‘Love, Simon’: How the Teen (Gay) Romance Was Marketed for Wi Audienc – The Hollywood Reporter

Contents:

• 'LOVE, SIMON' IS A GOTDAMN LIGHTFUL ROM, AND 'S GAY AS HELL
• LOVE, SIMON: AT LAST HOLLYWOOD IS SAYG ‘I’M GAY’
• AUTHOR BECKY ALBERTALLI ON ‘LOVE, SIMON,’ THE GROUNDBREAKG ADAPTATN OF HER GAY TEEN ROMANCE
• HOW TO MARKET A TEEN (GAY) ROMANCE NOW
• LOVE, SIMON? DON’T LOVE, SIMON?: A DEBATE ON THE LTLE GAY MOVIE THAT COULD
• FOX HOP GAY TEEN FILM ‘LOVE, SIMON’ GO MASTREAM
• A ROMANTIC COMEDY ABOUT A GAY TEENAGER? WHAT TOOK SO LONG?
• GAY THERAPIST DISCS “LOVE, SIMON” OM A GAY MEN’S MENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVE
• SIMON IS GAY

'LOVE, SIMON' IS A GOTDAMN LIGHTFUL ROM, AND 'S GAY AS HELL

Cast & crewUser reviewsTrivia2018PG-131h 50mSimon Spier keeps a huge secret om his fay, his iends and all of his classmat: he's gay. When that secret is threatened, Simon mt face everyone and e to terms wh his Spier keeps a huge secret om his fay, his iends and all of his classmat: he's gay. Historilly, the LGBT films that have raked the most money are the on that boasted attentn-grabbg hooks (“gay wboy movie” Brokeback Mounta) or nformed to certa gay narrativ the public was fortable wh (dyg of AIDS Philalphia; South Beach flamboyance The Birdge).

How Love, Simon far mercially will, part, be a tt of whether Amerins outsi urban “bubbl” are terted stori of ordary gay folks lookg for love. And while there evably will be gmbl om those who would have preferred a grtier portrayal of the gay adolcent experience, Love, Simon’s vanilla-ns is also what mak culturally signifint, and even slightly subversive.

LOVE, SIMON: AT LAST HOLLYWOOD IS SAYG ‘I’M GAY’

The film looks and sounds like so many other mastream, John Hugh-nostalgic high-school-s you’ve seen on both big and small screens, jt wh one difference: The hero is gay.

AUTHOR BECKY ALBERTALLI ON ‘LOVE, SIMON,’ THE GROUNDBREAKG ADAPTATN OF HER GAY TEEN ROMANCE

Love, Simon should also attract LGBT teens starved for onscreen reprentatn, while olr gay viewers will likely wish there had been a g-out movie this buoyant back their day. Mom is a therapist and bleedg-heart liberal, while Dad is a jovial guy’s guy — sensive enough, but not above the ocsnal sually homophobic ment. The movie don’t probe why a teen wh as solid a support system as Simon’s would have such a hard time g out today; accepts the character’s ncealment of his homosexualy as a simple fact of his existence, as if to suggt that the closet will be full no matter how much society evolv.

HOW TO MARKET A TEEN (GAY) ROMANCE NOW

Love, Simon’s plot thickens wh the appearance of an anonymo blog post which a fellow stunt reveals, unr the psdonym of “Blue, ” that he’s gay. But whereas his feature but, the Wt Hollywood-set The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy (2000), felt a b facile s light-hearted take on ntemporary gay life, the steadfast sunns of Berlanti’s new film registers as eply purposeful.

LOVE, SIMON? DON’T LOVE, SIMON?: A DEBATE ON THE LTLE GAY MOVIE THAT COULD

Tolerance has s mercial benefs; a gay film need no longer appeal exclively to small or specialised when Betiful Thg opened 1996, the UK age of nsent for gay men had only recently been lowered om 21 to 18 (still two years higher than the heterosexual one). Lbians and gay men were banned om servg the armed forc, the sid Sectn 28 was seven years away om beg repealed while phras like “civil partnership” and “marriage equaly” were as unfaiar then as “social media” and “trigger warng” Get Real, a Brish g-out movie that followed two years after Betiful Thg, feel-good material still had to acknowledge the possibily of vlence and homophobia. Photograph: RONALD GRANTThe -stigmatisatn of homosexualy has removed om drama one of s olst standbys: the threat of ostracisatn and social .

FOX HOP GAY TEEN FILM ‘LOVE, SIMON’ GO MASTREAM

Audienc the 1960s uld well prehend the distrs of the barrister, played by Dirk Bogar, who is blackmailed over his sexualy Victim, jt as their 1980s unterparts appreciated the sndal of a married man wh a gay lover Makg Love.

She wants to play footsie, he wants to watch most strikg achievement of Love, Simon is s promotn of a gay character om sassy sikick to thentic hero. Directed by Greg Berlanti and starrg Nick Robson (Jurassic World), the story centers on high school stunt Simon Spier and his bourgeong relatnship--emails wh an anonymo boy he knows only as “Blue, ” which is pted agast his fear of g out as gay. Clark is an openly gay actor, and he plays this character Ethan, who is the only openly gay stunt at [Simon’s high school] Creekwood that Simon knows of at the begng of the story.

A ROMANTIC COMEDY ABOUT A GAY TEENAGER? WHAT TOOK SO LONG?

As Love, Simon — the first teen-targeted, major stud project centerg on a gay romance — gears up to h theaters wi release March 16, the film has already ma a marketg splash.

The Homo Sapiens Agenda, which follows a high schooler that fds fort his anonymo email nversatn wh an anonymo closeted classmate as grappl wh g out to his fay and iends. Greta Garbo’s route went reverse: the last film she appeared was a gay porn tape lled Adam & Yv, om 1974, but she didn’t know (she was filmed walkg down the street a flashback scene that obvly has nothg pornographic about ). It also happens to be the first feature film wh a gay lead, somethg Aptaker and Berger were drawn to after readg Becky Albertalli‘s 2015 YA novel, Simon vs.

And he’s also amazg bee he’s a gay guy, and he had this personal experience to draw om that we did not of g out and what that’s like.

GAY THERAPIST DISCS “LOVE, SIMON” OM A GAY MEN’S MENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVE

One of the book-to-movie chang is the character of Ethan (Clark Moore), the only other openly gay kid at Simon’s school who isn’t the source material. Ethan was a great addn bee you also get that amazg scene where ’s two gay guys stg next to each other who uld not be more different and ’s a remr that Simon is jt one particular story of g out, and this movie is jt one particular movie about .

Berger: It was important to all of to show that there isn’t one type of gay person, jt like there’s no one type of any kd of person. Aptaker: In the moment where Tony Hale (who plays the vice prcipal) discipl the two jerks, he jumps straight to assumg Simon and Ethan mt be boyiends bee they’re the only two out gay guys at this school. 1 prry was to give gay teenagers the classic, chey-at-tim rom- experience that straight people of all ag have taken for granted their entire liv bee they’ve always had .

Love, Simon, the first major stud film to receive a wi release while centerg on a gay teen g out and navigatg romance, is already polarizg queer dienc. The extremely unfortable suatn of havg to s on the uch next to your parents while they ma jok about gay characters on televisn?

SIMON IS GAY

The only real Whe Gay Erasure is Whe-on-Whe Gay Erasure, like when Sam Smh says he’s the first gay man to w an Osr and don’t know who Howard Ashman is. There’s this rponse that Love, Simon is manna om the queer cema gods and that all the medcre gay g-of-age films of yore never existed bee this one’s a wi release. I thank this movie for speakg to me, the Basic Gay, and lettg me picture myself kissg the cute boy on top of the Ferris wheel.

This year’s Osr wner for bt movie, The Shape of Water, portrayed a sympathetic olr gay iend (played by Richard Jenks) who is gentle, effemate, and of urse, sad — an archetype that has domated Amerin cema sce Sal Meo’s Plato Rebel Whout a Cse.

The theatre was filled wh llege-aged stunts who mostly seemed to sympathize wh the leadg character — a gay, closeted, high school stunt. ‘Love, Simon’ is nsired to be the first mastream teen romantic edy wh a gay lead character (played by Nick Robson, send om left). Of urse all gay men are not effemate, but Wtern culture, male on male sire is evably associated wh effemacy bee sex between men volv one man submtg himself to another.