But once again that familiar apportioning occurs - Simon's sexuality is kept feathery and abstract, and any depiction of same-sex attraction is saved for the film's emotional crescendo. Love, Simon is also set in a high school, and also features a young man struggling to come out - it's the story of its main character's private and public acknowledgement of his Queer Identity. Monkey See A Gay Teen Romance, Sealed With A Peck: 'Love, Simon' That fact also serves, intentionally or not, to cause these films to concern themselves more expressly with Queer Identity than Queer Desire. In American films like Making Love (1982), In & Out (1997), Beginners (2010) and 4th Man Out (2016), the process of coming out is complicated by the fact that it occurs later in life than is usual.
Which is probably why we keep making movies about it.
It's marked by fits and starts, denials and avowals, fraught conversations in somebody's car, the fear of rejection and, hopefully, the relief of acceptance. It has a timeline, and not necessarily a smooth one. What does not vary in the process of coming out is the fact that it is a process. The process of coming to terms with one's sexuality varies widely, depending on the individual - it can be scary, invigorating, heartbreaking, life-affirming usually it's some complex combination of those feelings and more. Billy (Alex Lawther) and Blah Blah Blah (AnnaSophia Robb) in 2018's Freak Show.
