Love, Simon (2018)

When ads for this first came out I thought that the subject made this a bit of a johnny-come-lately to the "shhh I'm gay" genre. It felt a little old-school for teens to be keeping that secret from their friends. But, surprisingly, the movie changed my mind. I hadn't considered the every day assumptions that families and friends make and their effect on a child's psyche. Why did I imagine that, just because the gay community is more visible now, everyone would feel emboldened to live their truth?

So, Simon's gay and strikes up a correspondence with another "hiding in plain site" gay guy at his school. The entire movie is, basically, him trying to find out who his secret pen-pal is. It makes for a surprising sweet story with actual real-feeling ramifications.

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