{"id":269,"date":"2018-03-19T00:39:57","date_gmt":"2018-03-19T00:39:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.granitecitynow.com\/?p=269"},"modified":"2018-03-31T00:43:17","modified_gmt":"2018-03-31T00:43:17","slug":"love-simon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.granitecitynow.com\/?p=269","title":{"rendered":"Love, Simon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It was last year \u2013 late summer or early fall, probably \u2013 when I first saw a trailer for \u201cLove, Simon,\u201d and I remember thinking that I couldn\u2019t wait<\/em> for this movie to come out (heh).<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

Because it looked like \u2013 and very much is<\/em> \u2013 one of those stories in which a young protagonist has to wrestle with and ultimately confront a very personal issue; it\u2019s big drama, complemented by playful humor \u2013 and it all feels very sincere.<\/p>\n

And those are the kinds of movies that resonate with me \u2013 the ones with relatable and likable characters that have real struggles and for whom the audience roots, because he or she deserves as much.<\/p>\n

And \u201cLove, Simon\u201d is all<\/em> of that\u2026 and so much more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just like you. For the most part, my life is totally normal\u2026\u201d high school senior Simon (Nick Robinson) narrates, to introduce himself.<\/p>\n

We learn about his high school sweetheart parents (Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel); his chef wanna-be little sister Nora (Talitha Eliana Bateman); his friends, two of whom he\u2019s \u201cknown since pretty much the beginning of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

And he continues, \u201c\u2026 I have a totally perfectly normal life, except I have one huge-ass secret\u2026\u201d.<\/p>\n

Simon is gay. And he hasn\u2019t told anyone<\/em>; he\u2019s barely told himself.<\/p>\n

Simon\u2019s friend Leah (Katherine Langford, whom you may recognize from \u201c13 Reasons Why\u201d) FaceTimes with him to ask if he\u2019s seen the latest post on the school\u2019s social media page, about \u201cthe closeted gay kid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Panic! But that eventually fades when Simon realizes someone else has the same secret, and he sees an opportunity express himself to this other student \u2013 without either of them knowing the other\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n

And as Simon \u2013 disguising himself as Jacques \u2013 and \u201cBlue\u201d cathartically message each other, it\u2019s clear that Simon is starting to understand and gain confidence in who he is.<\/p>\n

But if you\u2019re familiar with stories like this, you know that Simon\u2019s secret not only will be found out but also will be in danger of being exposed before he\u2019s ready to tell it. As if this internal conflict couldn\u2019t get any more complicated, right?<\/p>\n

\u201cLove, Simon\u201d is so good and satisfying on so many levels.<\/p>\n

The montage of Simon\u2019s friends announcing to their parents that they\u2019re heterosexual is hilarious<\/em> and effectively drives home just how silly it is that being straight is the established \u201cdefault.\u201d<\/p>\n

These characters all are amazing: Simon is the good, friendly kid who not only gets along with but is able to joke with his parents; pals Leah, Abby (Alexandra Shipp) and Nick (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.) are the easy-going and understanding comrades that any high school kid would lucky to call friends; Vice Principal Mr. Worth (Tony Hale) tries so hard to be hip that he actually sort of succeeds while eliciting tremendous laughs; drama teacher Ms. Albright (Natasha Rothwell) offers up some humor of her own and delivers one of the<\/em> biggest mic-drop speeches ever. Eh-ver!<\/em><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a little bit of mystery here, as Blue\u2019s email responses to Simon are continually read in a different voice each time Simon thinks he\u2019s figured out who it is on the other side of these messages. It keeps us guessing, and the anonymity nevertheless allows Simon to really<\/em> get to know this person \u2013 and himself.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s no secret that Simon\u2019s secret will come out, but it\u2019s the reactions here that are important.<\/p>\n

They run the gamut \u2013 from the typically ignorant and cruel, which was Simon\u2019s fear and understandably why he felt the need to keep his identity under wraps for so long; to the tear-inducing (guilty!) and empathetic.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not easy for this kid, but that\u2019s what makes his story so endearing. You get it, and you feel every ounce of his anxiety and apprehension.<\/p>\n

There is so much<\/em> to appreciate about \u201cLove, Simon.\u201d It\u2019s full of real emotion and uncertainly and isolation \u2013 and acceptance.<\/p>\n

I was in a packed theater, and the audience at one point exploded<\/em> with resounding applause, which is a testament to this flick and its ability to affect viewers. And that\u2019s really the whole point.<\/p>\n

You have just enjoyed the insights of Movie Addict Mel, a cinema dork and conversational writer. Follow her on Twitter\u00a0@movieaddictmel<\/a>, and \u201clike\u201d her Facebook page\u00a0www.facebook.com\/movieaddictmel<\/a><\/em>. You also can email her at movieaddictmel@outlook.com<\/em>.<\/p>\n