The background of "Love You Simon" is closer to the current Western society, so there are no serious social obstacles and tragic feelings in the plot. When I bought the ticket, I saw that the classification was written as a comedy, but I still cried after watching it. Laughing again~
The plot is not too long-winded. It is based on Simon’s coming out experience and the real identity of Guessing the mysterious pen pal Blue. There are some common dog blood in mainstream youth movies. What A thinks B likes C and B likes A, Simon My classmates came out to the whole school, then accepted myself and bravely wooed the mysterious pen pal, and finally everyone lived happily together...
Add a few unforgettable plots: (Because it's too modern society, I can't help but always think of the queer theory I see...)
##
In the beginning, Simon asked each other how he knew his sexual orientation when he emailed with Blue under his pen name. Blue said: "When "Game of Thrones" was on the air, the other boys were staring at Dragon Mother’s breasts, but I fell in love. Jon Snow."
Simon replied: "Jon Snow is a good choice for sexual awakening~~"
##
When Simon thought about coming out, he had a lot of thoughts in his heart: Why don't heterosexuals come out? Then his brain made up for the scene of his heterosexual friend coming out to his family.
It is obvious in the movie that what he is really afraid of is not letting others know his sexual orientation, but coming out means publicly declaring his identity, which makes him feel uneasy. He knew that his family and friends who loved him would accept him, but he was instinctively afraid of life changes.
He even felt jealous of Ethan from the same school, because Ethan originally "looks gay" and everyone knew it without coming out, so before and after Ethan came out, everyone treated him the same. And what about himself? As he said, it looks like everyone else has a perfect normal life, except for the huge secret of sexual orientation.
In order to show that Simon's appearance and manners are "normal" and "straight", the movie also made Simon's green plum Leah crush him... Okay, we all know that Simon is not "gay" at all... (Tan Shou, Youth A must-have for movies)
Simon does not take the initiative to say that others do not know his sexual orientation. There are many sexual minorities. It can be said that they are active or passive "deep cabinets".
I can't help but think that people around me would use the expression "xx is very Ji". When reading an article by my supervisor interviewing the author of Mother Camp, a big cow in gay/lesbian studies, she said that Femme must always prove herself and make herself a legible lebian; but the Ji of Butch is full of energy, but she will definitely challenge the public. The perception of normal has thus been discriminated against.
Probably, people who are not gay are worried that they are not obviously gay, while those who are "gay" will have more or less difficult life.
Simon's gay dad often fails when guessing who is blue. The gay dad culture seems to make people feel that sexual orientation can be "see". The so-called first few faces of a person can guess that sexual orientation is only suitable for very few people.
Except for a few people who dress and behave clearly, sexual orientation is not something that can be discerned by the naked eye . For most sexual minorities, sexual orientation can only be made clear by means of notification.
And this kind of notification (that is, what we call coming out) is often impactful, and coming out has to be given out to different people many times. For example, in this movie, the coming out scene happened 7 times, and Simon came out. Six times, Blue also came out at the end.
##
Simon, like his friends, wears not very bright clothes, drinks iced coffee from a chain brand, and leads a very straight life. Although he is very "popular", he also has a rainbow plot in his heart, and he also thought about gay lifestyle.
For example, he comforted himself by saying that when the university was going to California, he had to "be out and proud." Then he made up his mind to sing and dance with a group of classmates in colorful clothes in the dormitory of the university in California, accompanied by the rainbow flag... Then he said to himself Language: "Well, maybe not so gay..."
Whether it is "gay" as an adjective in Simon’s eyes, or in the eyes of others, once the statements of "you are gay", "you are man" and "you good mother" appear, it means that the psychology of the person talking about "gay" "Man" "Mother" has a (stereotype) impression.
When Simon imagined his "out and proud" college life, he was actually imagining a typical modern Western gay image: coming out to everyone, dressing stylishly, having a good taste, acting and talking confidently, having a positive attitude towards life, and daring to challenge traditions and norms. .
While he wants to be his true self, he is not sure if such a gay lifestyle is what he wants. He just feels that if his identity changes from straight to gay, he has to change a little. (Later, after he was out of the closet, he struggled for a while while choosing clothes at home)
And this kind of image-building of gay has been criticized all the time.
On the way to equal rights for gays in various countries, there is often more than just fighting for the rights of sexual minorities. In some societies, discrimination can increase for some people.
For example, discrimination against gender temperament (masculine gays look down on gays they consider sissy), such as discrimination against social class (elite gays look down on money boys).
Have you discovered that this kind of discriminatory chain in the circle is generated regardless of the sexual orientation?
This concept actually exists in domestic cities. For example, a "qualified gay" needs to be at least middle class, has muscles and taste in fitness, and can't be too "mother"... In short, on the one hand, it must be different from straight people, but on the other hand, it has to be different. Class view similar to the mainstream.
From this perspective, wanting to completely break away from the mainstream itself is a misunderstanding. Even if you think you are niche enough to be counter-mainstream, you may still unconsciously abide by and reinforce other mainstream social norms. The real anti-standard and anti-hegemony should be comprehensive.
##
After Simon and his family came out, his mother, sister, and father accepted him.
His mother said: "You are still you."
Dad, who usually makes homophobic jokes, asked him when he knew his sexual orientation. He said he was 13 years old. Dad said: "It's been 4 years, I have been making stupid jokes with you for these 4 years, I'm sorry. I won't change anything about you, I love you."
Then his father happily said hey download Grindr~ I know what it is, facebook for gay people~
When Simon and his family came out, let alone sex, he had not been in a relationship with the same sex.
Like many modern teenagers, his way of coming out is to express "I am gay, I love the same sex" (who I am), rather than expressing sexuality. This is the wonderful part of coming out, because although you are talking about sexual orientation, you remove the sexual part.
At the moment of coming out, homosexuality is expressed as an identity, not an act. Because this is the prerequisite, coming out was established.
This is why coming out has always been controversial in China. Many people feel that the concept of coming out is not applicable in China. They feel that homosexuality is not recognized as an identity in China (whether it becomes an identity is also controversial).
##
Finally, Simon, who was afraid of being too gay, got on the gay gay Ferris wheel (just kidding) and told the whole school that he was looking for Blue.
Some people may think that this movie is not romantic enough, literary enough, or realistic enough. After watching the movie, I saw criticisms of this movie on the Internet. Some people thought that this movie was too vulgar and mainstream, and some even criticized this movie for catering to the mainstream taste of heterosexuality.
Interestingly, this also illustrates the question: Does LGBT/queer-themed film and television work have to be "non-mainstream", niche, transgressive (anti-trend)/anti-normative (anti-normative)? Want to distance yourself from mainstream heterosexual movies?
The film indirectly expresses Simon's anxiety about whether he is "gay" or not, and finally his relief:
I don’t need to be gay different from the mainstream. I still wear simple clothes, drink coffee from a chain brand, and chat with my friends in the car. At the same time, I can also be a gay and talk about sweet love (sprinkling dog food) with my boyfriend.
"I'm just like you."
This "you" is straight, Blue, gay, and all sexual orientations.
Rather than saying that "Love You, Simon"'s youthful dog blood and silly white sweetness are in line with the taste of straight people, it is better to say that it is meaningless to emphasize the difference between "straight people" and "LGBT".
A gay may be as obvious as Ethan that the person who doesn’t need to come out is outside the cabinet, or it’s not obvious like Simon or Blue that his best friends around him can’t see it. "Straight people".
You can't be too gay, because first of all, gay has no rules about lifestyle. Being gay is not to be "different" from straight people based on the standard of straight people.
Any movie that tries to shape "gay" or even define the image of "queer" is a hooligan regardless of its original intention. As an audience, one should not define what LGBT and queer movies should be.
I am very happy that "Love You Simon" appeared. It is a relatively easy comedy with lots of laughter and is suitable for watching with my family. (Unfortunately, you can't watch it in the cinema in China)
Just like any subject, a LGBT movie can be sad, literary, easy, and commercial.
If there are many mainstream elements in an LGBT movie, we say that it is "not LGBT enough" and that it "caters to straight people", which means that we are comparing straight people with LGBT as a standard, and even shaping the fixed image of LGBT movies. But this should have been diverse.
Public number link:
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/YZAydiUc85E0kMI4HL_ZAQ
View more about Love, Simon reviews
