[This article does not contain spoilers]
When I saw the "Variety" magazine described "Love, Simon" as a "milestone on all levels" movie, my heart collapsed: Are you not afraid to kill?
The first time I watched "Love, Simon" was at the Sydney Gay Carnival at the end of February. That summer there was a fire, and I went to the largest cinema in the city center half an hour in advance to line up. The mighty crowds lined up from the door to the street, feeling that half of Sydney's gay guys had heard the wind. Behind me, a pair of old grandfathers kept waving their rainbow fans, and the poisonous tongue organizer wanted them to smile at Jiuquan as soon as they got married. However, all the grievances were wiped out after the movie began: laughter, applause and whistles continued to sound throughout the entire auditorium, as if it were a grand party. It was in such an atmosphere that even if there were some flaws in the viewing process, I did not hesitate to give five stars.
In the next few weeks, as the media's reputation grew, I couldn't sit still, and even panicked: This is an ordinary campus movie. How can it be worthy of your screen-like compliments? On the weekend after "Love, Simon" was officially released, I went to the cinema again to verify my judgment. As a result, my eyes went dark when I walked into the theater: the last six rows were densely packed with little girls (I learned later, The entire class from the nearby girls' middle school is here). I looked around, and there were only a few pairs of the same sex, and most of them were standard male and female couples (I have three pairs in this row). When the big screen began to show the opening of the 20th Century Fox, a cool teenager ran in holding his mother's hand and sat down in the first row.
These people-different from the gay carnival-are the audience after the official release of "Love You, Simon". At that moment, I thought I could understand why it became a "milestone": it was the first mainstream gay film produced and released by a mainstream Hollywood film producer, released simultaneously in 2402 theaters across the United States, and classified as PG13. A 9th grader (second year) can buy a ticket to enter the venue, and there are theaters on the east and west coasts or in the closed inland. From the beginning, its significance is not how high the artistry is, but the packaging of the niche stories with popular methods, but also to ensure that the public will not lose interest in this story-this is a gay movie with the help of capital power, facing the general public , An "imitation game" for campus genre films. Therefore, "Love, Simon" is destined to not be in the same coordinate system as "Brokeback Mountain" , "120 Strikes Per Minute" and "Please Call Me by Your Name" ; its location is closer to "Spring is not a reading day" and "Breakfast " . "The Club" and "Ten Things I Hate About You" -it's just that the protagonist of "Love You, Simon" "happens" to be gay.
I emphasize this point because I believe that for people who are accustomed to watching gay movies, "Love You Simon" will be very inadequate: it has no appointments, no homophobic violence, no gloom that is squeezed out by the world, and no heaven. A bed scene with thunder and fire; it has only one coming out story that is as warm as a fairy tale but cannot be applied to everyone. This is the flaw I said at the beginning-it wants to please the mainstream audience too much, and it wants to show the positive energy of gay people, so that it loses the true edges and corners of this group. But I will not deny the film’s efforts to find the greatest common divisor because of this. In fact, the scene where Simon and his father came out successfully brought me to tears (twice). It and "Please call me by your name" Elio's long conversation with his father became the most touching father-son clip in my heart. If Elio’s father knows reason and Simon’s father is moved with emotion, it is the presence of these screen images that makes me dare to assert: whether a gay movie is included in the mainstream or not, those about love, desire for love, The core of understanding love and respecting love will remain intact.
In the last century, an American drama with homosexuality as the protagonist was also given a milestone. Many people accuse it of being too rigid in its portrayal of the gay community and joking too frivolously. However, these have not prevented it from becoming one of the most watched and most popular sitcoms in the United States. "Will and Grace" , which was launched in 1998, made the audience fall in love with gay men, made women yearn for friends, and made "gay aesthetic" a commendatory term, but in the words of the screenwriter: " In order to ensure the largest audience, gay He can only feel represented, and heterosexuals can only feel tolerated. "Will and Grace is a product of stereotype and compromise, but it does not detract from its classics and the laughter it brings to people. Twenty years have passed before the big screen has learned to accept the creative logic of the small screen. "Love You, Simon" is more like a belated gift.
Simon in the movie is lucky: he has enlightened parents, a caring sister, and a friend who accepts him unconditionally. He doesn't come out just because he is afraid of change. Once he decides, he has no hesitation. Because I fell in love with Blue, a pen pal who also didn't come out, the process of searching for Blue also witnessed Simon's growth. "Love, Simon" is the signature of his last letter to Blue (Simon who loves you). When he signs his real name, the audience seems to be able to see his future shine brightly not far away. "Love You, Simon" is a non-mainstream coming out story. It does not copy our painful struggles as people who have passed by. Instead, it carries the belief of "It Gets Better": Coming out will become a small thing one day. It needs to be turned upside down. In fact, during the filming process, two of Blue's three actors came out, and the brother of the male lead Nick Robinson also came out with his family. You see, is this a great life-changing movie?
The lights came on when the movie was playing the ending song. I saw the mother sitting in the first row kissing her son's cheek. At that moment, I smiled like a dog. Love you, Simon.
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