I loved Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli for a number of reasons, but what it really boils down to is I loved it because it made me laugh and cry and was so heartfelt and moving. I could read that book again and again and never get sick of it. So when I heard the book was being turned into a movie I was naturally nervous and hesitant, because let’s face it, book to movie adaptations almost never do the book justice.
But everyone told me they loved it and it was amazing and all these incredible things so I was more than excited to see the movie. I’ll be honest, when I first walked out of the theater I was disappointed. They took out so many of my favorite things, they changed things, my favorite line from the book wasn’t in it, blah blah blah. But then I thought about it; a lot. And I realized two things:
First, yes changes were made but that was to be expected and some of the things that were put in the movie were so good the changes were worth it. For example, Simon’s mom, played by Jennifer Garner, gave Simon this incredible speech after he came out about how he was still him and just reading the quote on Tumblr made me tear up again because it was that moving. And the fact that just reading it made me so emotional all over again shows how powerful that one scene was and that was just one scene. There were so many scenes in this movie that were powerful, necessary, and so incredibly important and I loved that they were in the movie.
The second and most important thing I realized was this movie isn’t for me. Sure, it’s an adaptation of one of my favorite books of all time but I have never and never will need to come out (something that is also pointed out in the movie). I don’t know what that feels like and I can never understand that feeling. This movie is for the LGBTQ community. It’s for people who have never felt they could be or should be their true authentic selves. It’s for all the people that came out after seeing this movie or who saw it with their loved ones who were still struggling to accept them for who they are.
And so when I see all the incredible and moving stories that have come from this movie and when I see how many people in the cast and in their families came out because of this movie I literally can’t say this wasn’t a good adaptation because this movie did exactly what the book did. It helped people and I think that is worth more than having everything from the book being translated to screen word for word.
So, if you haven’t seen Love, Simon yet I highly recommend. I plan on seeing it again and this time I’ll be bringing tissues. I know I’ll need them.
Zakiya N. Jamal 