracted to someone? I don't buy you can get there through a screen. I don't know if the whole boyfriend aspect was strictly necessary. The movie would have worked just as well if it was just two closeted gay kids meeting through the internet, striking a friendship, and giving each other the self confidence and reassurance to come out.

Stop trying to cram romance where it's not needed!

And one more thing. I'm still trying to figure out how everyone correctly assumed Blue was a guy. The post literally just said 'I'm gay', and, like, girls can be gay too. Is it really that far fetched to think Blue could have been a girl? It's not like he wrote I'm a guy who likes guys, just I'm gay. And now that I'm thinking bout it, wouldn't it have been a much better plot twist and all around story is Blue actually turned out to be a lesbian? And they only figured it out after like two months and two dozen emails or something? But still, her and Simon gave each other the courage to be themselves? The misunderstanding would have been so funny! Missed opportunity there.

Also, I'm disappointed no one punched Martin in the face. Dude had it coming the whole movie #sorrynotsorry. And the drama teacher's smack down of the bullies gave me life! Yass, honey! So good (though it did make Simon look like a bit of a pansy, just saying).

Lastly, does anyone else think Nick looks like a younger version/little brother of Antoni from Queer Eye? No? Really? Huh.

8,5/10

If the film medium is a representation of the views of society, then this certainly applies to the position of homosexuality. Filmmakers/Studios often struggle with the identity of homosexual characters. They ofter fall in either of two categories; The main character who struggles with the orientation, or the funny over-the-top sidekick no one should take seriously.

Fortunaly, this is changing. Slowly, but it is changing. It's a relief to see a homosexual character in whom it's not an issue on whom or what you fall for. The main and titular character, from the best-selling novel Love, Simon, is actually only getting in the way of that himself. As Simon Says in the voice-over: He's a normal boy, but with a secret. Simon has known he's homosexual for a few years now, and when it becomes known, through social media, that there's another homosexual boy at his school, he decides to send him an e-mail under pseudonym.

Love, Simon is a fairly generic teenage drama at the start, which reflects the traditional elements of middle school life. It seems to start out as a Young (Gay) Adult version of You've Got Mail. But the search for who the mysterious other person is, is actually becoming less and less a plotline throughout the movie. When a fellow student accidentally finds out about the gay pen pals, he uses this as blackmail. The only way to keep it from revealing, Simon has to help the blackmailer to get a date with one of his friends. Yet the mystery and blackmail never seem to dominate the story. What matters most is when Simon feels familiar enough with himself to come out of the closet, not because of his environment, not because his family or previously mentioned plot-points. But because of himself.

What makes this adaptation so special it that is stays away from many clichés of the genre. That homosexuality exists in many different types is shown by another student (who came out years ago), who is extravagant. No judgement is given, certainly no mockery. Everyone can be themselves, as long as you allow yourself to do so. This makes Love, Simon not the umpteenth coming-of-age/coming-out film, but above all a song of praise for personal sovereignty.

Director Greg Berlanti makes no exaggerated sentimental or melodramatic states of any of it. The only way to go with Simon's struggle is to paint it as natural as possible. Berlantie knows how to portray the perception and thoughts of his protagonist in a striking way. More importantly, unfortunaly, there is still a need for these kinds of films and the message they provide. How tolerant we all claim to be with all of us: if sexual orientation, which deviates from the "norm" a little, manifests itself, the acceptability of the many is still very rare.