Director: Greg Berlanti
Running Time: 110 mins
Certificate: 12
Release Date: April 6th 2018 (UK)
You can’t win with a gay audience. Whenever a gay-themed movie or TV show comes along that’s given a higher profile/mainstream release, it ends up generating controversy. The problem seems to be that their rarity mean people want these releases to be all things to all men (or at least reflect their personal conception of what gay entertainment should), but often course one film/show can’t represent everything.
It’s already happened with Love, Simon, with some complaining that it’s ‘yet another’ coming out story (despite the fact that coming out is one of the few nearly universal gay experiences and that the films audience of teens – and not just gay teens – won’t have seen lots of coming out movies). Others have moaned that its mainstream sensibilities deny the oppression that many LGBT people face, even though Simon’s experience is probably closer to the reality for many young gay people in the West nowadays than a ‘right on’ tale of misery and oppression. [Read more…]
Last week we posted a new US trailer for Love, Simon, giving us a fresh look at a rare mainstream teen movie about a gay character. Now the UK trailer has been released, which features even more new footage from the film.
In mainstream movies, the only films that get gay lead characters tend to be prestige dramas that are attempting to get Oscars. However, Love Simon is something a bit special, as it’s a teen coming of age movie that’s getting a release by 20th Century Fox (and was made under their Fox 2000 banner), and happens to be about a young gay man.
In mainstream movies, the only films that get gay lead characters tend to be prestige dramas that are attempting to get Oscars. However, Love Simon is something a bit special, as it’s a teen coming of age movie that’s getting a release by 20th Century Fox (and was made under their Fox 2000 banner), and happens to be about a young gay man.
Although many will roll there eyes at the idea of another coming out movie, the truth is while they may seem old-hat to gay audiences, they’re still rare in mainstream cinema. Therefore Love, Simon is a movie to be welcomed, which has Greg Berlanti (Arrow, Riverdale, The Broken Hearts Club) directing, with Jurassic World’s Nick Robinson in the central role. He’s joined by Katherine Langford, Alexandra Shipp, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Miles Heizer, Keiynan Lonsdale, Logan Miller, Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel and Tony Hale.
