Why I Love 'Love, Simon'

Love, Simon is the film adaptation of Becky Albertalli’s book Simon v’s the Homo Sapiens Agenda and I was fortunate to see an early screening of it during the Glasgow Film Festival last month. The film is a fairly faithful adaptation of the book, but there are some differences and those are generally to make the story work well as a film. So even if you’ve read the book there will still be plenty for you to enjoy in the film version. I won’t spoil it for you by running through the plot of the film (If you want that then go see it) but will let you in on a secret - it is a joy to watch.

Even a couple of days after watching it the joy and happiness that it brought was lingering and I had to wonder why it stayed with me. I think it’s because as a film it treats Simon just like any other teenager.

Simon is an ordinary guy dealing with ordinary teenagery things. He isn’t struggling with his sexuality - he knows he’s gay, he knows he’s going to come out, and he expects that he’ll get a positive reaction from people who are important to him. So this film isn’t about Simon being gay, it’s not really even about Simon coming out. It’s about Simon and his friends all dealing with the changes that the teenage years bring and the insecurity of growing into someone that those around you will hopefully still like. It’s about remaining true to yourself – and your friends – as you grow and your relationship priorities change. Only this time we focus on the gay kid. We get to see his hesitancy about the changes he knows will happen by coming out. We get to see his giddy excitement when he finds out there is another closeted teen at his school. We get to see him mess up his friendships because of external pressures. We get to see…well I’ll leave it there so you can experience the rest for yourself.

It’s the sheer ordinariness that I love. Simon is treated just the same as his friends and their relationships and changes. This isn’t high drama, this is rom-com-drama. And as a rom-com it’s as good – and nicely predictable – as you’d want. It’s a film that is so mainstream that it has an age 13 rating in the US, yet in its own way is massively subversive for that audience. That Simon’s love is so ordinary and mainstream, but with the added twists that the gay thing brings - and is shown to be exactly that - is something that some won’t have seen before and others need to see. And I haven’t even mentioned all the rest of the diversity and inclusion that the film manages to include in some very effortless ways.

It’s a film that filled me with joy in its simplicity and its dedication to giving us a teenage rom-com that’s just like every other teenage rom-com. Everybody deserves a happy ending and that includes Simon. And when he gets his happy ending – c’mon this is a mainstream film, so of course he does – the crowd in my cinema cheered out loud. There are other special moments that just make the heart soar and when they happen you can't help but smile/cry. Go with it, it's good for the soul. Love, Simon is as good for me now as Pretty In Pink was when I was a teenager. 

Love, Simon will be on general release in the UK from 6^th April. So go see it, oh and take your friends.

Also, if you haven’t read it then Becky Albertalli’s Simon v’s the Homo Sapiens Agenda is a great YA novel that’s worth a read even by those who aren’t YA.