LOVE, Simon is a Heartwarming Coming-of-Age Story! Out in Theaters March 16th
Hosted by 20th Century Fox
Everyone deserves a great love story. But for seventeen-year old Simon Spier it’s a little more complicated: he’s yet to tell his family or friends he’s gay and he doesn’t actually know the identity of the anonymous classmate he’s fallen for online. Resolving both issues proves hilarious, terrifying and life-changing. Simon Spier starts a secret email flirtation with another closeted classmate. But when one of his emails falls into the wrong hands, Simon’s secret is at risk of going public. He finds himself being blackmailed by Martin, his socially awkward, yet overtly confident classmate: Martin believes that with Simon’s help, he could get a date with the beautiful Abby Suso (Alexandra Shipp). And if Simon won’t play wingman to Martin… well, his sexual identity might just become public knowledge. Worse, the privacy of ‘Blue’, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be public too.
Directed by Greg Berlanti (Riverdale, The Flash, Supergirl), written by Isaac Aptaker & Elizabeth Berger (This is Us), and based on Becky Albertalli’s acclaimed novel, LOVE, SIMON is a funny and heartfelt coming-of-age story about the thrilling ride of finding yourself and falling in love.
After watching the movie a few weeks ago (tissues are recommended), I couldn’t help but think what a timely and important film LOVE, SIMON is for today’s generation. Growing up watching Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles, LOVE, Simon is what those films were for my generation are for today’s teens. A true-to-life, coming-of-age story about topics that teens face today. This is a must-see film for any family experiencing challenges and life changes – which pretty much covers almost any family in America. The message is quite sweet and the way Simon’s parents handle him coming out can serve as a template for families.
THE BOOK
LOVE, SIMON was adapted from Becky Albertalli’s young adult novel Simon vs The Homo Sapien’s Agenda. Published in January 2012, the book won the William C. Morris Award for Best Young Adult Debut of the Year and was included in the National Book Award Longlist.
Albertalli never imagined that her book would be published let alone become an award-winning bestseller and now a major motion picture: “I was a psychologist when I wrote the book,” she says. “I was the mother of a one-year old, now four-year-old. I was writing during his nap times. I had always wanted to write a book, and I decided I would give it a try.
I don’t where my idea for the plot came from, but the characters had been kicking around in my head for some time. I had this image of a messy-haired, gay kid in a hoodie, and that turned out to be Simon. I’ve worked a lot with kids who identify with LGBTQ or gender nonconforming, and they are unquestionably some of the bravest people I’ve ever met.
As a psychologist, I’m painstakingly careful not to borrow my clients’ stories for my fiction – but in a general sense, I’m very inspired by all the teenagers I’ve been lucky enough to know and work with.”
Starring Nick Robinson, Katherine Langford, Alexandra Shipp, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Miles Heizer, Keiynan Lonsdale, Logan Miller, Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel, Tony Hale the entire cast does a fantastic job of showing how love should and can be unconditional.
Interviews with Nick Robinson, Josh Duhamel and Jennifer Garner:
We had a chance to interview Nick Robinson, Josh Duhamel and Jennifer Garner at the press junket a few weeks back. They were all extremely down-to-earth and you could tell they all felt very passionate about the message of LOVE, Simon. Jennifer Garner spoke about how she hopes that families in similar situations are helped and guided by the way Simon’s parents handle their son coming out, she feels she did her job.
Moderator: So, you guys all come to this movie. They’re a nice family, aren’t they? Didn’t they do such a nice job with this guy? They raised him nicely, you know.
Josh Duhamel: Just so unattractive.
Nick Robinson: Yes, I get that a lot.
Moderator: When each of you got this script, was there a particular scene that leapt out at you that said, gosh, I really want to play that scene, or I have a thought about how this will go that made you want to do this? And we’ll start with you, Nick.
Nick Robinson: I think there were several scenes. The one– kind of all of the sequences of coming out. The first coming out scene between Alex and I, I thought was handled really delicately and kind of beautifully and not too heavy-handed. And it was hard to get that from the script, but after
talking to Greg [Berlanti, director] I felt confident that he would be able to kind of bring the delicacy that it needed. And then also the scenes between Josh and Jen, just because they were so beautifully written and I felt like kind of necessary for this whole journey that this Simon character goes
on. So, those were both exciting for me, and the dance sequence, obviously, because, I mean– .
Josh Duhamel: — Yes– .
Nick Robinson: — Wow. Yes.
Moderator: And you, Jen?
Jennifer Garner: I thought the scene between Emily and her son is just like a template for how moms could handle a moment
like this. And selfishly, I really wanted to be the one to say it. And I was talking to a friend of mine as I was trying to decide do I try to do this? Is this movie going to work?
And he said, you know, this movie would have been really helpful for me when I was growing up. This would have been a big deal for me. And I just said, okay, I’m in. I’m doing it. You’ve got it.
Josh Duhamel: Are we talking about which scene in particular? I forgot the question.
Moderator: Yes. No, the question was you can– you may answer this question or another one, and I can throw you another one. But I was asking what scene, when you read the script, really stood out for you as a scene you wanted to play.
Josh Duhamel: Well, that’s easy. It was the scene with Nick and I in the driveway.
I mean, there’s several reasons I wanted to do the movie, but if you’re going to ask me which scene, it’s that one, because I think that this character represents maybe a lot of fathers out there who have found out that their sons were gay, or their daughters.
He wasn’t necessarily homophobic, but he was, like you said, tone deaf to a lot of things, and probably wasn’t as tuned in as he should have been, and learns through the reveal that, you know what? It doesn’t matter. I love you no matter what. And I think that there’s something really powerful in that.
Rated PG-13
Get Tickets Now
Tickets for LOVE, SIMON are now on sale! Get yours here: https://www.lovesimontickets.com
LOVE, SIMON – IN THEATERS MARCH 16
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Melissa
Melissa Northway, M.S. is a mom, founder of dandelion moms, and a children’s book author. Her award-winning book Penelope the Purple Pirate was inspired by her little tomboy. Penelope is a modern-day Pippi Longstocking who teaches girls and boys the importance of having fun while at the same time teaching them to be kind and respectful of others and their differences. Dandelion moms was created for moms to share their stories and to inspire and be inspired! You can reach Melissa at: info@dandelionmoms.com and follow her @melissanorthway and @dandelionmoms. Check out her author web site at: www.melissanorthway.com, as she hands out loads of goodies from the treasure chest.
