GayIceland is giving out 10 tickets to Love, Simon on the website´s Facebook page. The film is the first Hollywood teen film to revolve around gay romance.
Love, Simon, is to premiere in Iceland on Wednesday; the first Hollywood teen film revolved around gay romance. The script is based on an award-winning, coming-of-age novel published in 2015, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. Director Greg Berlanti is a known for his work on Dawson´s Creek, Everwood and Riverdale and writers Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker have worked together on successful TV shows such as About a Boy and This is Us. Love, Simon premiered in the US in April and has been well received by critiques and viewers. Simon is portrayed by Nick Robinson, a young actor who can also be seen in Jurassic World and Boardwalk Empire, and his parents are played by Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel. Lilja Ósk Diðriksdóttir is Marketing Manager at Sena and took the time to tell us a little bit about the film, despite being busy planning its premiere.
What is Love, Simon about? “It’s a romantic comedy about a teenage boy called Simon. He’s gay but not ready to come out yet. He falls in love with an anonymous school mate that he meets online and tries to figure out who is. At the same time, he’s trying to balance his family and social lives as well as some other issues, that lead to an amazing turn of events.”
“Where it has been screened, really well and it’s getting great reviews. It’s premiering in Iceland on Wednesday and I’m keen to see how it will be received, but I’ve noticed a lot of excitement around it.”
How has the film been received? “Where it has been screened, really well and it’s getting great reviews. It’s premiering in Iceland on Wednesday and I’m keen to see how it will be received, but I’ve noticed a lot of excitement around it.”
Was there any special reason why Sena decided to bring Love, Simon to Icelandic cinemas? “Well, Sena is a distributor for Twentieth Century Fox, who produced the film, but apart from that we have great faith in it to do well. It’s a great movie and despite being about American teenagers it is very much relevant to Icelandic society.”
Isn’t Love, Simon the first queer teen film that a big Hollywood studio produces? “Yes, as far as I know this is the first Hollywood gay-romance teen movie. Call Me By Your Name, which was released by Sony Pictures in 2017, isn’t considered a teen movie as such. I believe that times are changing in Hollywood and feel that the variety of films from there reflect that, even though Hollywood is still behind in many areas. There’s a lot happening in the film industry, characters are becoming more diverse and more voices can be heard both on the big screen as well as behind the
camera.”
Where will Love, Simon be shown? “It premieres on Wednesday June 27 at Smárabíó, Háskólabíó and Borgarbíó in Akureyri. “
Have you seen the film yourself? “Yes, and I loved it. It’s a movie that everybody can relate to; a film about love, secrets and the awkwardness of adolescence as well as what it’s like to come out in a modern society and which stereotypes are out there. The story is genuine and wonderful and I can highly recommend it!”
GayIceland is giving out 10 tickets to Love, Simon on the website´s Facebook page. Its chief editor, Roald Viðar Eyvindsson, is one of those who are really excited about the film being shown in Icelandic cinemas.
Have you already seen the film? “Yes, and it’s wonderful. I welled up and laughed and somewhat relived my teen years during those two hours that I was mesmerised by this film. I hadn’t heard of the book until I saw the film and now I’m definitely going to find myself a copy to read it.”
The first love is often the main subject of teen movies which can therefore have immense effect on teenagers, help them see that they’re all tackling the same issues and even see ways to seek assistance with their problems. Did you relate to the teen movies that were popular during your adolescence years? “To be perfectly honest, no. I guess the reason was that I didn’t really identify with the characters and their problems. Horror films were more my kind of a thing when I was a teenager.”
Would it have made a difference if such films had been made and shown in Iceland 25-30 years ago? “Whoa, I wish there had been movies like Love, Simon to see when I was a teenager. To see a film about a queer person who’s trying to find himself, to see a film about a character you can identify with instead of having to watch a gay film after gay film where being homosexual was always a problem. I’d have given anything for seeing a film like Love, Simon; a film with an underlying positivity. It would have given the teen version of me some hope that life could actually be good.”
“I think that a film like Love, Simon can have a great, positive effect and I hope people will enjoy it as much as I did. At least I can highly recommend people to go see it.”
Do you think it’s significant that a big Hollywood studio has gone ahead and made a gay romance teen movie? “As a teenager, I would never have believed that one day, Hollywood would produce such a movie; a mainstream movie about a teenager who’s coming out. That shows just how far queer people’s fight for rights has come. And it’s fantastic! It’s fantastic that they’re making movies that kids can enjoy, whether they’re queer or not; movies that show young queer people in a positive light, show that they’re just ordinary teens dealing with similar issues as others. It’s a way of eliminating prejudice but also, it gives some kids characters or role models that they can identify with. So, I think that a film like Love, Simon can have a great, positive effect and I hope people will enjoy it as much as I did. At least I can highly recommend people to go see it.”
