‘Everyone deserves a great love story…’
Becky Albertalli’s best-selling novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda has hit UK cinemas with the revamped title Love, Simon on the 6th April and it has received nothing but praise.
In this funny, emotional, heart-warming rollercoaster of a movie, Simon, the most loveable teenager I have ever witnessed, is played by the amazing Nick Robinson. He finds himself in a dilemma as his emails are leaked online and he is forced to acknowledge his sexuality in front of the entire school. This movie takes everything that you typically find in a rom-com, coming-of-age movie from cliché lines and friendships, to corny teenage love and flips it upside down. That is, by making our protagonist Simon gay.
The film's greatest achievement lies in the sincerity of its depiction of pertinent issues, such as coming out to parents, homophobia and equality for the LGBTQ+ community. Rather than giving Simon a sad ending, where he doesn’t get the love he wants, the film's cute and clichéd ending provides Simon with the happiness that he deserves. Instead of depicting a teenager who gets rejected by his parents, we get something special and heart-breaking that will hopefully inspire and encourage viewers to come out to parents and friends, to find the love they deserve. This movie is a landmark in the LGBTQ+ community.
Further, this film not only portrays the gay community with respect but it also includes diversity, representing actors of colour and Jewish culture. This film is everything society has needed and the fact it took until 2018 for the film to be produced disappoints me. But, hopefully, Simon and his story will set the precedent for further movies to depict gay love stories. I for one cannot wait to go see them.
A truly loveable film, Love, Simon brought me nothing but happiness and I hope this film inspires other directors out there to create movies that reflect LGBTQ+ love as easy as Simon and Blue’s.
For those who are looking for an easy, light-hearted, outstandingly fun movie, Love, Simon is definitely, 100% for you (I think it should be law to at least watch this movie once).
