Love, Simon – Mainstream Teen Rom-Com, Quietly Radical Queer Center

A Studio Teen Rom-Com with a Gay Boy at the Center

When Love, Simon arrived in cinemas, a lot of queer viewers experienced something close to whiplash. Here was a glossy, PG‑13 teen romantic comedy from a major Hollywood studio, using the visual language of straight high school films—locker‑lined hallways, cafeteria crush drama, ferris wheels and school plays—but the protagonist was a gay boy. Not the sidekick. Not the tragic friend. The actual lead, who gets the big romantic payoff in the rain.