Playing it safe

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This article was published 16/03/2018 (2991 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The teen movie Love, Simon closely resembles just about every other teen romance of the past couple of decades. We’re in a comfortable, bourgeois setting where middle-class kids worry more about prom dates than active shooters. A hero finds himself compromised in his pursuit of romantic fulfilment, and risks losing his friends while keeping a secret.

In many ways, the plot follows a template established in teen fodder from She’s All That to The DUFF.

The crucial difference is that the hero, 17-year-old Simon Spier (Nick Robinson) has a “huge-ass secret.”

“Nobody knows I’m gay.”

That particular take on a major studio teen comedy is long overdue, but director Greg Berlanti seems intent on keeping his movie attuned to mainstream sensibilities. The challenge presented by a gay hero is softened at every turn by the safest possible choices in every department, from casting to cinematography.

Berlanti’s approach raises the question: Given that LGBTQ issues are being discussed as never before in contemporary culture, is it necessary to place a gay hero into this Trojan Horse of mainstream entertainment?

As it turns out, the answer is yes.

The presence of gay characters on shows such as Modern Family, Riverdale or Star Trek: Discovery implies a comfort level that doesn’t necessarily exist in the real world. This particular movie takes pains to show that coming out of the closet is as difficult as ever. In a funny fantasy sequence, Simon imagines what it would be like if his heterosexual friends had to express their preferences to shocked, disapproving parents.

As it happens, Simon has a tight, supportive family — a therapist mom (Jennifer Garner) and a decent dad (Josh Duhamel) given to joshing with his son about getting girls pregnant. He has some devoted friends he’s known for most of his life, notably BFF Leah (Katherine Langford), a girl so entrenched in Simon’s life, his parents don’t even blink when she sleeps over.

But that makes the prospect of coming out even more difficult for our hero. It’s exacerbated when one of Simon’s fellow students, calling himself “Blue,” comes out in an anonymous chat room. Calling himself “Jacques,” Simon engages in heartfelt confession via email. When an obnoxious fellow student stumbles onto Simon’s secret, Simon puts his friendships at risk to do his blackmailer’s skeevy bidding.

It ain’t Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Artistry takes a back seat to professional polish here.

But that’s not a bad thing under the circumstances, which is that a gay character is far more likely to be slotted into the role of sassy best friend than he is the protagonist in a studio movie. (Think Ezra Miller in The Perks of Being a Wallflower or Daniel Franzese in Mean Girls or Justin Walker in Clueless).

When Simon decides to pursue his anonymous crush, he asserts: “Everyone deserves a great love story.”

That’s true enough. But in the case of this movie, it’s overselling. Perhaps the sentiment should more aptly be expressed: Everyone deserves a perfectly competent rom-com.

randall.king@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @FreepKing