movie: Love, Simon

Another month, another impressive movie from Hollywood involving gay themes.  This time, it's specifically about the coming out experience in high school.  Unlike what you'd expect, though, it seems broadly popular because it focuses on the entire spectrum of "high school and teenage years are difficult" angst.  There's a learning curve in those years, regardless of circumstances in life.

I knew that "Love, Simon" was a drama, so I didn't really have high expectations on my way to the theater.  Drama is typically low on my list of favorite types of movies.  But I bought my ticket (at a regular megaplex) about 15 minutes early, and the whole theater was nearly sold out.  On Tuesday evening at 7pm, there were only 5 seats left.   Wow, I'm impressed that it's still that popular even after the opening weekend.

"Love, Simon" evolves through the online messages that two high school teens write to each other anonymously as they try to navigate their separate coming out experiences.  The movie takes its title from his signature of their last online message, where Simon publicly signs his name to his unknown penpal, for all the world to see.  Neither student knows much about the other, beyond the fact that they attend the same school.  The first 1/4 of the movie was typical drama fare.  I think.  I don't know because I blanked out on the social introductions since I don't really have much interest in that stuff.  But later on, the movie really gets interesting.

My favorite character is probably the theater instructor.  She isn't happy that her acting career has landed her in high school education, and she's not afraid to let everybody know her displeasure.  She tolerates no nonsense, and her attitude generates some of the best lines in the movie.  She not afraid to call out bad talent, and she's not afraid to confront bullies, and if she has to spend her life in high school, then she's not going to sit quietly in a corner and watch life go by.

Back to Simon, though.  He gets blackmailed early on when someone finds out his secret.  In payment for keeping his secret hidden, Simon has to behave unethically throughout the movie by manipulating his friends to suit the blackmailer's purpose.  It's not a good situation for anyone, and the movie makes that interpretation plain.  Simon does have to pay the price of his own wrong behavior even while the movie shows the audience so clearly how unfair it is for anyone to have to "come out" and face life as a minority different from friends and family.

It's a good film, scoring 92% among both critics and audiences.  It's been such a powerful motivator that some people involved in the film have come out to their own families and the public at large.  One gay actor not in the movie even bought a theater night to give free movie seats to his hometown in Spring, Texas (near Houston, not Big Spring in West Texas where parts of my family were from), because he was so impressed by the story.

So... I think it's a good film.  Not my favorite style, because it's so clearly a social story, but it's definitely popular for good reason.  It's a "family friendly" show too, which makes a difference.  It's one that actual students could watch.  I think it's a good film for teenagers, since it's easy to relate to the high school social angst.  The adults are simultaneously cartoonish and believable, which is very entertaining.  That's a hard balance to achieve, but "Love, Simon" does it well.

Well worth the price of admission.