Great! So what exactly will I be discussing in these reviews?
Plot
Character and their development
Viewer Engagement
My favourite moment
My least favourite moment
Anything else!
So... which film is going to be the subject of my seventh Film Review on my blog?
Love, Simon (2018)
This review WILL contain spoilers for both the film and the book it derives from.
Plot:
I found the plot of the film engaging, despite having previously read and enjoyed the book from which this film was adapted. In essence - this story is of Simon, who is sixteen in the book and eighteen in the film, who comes across a student on the school gossip hub that has come out as gay under the alias of "Blue". Simon reaches out to Blue via email but these emails fall into the wrong hands and Simon finds himself in a position of trying to keep these emails from being leaked while falling more and more in love with Blue. The plot of this film and the way that the mystery elements are implemented allow the reader to continue to question which person Simon is speaking to with several characters narrating the emails from Blue throughout the story. I found this a clever way to allow the viewer to guess along with Simon.
Character:
Today I would like to talk about two characters - the protagonist, Simon and the antagonist Martin, both of whom get a lot of screentime throughout the film.
Simon, being the narrator and centre character, meant that he had a lot of time to develop throughout the film. You get to watch Simon's opinions of how he's going to live his life change as the film goes on - from the hilarious scene where Simon said he would be proud when he'd be at college and the subsequent reaction that he wouldn't be that extreme and how he must respond after he's been outed since. It is both sad and empowering to watch as Simon struggles within this story and his ability to allow himself the chance to get emotional makes him a relatable and accessible character within the story.
Martin is the antagonistic force within the story, blackmailing Simon into having him try and establish the makings of a potential romantic relationship between himself and Simon's friend Abby. In the film, you see a lot of Martin. His character is both likeable and easy to hate at the same time. You get to understand why the students that surround him harbour such a strong distaste for him, but as Abby becomes more enamoured by him, in a stictly platonic sense, the viewer does too. You resent his actions but you want things to work out in the end. Unfortunately, that is not the case and he embarrasses himself in a theatrical display of public affection towards Abby and out of spite, humiliation and a want of revenge, he outs Simon through unveiling the screenshots of his emails to Blue. Despite his actions, Martin does attempt to redeem himself by giving Simon one more chance to meet Blue at the winter festival. This act is albeit small but demonstrates that he wishes to make amends with both parties. His actions and subsequent development and redemption make him a thoroughly interesting character.
Viewer Engagement
I was thoroughly engaged with the plot of this story, finding it easy to follow as there were few compliated plotlines. Instead, the conflicts were very central to the main characters and this meant that the interconnections were true to life as one is rarely privy to drama outside of your social sphere.
Due to the nature of the conflict, I also found the content very captivating, despite having read the book as it is a very real subject matter. A person being LGBT, and a person being outed as LGBT are both very common occurrence in contemporary society and it is heart-warming that we get to watch these real and sad experiences be put on the big screen for people to marvel at.
Martin is the antagonistic force within the story, blackmailing Simon into having him try and establish the makings of a potential romantic relationship between himself and Simon's friend Abby. In the film, you see a lot of Martin. His character is both likeable and easy to hate at the same time. You get to understand why the students that surround him harbour such a strong distaste for him, but as Abby becomes more enamoured by him, in a stictly platonic sense, the viewer does too. You resent his actions but you want things to work out in the end. Unfortunately, that is not the case and he embarrasses himself in a theatrical display of public affection towards Abby and out of spite, humiliation and a want of revenge, he outs Simon through unveiling the screenshots of his emails to Blue. Despite his actions, Martin does attempt to redeem himself by giving Simon one more chance to meet Blue at the winter festival. This act is albeit small but demonstrates that he wishes to make amends with both parties. His actions and subsequent development and redemption make him a thoroughly interesting character.
Viewer Engagement
I was thoroughly engaged with the plot of this story, finding it easy to follow as there were few compliated plotlines. Instead, the conflicts were very central to the main characters and this meant that the interconnections were true to life as one is rarely privy to drama outside of your social sphere.
Due to the nature of the conflict, I also found the content very captivating, despite having read the book as it is a very real subject matter. A person being LGBT, and a person being outed as LGBT are both very common occurrence in contemporary society and it is heart-warming that we get to watch these real and sad experiences be put on the big screen for people to marvel at.
My Favourite Moment
There were so many amazing moments in this film, I think that the one I liked the most had to be the conversation that Simon has with his mother after he comes out to his parents at Christmas. He has returned to school and is being mocked for his sexuality. When he returns home from school he speaks with his mother about him being gay in more detail. She informs him that he no longer has to keep holding his breath, in reference to hiding who he is and whatnot. Instead, he can finally exhale. This scene had a heavy emotional resonance that I really appreciated.
My Least Favourite Moment
My least favourite moment would have to be one which derived from second-hand embarrassment. Unlike an earlier scene of public humiliation with Martin involved, which took place at the Waffle House, the one where he confesses his love for Abby in the middle of the football game had to be the worst moment of the film. Not because it was badly acted, or shot, but because it was heartbreakingly humiliating and relatable. Everyone has had a moment when they realise that what they've said will have negative impacts on them, whether in a short-term or not. This feeling is amplified and accentuated by the idea of big romantic gestures being desirable. Had this display gone as it was meant to, the way in which Martin confessed his feelings to Abby would be deemed very romantic, as opposed to being the subject of humour from his schoolmates.
Anything else!
Yes, I would like to take this opportunity to promote a newly established blog for film and general nerd-ish discourse, created by my friend Emma Berry, who happened to be one of the four people in my company when I saw this film in the cinema. The blog's title is Emma Berry's World and the link to it can be found here. I mentioned this as she too has recently written a review of Love, Simon and she has mentioned that she intends to continue to discuss not only comparisons between the book and the film but discourse in reference to this film and the Oscar Nominated film Call Me By Your Name! To catch these posts, and much more content, feel free to check out Emma Berry's World!
Thank you so much for reading!
And remember:
Per Ardua Ad Astra!
- Imogen. L. Smiley
gabung di sini yu AGENS128
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