Coming out tale a traditional teenage romantic comedy
“I’m just like you,” narrates Simon (Nick Robinson), in voice-over at the beginning of Love, Simon. “Except I have one huge-ass secret : I’m gay.”
Simon has a loving, normal, uppermiddle-class existence, and the film goes to great lengths to bring this point home. His parents (Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel) are an enviable, healthy, attractive couple; his kid sister’s aspiration to become a chef has the family rallying behind her with enthusiasm; and Simon’s close-knit friends make something as tedious as carpooling into a fun-loving morning ritual.
With a supportive upbringing, Simon shouldn’t have any reason to not tell his family and friends, right? But Love, Simon challenges the notion that acceptance from loved
ones is the only pressure a gay teen feels when considering coming out.
When Simon discovers an anonymous post on his high school’s message board from “Blue,” another closeted gay teen, he immediately begins a secret email exchange. An anonymous exchange with a stranger going through the same experience gives Simon the support his straight family and friends cannot provide.
Then, as Simon falls for Blue, he begins to suspect several classmates might be his closeted friend. Each time, he imagines Blue typing him an email, and each time, the new face is revealed in a slow, delicious pan. It’s a contrived but admittedly effective visual device that illuminates the alluring power of idealized adolescent romantic fantasy fuelled by anonymity.
Love, Simon has its problems. Its depiction of teen gay identity issues is simplistic. While the film is explicit in its core message — that a gay kid can still struggle with coming out while everything else in their life is as square as possible — that picture of normalcy leaves the viewer wanting more depth from the characters.
The photogenic Robinson, cuddly and harmless, doesn’t get much to play with aside from those traits. Nonetheless, Love, Simon diversifies the canon of gay coming-ofage movies, wherein protagonists are often alienated, and offers an undeniably satisfying, cheesy and often hilarious teen romance.