Review: Love, Simon
"I’m left with my heart pounding, slight butterflies in my stomach, and a rejuvenated outlook on love and life."
by Sophia Okin
Published
The rush you get from watching a teenage rom-com is unique to its genre, and Love, Simon maintains this convention. Having left the theater approximately fourteen minutes ago, I’m left with my heart pounding, slight butterflies in my stomach, and a rejuvenated outlook on love and life. As cheesy and cliché as this movie can get, Love, Simon keeps with our progressive times as it tells the story of a high school senior, Simon Spier, and his coming-out experience.
Corresponding with another closeted teen at school, “Blue,” Simon’s love-interest, describes his life as a Ferris wheel – experiencing some of the highest highs our youth has to offer, as well as the overwhelming points of darkness that too are often a staple of these years we use to find ourselves. This Ferris wheel, so applicable to a collective identity of the North American teenager, is also suited to the emotions experienced by anyone engulfed in the velveteen theater seats.
Although it grapples with themes such as sexuality and how that affects one’s relationships at home, with friends, and at school, the movie is, at its core, about accepting our truths – no matter what they may be. Throughout the movie, we reminisce of those friends we’ve had since we were eight, the times in which we feared we’d disappointed our parents, and the disconnect we’ve only felt in a sea full of our classmates. Above all else, Love, Simon asks us to stand back and confront if the person we portray in our daily lives is genuinely who we feel we are at our roots.
Sophia Okin is host to Does this show make my ass look big? on AROUSE Thursdays from 4p-5p.