Adaptation Month - Love, Simon

Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Adaptation Month

There’s nothing original in Hollywood anymore, is something you’ve probably heard from a lot from people who enjoy film. Of course, there are all smaller indie studios working on original stuff but it’s generally overshadowed by Hollywood Blockbusters, which often adapt either IPs, like Superhero movies, or books, like the ones we’ll be looking at for the month of November

I’m going to try and put my own unique spin on Dominic Noble’s adaptation formula. First off, there’s no exception for ‘In Name Only’ adaptations, and I’m pretty sure there’s at least one in this line-up. But let’s start with one of my favourite films of last year: Love, Simon.

Love, Simon is an adaptation of Simon vs The Homo-sapiens agenda written by Becky Albertalli. Adapting her material are Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, who both have experience with TV, but little with film-making. Heading up on the directing side is Greg Berlanti, who is the involved with the DC TV Universe with shows like Arrow, the Flash and Legends of Tomorrow.

It had a modest $17m budget and made a decent return, gathering $66m at the Box Office and was a success with both critics and audiences, with 92% and 88% Rotten Tomatoes ratings respectively. How does it fare though? Here’s a quick summary of how I feel about each.

The Film: I still enjoy this film, but I feel like upping the comedic aspects of it ultimately harmed the message it was trying to deliver.

The Book: I adore this book, I couldn’t put it down. The dialogue from the kids is fantastic, you can tell Becky Albertalli has a background in psychology (not to mention two boys of her own) as it’s a good look into the mindset of someone this age. It’s not without its issues mind you, and I’ll get into what I feel are the books two biggest issues when I get to the comparison.

OK, with that out of the way, let’s take a look at how it fares as an adaptation. To differentiate myself from Dominic as much as I can. I’ll award adaptation points 10 for any major plot elements lifted from the books, 5 for minor details, -5 for any minor changes and -10 for omissions that change the overall narrative. Bear in mind, my memory isn’t good enough to cover everything so there will be details left out.

What they kept:

Simon Spier (+10) lives with his mother Emily, father Jack and sister Nora (+5) he has friends named Leah, Nick (+10) and Abbey, who’s relatively knew to their group (+10) he’s gay and has found romance with a guy named Blue (+10) who he found on a Tumblr blog called CreekSecrets (+5) he has chosen the name Jacques (+10) as his pseudonym.

The two exchange emails throughout the year, with subjects for discussion such as Halloween party (+10), the upcoming school play (+5), and their mutual love of Oreos (+5). But Martin, another of Simon’s classmates happens upon one of these emails and takes a screenshot, threatening to expose Simon as gay if he doesn’t help him get with Abby (+10), Simon does so, if reluctantly, inviting him to the aforementioned Halloween Party (+5) and later to a play rehearsal at a Wafflehouse (+10) but whilst the two get along, Abby ultimately turns him down (+10).

It’s around Christmas where Martin outs Simon on CreekSecrets (+10) and this is where Simon’s world begins to change. 2 bullies pull out a stupid routine at school, and get suspensions for it (+10) Simon’s friends begin to distance themselves thanks to his stunts (+10) and so does Blue for reasons that we’ll discuss in the next segment (+10) and Simon loses his sh*t with Martin over the whole affair (+10)

Simon apologises for his transgressions and ultimately makes up with his friends (+10) and decides to send one last message to Blue to meet him at a fair after the play (+10) Blue does eventually show up, and it’s revealed to be Bram Greenfield (+10) a minor character that is both black and jewish (+10).

Other similarities include: The email addresses used by both Simon and Bram (+5), the notion of straight people not having to come out (+5), Simon coming out to Abby before either Nick or Leah, and the reason of finding it easier having known her for less time (+10), Simon’s dog Bieber (+5), Jack’s anticipation for Simon coming out and his reaction are copied verbatim from the book (+10), Simon suspecting Alby to be Blue, only to find out that he’s wrong (+5), Jack’s gay jokes at the beginning and his apology for them near the end (+5), Martin having a gay brother who he jokes that Simon might like (+5)

So a respectable total of 270 adaptation points, but we’ve got 2 sections to lower that, so let’s start by looking at…

What they changed

Simon did not get drunk on Halloween (-5), and it was Abby, not Leah, who ended up staying with him that night (-5). It was Simon in the book who first stated a love of oreos, it was Blue in the film (-5)

Speaking of Halloween, the only costume the film got right was that of Abby (+5), Simon in the film dressed up as John Lennon, he was a dementor in the book (-5). Leah dressed up as Tohru from a manga named Fruits Basket (-5), I don’t think the book ever mentioned what Nick dressed up as but Martin came wearing bunny ears, not a dress with newspaper clippings on it (-5)

Simon does more to adhere to the blackmail in the film, in the book, arranging meetups via Wafflehouse rehearsals and invites to parties is all Simon did. In the film he tries to keep Nick and Abby apart, by making up a false boyfriend, and then telling Nick she and Martin were already together. It makes the fallout with Abby more understandable, although it’s thankfully brief in the book. (-5)

Bram did not go to the Halloween Party, in the film the party was at his house (-5), in the book, the house belonged to a guy named Garret, this change helps facilitate eliminating Bram from the suspect list, since Simon sees him having sex with a woman in a drunken state (-5) Simon never actually considers Bram to be Blue in the book, even thinking he had a thing for Leah at one point, but does sometimes think he’s cute.

Martin’s gestures to win Abby over are a lot louder in the film. His ‘I deserve a goddamn superhero’ moment, and the embarrassing display at Homecoming were film only (-5) Martin actually got rejected asking her out in private, and saw Abby falling into Simon’s arms (they were doing play rehearsals) and got the wrong impression.

Important change: Martin leaked the emails in the film, he did not do so in the book. He made a snide reference to Blue, in fact he later reveals that he destroyed his copies and never intended to post them. This doesn’t make a lot of sense, when you think about it. He tells people that Simon’s 'accepting invitations for butt-sex', whilst adding emails that make it clear his heart is with someone else. (-5)

The play was Oliver Twist, not Cabaret that was the school play, and I don’t remember Mrs Albright being this frustrated with her choice of actors (-5) that said, Mrs Albright is awesome in both the film and the book

Mr Worth, the vice-principle and Ethan, an out and openly gay kid are both film only additions (-5), both of them are sitcom stereotypes and I hate them but I do understand the want to include a small bit about how not everyone has the perfect accepting parents Simon has.

Blue never backs out in the book. He works out Simon’s identity not through the CreekSecrets post (he apparently hadn’t logged into it in months) but through the code-name Jacques, Jacques a dit is the french version of Simon says (this is referenced in the film, but only after the fact) (-5) he does slow down in his responses, as Simon pressures him more and more to reveal himself. He resorts instead to leaving him a t-shirt in his locker which we later find out had his number in it. (-5)

On that note though, Simon did not call out to Blue to meet him at the fair on Tumblr. I feel doing so amounts to emotional blackmail and runs counter to his entire arc in both book and film. (-5) In doing so, he’s also forcing Blue to out himself, I reiterate my previous comments on this.

Nora’s obsession with cooking is film only (-5) as is the subplot regarding Jack’s anniversary present for Emily. It’s a cute scene but it’s kinda stupid that he’d be planning something like this several months ahead of time, as this film encompasses most of the school year (-5).

Simon tries to make a guess of Blue is by email in the book and gets details wrong, eliminating Alby from the suspect list that way, in the film, he simply asks and Alby says no (-5).

Abby gets a bit more backstory, and I think it’s taken almost verbatim from Leah (-5), and speaking of:

But by far the biggest changes are with the character of Leah, who is practically unrecognisable and thank god. Leah is the character I had the biggest problems with in the book, she seems like she’d get into an argument over nothing and sulk about it for days. So glad she’s the one that got a spin-off book. (It's actually pretty good) She has issues with jealousy, in particular when it comes to Abby

Leah in the film is less bitchy and jealous, but she instead falls into a classic sitcom trope of the best friend who’s secretly in love with the protagonist. (-5) this is kinda funny to me, because in the book it’s hinted she’s in love with Nick, and in the film she gets a date with him and it doesn’t work out (-5)

So, with 110 adaptation points lost here, we’re down to 140 as we head into the final section

What they left Out

In the book, Simon had a second sister named Alice, her deal was that she had gone off to college and met a boy named Theo, who we actually meet at the end but during her visit around Christmas, she doesn’t want to tell anybody about it and is acting all suspicious. (-10) 

Half of the book is dedicated to the emails between Simon and Bram and it forms a unique chemistry between them. A lot of them are cut and I do understand why, film being a visual medium, but it robs Simon and Bram of a lot of personality. Including but not limited to Bram’s divorced father's new wife being pregnant and giving him a book by Casanova, Simon having several instances of not getting enough sleep (referenced as Zombie Jacques) and him not wanting to wear band t-shirts unless he’s seen the band live. I’ll count this as one adaptation fail, as it’s hard to fault them for this in a visual medium (-10)

Most of the play dress rehearsals that took place during the book are also absent from the film (-10)

In the book after the first performance of the play, Nick and Abby decide to take Simon out, they take him to a gay bar, where they order food and allow Simon to flirt and get wasted, unfortunately it’s not exactly successful, as he’s only 17 (-10). He’s supposed to be staying over but he wants the t-shirt Blue had bought him and forces them home, he’s confronted by his parents who ground him for getting drunk. (-10) it’s hilarious that the film has a scene after the Halloween party where Jack and Emily disregard Simon being drunk since he’s home by curfew and didn’t drink-drive. It’s only after this mess that Nick and Abby officially get together and Leah falls out with them over not being invited.

There’s a brief point in the book where Martin’s brother shows up at Wafflehouse and Simon leaves immediately, feeling uncomfortable around him given what Martin had done (-10) apparently, he didn’t take it too well when he found out what Martin had been up to (-5)

There is some stuff that happens post Simon and Bram getting together, including a talent show in which Nora and Leah had both joined a band. (-10) and the two officially announcing their relationship on Facebook (-10)

Martin’s apology email in the book is replaced by a different kind of redemption. (-5) I only bring this up because I don’t feel a moment of redemption is necessary. What he did to Simon is not that something that should be as easily forgiven by some grand gesture or a simple apology. The email idea understood this better (it also helps this version of Martin did not publish the emails) as Martin repeatedly admits he’s not expecting forgiveness. Martin in the film, who is honestly worse than in the book, gets to have that redeeming moment of buying Simon more time and it’s honestly frustrating.

So a further 90 points lost in this section, giving Love, Simon a total of 50 adaptation points.

Love, Simon, in spite of the different name does a decent job of adapting the book, given the restrictions on budget, time and medium. The performances are all fine but sometimes the writing leans more towards sitcom scenarios rather than giving humour through clever dialogue and character chemistry, with the writers sometimes evoking the clichés of the genre, and diluting the message slightly in the process. The writers are getting another shot with this material, writing a series for the Disney+ Streaming service (update 2020: Hulu!!!) and I’ll be curious to see how their efforts pay off.

Despite having some issues, I prefer the book over the film.

Come back next time as we look at another 2018 adaptation. Are you Ready: Player One?