Love Simon is the first teen film that focuses on a gay key character in a society that is looking for representation. The movie is an important and good initial step in sending an essential message about the LGBT community to the world. The film narrates the story of a high school student named Simon. Simon is struggling with his internal being and the secret of being gay. He has a family that supports him and a reliable group of friends. He starts communication through e-mail with another boy in the same school. The boy, who uses the name Blue on the social media site, is also gay and just like Simon is keeping it a secret. Simon relates to the post posted by Blue on the site. Blue claims that keeping his gay status a secret is an emotional burden to him. Simon decides to contact him, and they develop a relationship founded on shared experience. Finally, Simon declares his love for Blue even though they had not met. The declaration sends a message of the inner struggles that homosexual teens experience in their daily lives because of society's perception of their gender.
I also find the film intentional because of the way it shows how common gender norms are perceived and how this makes it difficult and challenging to come out. Simon's father keeps making sex and women related jokes to Simon in the film. I think the film does to highlight how challenging being gay or homosexual is in a world that assumes all people are straight until stated otherwise. The challenge of being gay is also presented in Simon's imagination of the straight friends announcing their sexual orientation to their parents. Imagination indicates how society sees being gay as an abnormal thing. Even though being gay in the current society is increasingly being accepted, being a homosexual is still transformed into a thing that changes the way family members and friends see a gay person. Fear of family and friends' relationships changing is what makes Simon fear coming out.
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I found the movie believable because it presents the real experience of teen gays who experience difficulties with handling their self-identify and revealing their sexual orientation. They are not able to express their romantic feelings in open and show who they are free like their heterosexual counterparts. I would highly recommend the movie to a friend. It offers essential lessons that could help people accept and embrace people who are not heterosexual like Simon. Watching the movie would help others see what gay people, especially teens, go through hence support such teenagers. Such understanding and support would help teen gays come out about their sexual orientation without fear of changing relationships between them and their family and friends hence making the world a better place for them. Although the movie focuses on the challenges and difficulties encountered by the LGBT community, it also highlights happiness and longing for being together, just like in heterosexual relationships.
Representation
Based on different readings and gay perceptions of people I have interacted with, in the society, I believe the film is representative of the gay teen population. It adequately portrays their real experiences. The movie does not use stereotypes on the lead character, Simon. Simon's appearance, the way he dresses, and behavior is not stereotypical, and this reinforces the fact that a person's identity is not on the outside, but rather, in a person's inside. Common perceptions of a gay teenager are being hyper-feminine, a soft voice, and having a group of girlfriends, among others. Simon breaks most expectations that society has about homosexual people. Homosexuality is still met with opposition in most communities throughout the world. Many researchers claim that discrimination, which results from gay stereotype results not only from sexual orientation but also from violating the traditionally perceived gender roles. Therefore, due to the belief that being gay involves a change of the traditional gender roles, adverse reactions are developed by society towards those who come out and declare their gay status. Gay men are seen as more similar to females than to males who are heterosexual. The tendency of society to see things or individuals who share some characteristics as being similar in many other ways leads to the idea that gays are gender atypical. Therefore, because their sexual attraction is similar to that of women who are heterosexual, it is assumed that they are identical to women in many other ways.
The film portrays Simon as an average and normal high school student instead of one feminine gay individual. The way Simon is portrayed in the film and his attraction towards masculine individuals effectively counters a common stereotype that individuals in a gay relationship have to assume a feminine or a masculine side. The film makes an effort to make being gay appear normal. Simon appears just like his male counterparts, and there is nothing on the outside that makes him appear different from those who are heterosexual. He has both male and female friends and does not behave or dress like a girl. Therefore, being gay does not mean that one individual has to behave according to the established gender roles by society. Therefore, a gay relationship is normal, just like heterosexual relationships.
Lessons Learned
Watching the film has given me a different perspective of being a homosexual, such as gay. I previously thought, as learned from the mainstream society, that gays in most ways behave like heterosexual females. My expectations for a gay person were, therefore, a male who, in most ways, behave like a female, has a high pitched voice, dressing that is more similar to that of women, and is always in the company of girls, among others. However, Simon, the movie's main character, has made me realize that being gay does not mean behaving in a way similar to that of the opposite sex/gender. It is an essential thing that people experience, and it is not an outward portrayal. They are males just like heterosexual ones; hence the gay stereotypes are very wrong.
I have also learned that they encounter a lot of emotional turmoil that results from the difficulties associated with opening up about their sexual orientation. Our behavior and attitudes towards them can cause mental health problems. They live in fear of losing their normal relationships with friends and family members because of their gay status. The fear prevents them from living a happy and open life, just like those who are heterosexual. They are normal and therefore, should be treated in a normal way and not with disgust or stereotyping them. Their relationships are just like any other relationship between a male and a female. Once they are accepted and considered normal, they can easily open up and have a relationship with friends and family remain intact as before.
I now feel that I have a better understanding of how the groups could be oppressed in society. I have understood that they are as violators of societal norms, and this is why they are discriminated against. Also, fear of discrimination and rejection is the reason as to why most homosexual teenagers like Simon prefer to communicate and open up others with the same sexual orientation online instead of revealing it to close friends and family. Although Simon has a family and friends who are liberal, he fears opening up for fear of change in relationships between them, and he chooses to share his situation with Blue, who is also encountering a similar situation. Simon’s choice shows the need for society to accept and embrace people with different sexual orientations without judging them.
An important strength learned about the gay community is their immense ability to accept and acknowledge who they are without condemning themselves. Recognizing that one is different from what society expects is a significant strength. Simon does not condemn himself because of his romantic feelings towards people of the same sex as him. He accepts who he is and begins his pursuit of happiness by contacting Blue. Furthermore, he is bold enough to declare his love for Blue regardless of societal expectations. Towards the end of the movie, Simon openly acknowledges that he is gay; a sign that people in this group are bold and courageous to counter societal norms even in the face of rejection by accepting who they are.
Use of Information
Information acquired from the film will be used to encourage homosexual individuals who might be going through the fear of being rejected or discriminated against because of their sexual orientation. It will help handle the LGBT community in a rational way and in consideration of the challenges they go through and their emotional needs, which are similar to those of those who are heterosexual. Moreover, the information will be used to advocate for this group so that they live happy lives that are free of fear and stereotypes.
