Love, Simon is a 2018 American teen romantic comedy movie, based on Becky Albertalli’s debut novel “Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda”. It was released to good reviews and audience acclaim on March 16 and was directed by Greg Berlanti.

Love, Simon is about a teenage boy named Simon, who is gay, but still in the closet. Everything about Simon’s life seems completely normal and average for a teenager. He has a close group of friends that he does everything with, he goes to school with his annoying principal, and he’s involved in drama. But everything changes for him when an anonymous classmate comes out as gay online, and he confronts his own sexuality, which he has been hiding from his friends and family.

“The movie was really heartwarming and touching, and it portrayed everything in a very real light, making it a very believable story,” said Freshmen Shelby Woodward. “Even if you aren’t queer, you can relate to all of the main characters’ experiences, and you can relate to his [Simon’s] experience. I also think that the characters were really well-written and the dialogue was rather clever and witty, so I never got bored with the movie. Overall the movie was rather funny.”

Of all LGBT films, this is one of the first of its kind. Most are stories of adults struggling with their sexuality and coming out or entering into some kind of relationship, but Love, Simon deals with some of those same struggles in the context of the modern teenage life and a challenging high school environment.

Freshman Madison Ritenour said, “It’s one of my favorite movies now because it’s a really sweet coming-of-age story. I love all the characters and how they developed through the movie, and how Simon became more confident in himself. It also shows good representation for the LGBT community.”

Coming out, or “coming out of the closet”, and revealing one’s true identity is an important step in any LGBT person’s life. This movie depicts the challenges and feelings involved very well, using the reactions of characters in the movie, and the acceptance of Simon by many and by himself. LGBT students can be put more at risk for bullying in a school setting as result of expressing their identities, and Love, Simon shows how that issue affects people, and how it can be overcome.

In my opinion, Love, Simon was a great movie that gave well-needed representation to LGBT youth. The movie addresses LGBT issues in a whole new way for teenagers, and it helps these sorts of topics come into mainstream awareness. As a movie, I loved the score and the cinematography, and I think that the movie was fantastically scripted.