"Love, Simon" and Its Message to Youth

The recently released film, “Love, Simon”, starring Nick Robinson, highlights a teenage boy’s story of coming out as gay to the world and his journey towards accepting himself for who he truly is. In the film, Simon communicates with another boy in his grade that is a closeted gay, and they move through the beautiful journey of coming out together. The film does a fantastic job at exploring the relatable experience of a teenage boy's coming out story without making it feel like a classic cliche "gay" film that has been worn out by Hollywood. This film did not tell the story of a boy who faced rejection by the outside world for his sexuality, but rather told a genuine story of friendship, love, and self-acceptance. There are far too little mainstream Hollywood films that depict gay teenagers as normal kids, so that is exactly what this film sought after. After watching this film, I can truly say that I feel inspired. The story and hardships that come with Simon’s story of coming out is so heartwarming and heartfelt. I highly recommend this film for anyone who may be experiencing similar hardships with their sexuality, or anyone who has trouble coming out to world for the person that they are.

This movie helps to open the minds of so many people, as Simon’s story of being gay reveals all aspects of difficulty and fear that comes with finding yourself and understanding your sexuality or genuine self. Heart2Art hopes to appeal to all readers towards understanding that one’s sexuality does not determine “who you are”, but really just contributes to how wonderful you are as a whole human being. The world is growing to be more accepting, and, with such a wide spectrum of sexuality, the idea that each sexuality and variety of person is beautiful and meant to be embraced is beginning to be further understood by more individuals. Everyone is loved and everyone is wonderful. Love is love. I recommend seeing this wonderful masterpiece of a film and to open each of your minds and hearts to both the wide array of people in the world and to who you genuinely are as an individual.

No matter your sexuality, teens are notable for their struggle to understand and accept themselves. While "Love, Simon" focuses specifically on the difficulties teens may face when coming out as gay to the world and learning to accept themselves, even if it may not be the person they have always thought of themselves to be, the film as a whole sends the important message to the youth watching that you can never truly be content with yourself until you learn to love yourself for who you are naturally. In the film, Simon notes that one of the reasons that it became so hard for him to come out is that he felt compelled to hold onto the person that he had always been for just a bit longer. Simon's fear that he would be treated as a different person or that he would feel like a different person drove him to the point where accepting himself became synonymous with accepting an entirely new person as his identity in his mind. This film is an essential step is teaching teenagers that, even if who you "truly are" is not what you have always pictured yourself as, it has always been a part of you. By coming to terms with yourself, you are not changing who you have always been. You are only embracing it.

Aislyn Nihan
VP of Events
VP of Journalism and Publication
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Caitlyn Phu
President
Editor-in-Chief

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