Love, Simon helped me come out to the world
“You get to exhale now, Simon.”
Where to start with this one? A life-changing film and a life-changing experience. It’s really hard to get the words out for some films. There are times, like this, where a film has such a powerful impact on your life that it simply becomes almost impossible to speak about it with justice. The title says it best:
Love, Simon helped be come out to the world
And I will always be grateful for that - thank you Becky Albertalli! I wasn’t really sure what I was in terms of sexuality for a very long time, I’d grown up uncertain of many things and never really felt sure of how I felt towards anybody really - in a romantic way, that is. Despite that, I think I’d always had an inkling about how I felt towards boys. It was just… there. I first became aware of this film from the book that it was based on, ‘Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda’, a book that I owned but often hid from family members in fear of them seeing the cover and figuring out my secret! Oh, the drama. Looking back now I just smile and laugh. Then came the first trailer for the film that was based on the book… Love, Simon.
It can’t be understated how important representation in the mainstream media is. There’s still a long way to go but things do feel like they’re slowly improving. The first trailer was released on November 28th, 2017. I watched it and it instantly hit me in the heart. Instantly. I saw myself as Simon, I saw myself as the guy on screen struggling to figure out who he was and then finally telling the world that he was gay. I finally felt like I had a diving board to leap off of and make a splash in my own life, to change it and tell my truth. It was a very exciting time… I must say. It was also scary and uncertain. I was 18 years old when the trailer was released and from that point up until March 2018, I had a plan to use this film to come out. I never expected it to become a huge deal at all, I’d maybe say a little something in a tweet or tell my mum face to face, the options were endless! I ended up writing a very soppy and heartfelt post on social media and it seemed to resonate with a lot people - one main aspect that still blows my mind is that it made the news on countless platforms around the world!
I think the most wonderful thing to come of this film and the connection with it all was the community and people. It made me realise that I wasn’t alone and that 100s of others were also inspired to come out due to this movie. It was such a pivotal moment for so many of us and I’m just so proud to have even been a tiny part of that. So, as you can imagine, it had become a dream to go and visit some of the locations from this film ever since first seeing it all. It’s been an absolute joy to say the least. They wean’t just locations, they were parts of my life sprinkled in reality… something I always love to look for when exploring these places. The emotional connection with these locations is always the drive I need to get out there and continue to explore! Anyway, I can’t wait to see some more spots from the film! As Simon would say…