Yes, we do need Love, Simon right now

A recent TIME article questioned if the upcoming gay teen movie Love, Simon is needed. Fans online were not happy about this stance, and with good reason.

Love, Simon is a coming-of-age tale about a gay teenager named Simon (played by Nick Robinson). Simon discovers there’s another closeted boy in his school, under the pseudonym Blue, and he befriends him through anonymous emails. As he’s not out to his best friends or family, Simon’s relieved to talk to someone who is just like him.

But after a classmate accidentally comes across his private emails, his whole world is in danger of changing. If Simon doesn’t help a guy get with his friend Abby, his emails may be leaked to the entire school. It’d out him to everyone he loves and push Blue further away than he already is.

While many would immediately see how progressive and important it is for a major studio movie to feature a gay protagonist, one critic felt like it wasn’t necessary. A TIME article asked the question to readers, “Do Today’s Teens Actually Need [Love, Simon]?”

“Kids like Simon, in 2018, already have a good shot of fitting in,” the article states. “They don’t need this movie. Will they look up from Netflix to notice that it has premiered? Love, Simon feels like a film responding to an entirely different culture, like one in which gay marriage was never legalized.”

The tweet circulated around the web, with many people pointing out how problematic this perspective is. Some fans wondered if the question would be asked if it was a regular straight teen movie. Others staunchly defended the movie’s relevance for today’s teens.

Guess what? Gay teens, even ones like Simon, still don’t always fit in. He might be an all-American, “straight-passing” teenage boy, but he’s still gay, and he’s still struggling with it.

Yes, the students in Love, Simon are overwhelmingly supportive. But there are still homophobic jokes aimed at Simon and his fellow openly gay student, Ethan.

Plus spoiler, Simon being forced out of the closet thanks to Martin leaking his personal emails is without a doubt the fear of many LGBTQ teens in today’s social media obsessed world. The Internet is a safe haven for a lot of closeted teens. Simon was outed to the entire world before he was ready. If that’s not a story that needs to be told to a mainstream audience, what is?

Representation is still so important. Straight teens have so many characters they can relate to in movies and television. It should go without saying that media’s obviously focused on straight relationships the most.

Teens can watch other teens face struggles they’re dealing with in their own lives. They can learn from those experiences. They also get to see people they aspire to be someday. But that wasn’t always the case for queer teenagers, and it still isn’t.

Love, Simon is an attempt at normalizing gay characters. Name another major studio-released teen movie with a gay protagonist that had a wide theatrical release (directed by openly-gay Greg Berlanti, no less). We have seen huge, critically acclaimed gay dramas like Brokeback Mountain and, more recently, Call Me By Your Name, but Love, Simon isn’t looking for acclaim from the Academy.

It just wants to be a story young people can look up to. Plain and simple. And it’s not just for teens. Think of the older members of the community watching this movie, emotional about the fact that we live in an era where this movie can exist.

In the past, so many LGBTQ movies have been low-budget, badly acted, overly sexualized, ended tragically, or all of the above. Why can’t the community finally have a light-hearted, simple romantic comedy with a happy ending, like almost every heterosexual romantic comedy in the history of cinema?

While Simon has a supportive family, not all parents are as liberal as his (played by Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel). Yet there are so many stories like that. How about we let gay teens have a positive representation for once, something that makes them feel hopeful. Love, Simon might be a glimmer of light in the dark for someone, somewhere.

So yes, of course there needs to be more of a variety of queer stories in film and television. But Love, Simon is a step in the right direction, and that doesn’t make this story any less necessary.

Some gay teens are like Simon, and some aren’t. The point is this movie seeks to tell a particular story, which is still underrepresented, even if some think gay youth don’t need to see it.

Does the movie have problems? Of course.

Does it indulge in stereotypes? Definitely.

But guess what? So do other teen rom-coms, and that’s what Love, Simon is. Why does it need to be held to a higher standard than movies like She’s All That or Sixteen Candles just because it features a gay protagonist?

Should you still go out and see Love, Simon in theatres? Yes, without a doubt.

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Love, Simon hits theatres this Friday, March 16.