Love, Simon Was Not Very Good
April 13, 2022
“Love, Simon” , the movie version of the critically acclaimed novel “Simon Vs. the Homosapiens Agenda” was a complete and utter roller coaster. But not in a good way. It was the roller coaster that you vowed to never go on again after it made you throw up all over the seat. And because of the unfortunate incident, roller coasters were forever ruined for you.
Me and my movie watching buddy sat down to watch “Love, Simon” with low expectations. Both of us had read the book and were very much aware that movies based on books were usually bad. However, nothing could have prepared me for the horrors that I was about to witness. The novel was a sappy LGBTQ+ romance filled with memorable side characters and pop culture references. Though it was really embarrassing and stereotypical at times, it managed to earn a solid 4/5 stars from me. The movie was a whole different story.
But first, a premise of the plot to provide some context. It’s official summary states:
“Everyone deserves a great love story, but for 17-year-old Simon Spier, it’s a little more complicated. He hasn’t told his family or friends that he’s gay, and he doesn’t know the identity of the anonymous classmate that he’s fallen for online. Resolving both issues proves hilarious, terrifying and life-changing.”
I’ll start off with its numbered strengths, just to take a break from all of my trash talking. “Love, Simon” had a diverse cast which was a welcome change from the white-centered media that most of us watch. In general, the actors fit the characters shown in the book well. I also enjoyed that they managed to put a few references from the book into the movie. The directors of the movie also did a good job of not making the movie as heavily reliant on gay stereotypes like the book, which was appreciated by me and probably many others.
Now, for the fun part. The criticism. Unlike the book, it was quite obvious who “Blue”/ the anonymous classmate was from the start of the movie. Then, they switched it up in an attempt to make the viewer rethink their prediction. But, it fell flat and just made the whole plot confusing. Additionally, Simon’s friends in the movie were really shallow, compared to them being empathetic in the novel. It felt like they didn’t care about Simon’s feelings and it painted them as the villains, when they weren’t written to be so. Finally, the movie was cringe worthy in general and definitely did not deserve all the hype it got.
In conclusion, this movie kind of sucked. Please don’t come at me, I have a family.