Hola Dannie aqui,
Thanks to Precious Roy for bringing this story our way, this looks like a hilariously heartfelt film. Read on!
Hey folks! Gonna be non-puppet-y and serious for a bit, because I think this is kinda important in an actually pretty nonchalant way...
For me, GLEE was the first show to normalize gay love in a coming-of-age story. There were a lot of shows that featured homosexuality and lesbianism, sure, but how many actually made the audience feel, “This is normal, and these outside reactions aren’t”? The trailer for LOVE, SIMON feels like the first mainstream, silver screen, gay coming-of-age film I’ve seen in the that didn’t feature tragic consequences for gay love, or put the gay story in the background of a much more interesting plot. More than anything it
The trailer seems to surround our protagonist, Simon (Nick Robinson), discovering that he’s gay and trying to work out how to let the world know that he’s not the default hetero male they assume he is. The actual plot (which doesn’t appear much in the trailer) concerns Simon’s love life, where he’s falling in love with an anonymous classmate over the internet.
If the plot is as simple as Simon finding his mystery love, then, it’s a pretty light fare. The opening shot is right out of SIXTEEN CANDLES, but LOVE, SIMON doesn’t feel like a John Hughes film from this trailer. I grew up on John Hughes films, and I love them, but those were for a different time. This is a film for now, and told in a style that works for now.
For instance, in SIXTEEN CANDLES, parents are neglectful and forgetful, grandparents are freakishly alien, and siblings are treacherous. But Simon’s parents (played by Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel) are warm, attractive people, and he seems to have a good home life. Simon isn’t dodging the unwanted advances of a sexually frustrated virgin, as Sam dodged Farmer Ted. And Simon doesn’t begin by pining desperately for someone he sees, but doesn’t know—he knows someone online, whom he’s never seen.
It’s interesting to see Simon, who has likely been hiding his preference for several years now, struggle with talking to strangers, like the lawn guy with cool boots. He isn’t in love with the lawn guy. He just wanted to be able to connect with someone and compliment something he liked. We seem him crushing on Bram (played by THE FLASH’s Keiynan Lonsdale) and awkwardly discovering him with a girl… see him shyly look-flirting with his Waffle House waiter. These are things I take for granted as a hetero male, things that are just commonplace in films, but you rarely see this kind of detail of gay love in a film, and, well, it’s sweet.
The tension of the film seems to all be in how Simon will come out and whether or not he will be accepted for who he really is. There’s a bit of fantasy at the end where Simon’s straight friends come out as straight to their parents in an upside-down world where gay is the norm and straight is queer. And this fantasy moment is my only real criticism for this trailer. The moment would be funnier if it wasn’t double-punch-lined by performative blackness. “You tryin’ ta kill me?” “OHO GOD HELP ME JESUS…” It’s a chuckle, but misses the intended target (homogenization) and pushes itself onto black stereotypes. LOVE, SIMON would have done better for itself if it had reached a little deeper for the funny… that said, I like these kinds of fantasy segments, and I hope the only one in the film isn’t this one.
Looking forward to seeing Simon sort his love life out! LOVE, SIMON is out on March 16th of next year.
Precious Roy
Dannie back!
Great write up Roy, thanks for taking the time to write a very thoughtful and insightful trailer announcement. This film looks very good I can not wait to give it a gander. I also attached the teaser below.
Stay Strong, Live Good, Love Movies!
Dannie aka Pekosa Peligrosa
