Photo: 20th Century FOX | Movie Review by Rev. Bruce Batchelor-Glader
It’s been a while since I’ve seen a teenage romantic comedy that wore its heart on its sleeve, full of love for its characters. … Fortunately, director Greg Berlanti remembers those films and has intentionally brought the genre up-to-date, using the bestselling YA book Simon and the Home Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli as his source material.
What’s changed in the thirty years after Sixteen Candles? A few things. It’s a digital world now and social media and interconnectivity is a constant presence. The opportunity for online discussion creates both a safe place to talk about yourself anonymously and a dangerous place for online bullying and the spillover into the school cafeteria. And there is now a growing acceptance of a variety of sexual identities with younger adults and teens that was openly shunned in the 80s, although the risk of coming out as LGBTQ to family and friends is still present (and the United Methodist Church’s attempt to find a way forward is perhaps one of the most controversial movements in recent church history).
EAST OHIO NEWS 