Welcome to the first Book V Movie post! These will be posts where I write about a book and it’s adaptation whether it be on the big-screen or the small-screen. I will point out changes, which worked, what the source material did better, what the adaptation did better and more. As you can tell by the title, the first one will be about Love, Simon.
This is a long one so prepare.
The Changes
One major change had to do with Simon’s family. In the book Simon has an older sister named Alice. She’s often away on work or school duties I believe. She was cut from the movie for obvious reasons. She never really had an impact on anyone in the book.
The second major change is where the book starts. The book immediately starts with the gmail accident with Martin. Simon is already in the cyber relationship with Blue. The movie takes it’s time and gives us a bit of insight on Simon’s life and his friends and family. Since the movie does this, we get to see how Simon and Blue meet. The book has the advantage of having more space to flesh out the characters and stretch out the scenarios a bit. A tiny change which kind of ticked me was that Simon changed his gmail. In the book it’s “hourtohour.notetonote@gmail.com” but it’s changed to “frommywindow@gmail.com” although the phrase “hour to hour, note to note” can be seen written on Simon’s wall next to his bed. It’s pretty big so you’ll notice it right away.
In the book Leah has a crush on Nick who fancies Abby. However in the movie, Leah has a crush on Simon. Simon himself thinks that she has a crush on Nick like in the book and even tries to set them up. It’s super confusing and unnecessary.
What the Book did better.
Leah
First off, the book delves deeper into the small Abby and Leah “fued”. The book explains how Leah was always a bit self-conscious and because of that she was also jealous of Abby. Also in the book, Nick likes Abby and Leah has a crush on Nick which makes things even worse. This plot line has a bit of an arc in the book. When Simon, Abby and Nick go out after the play, they go without Leah and they think she’ll just accept it and move on. Leah and Simon have a huge fight and it only gets resolved near the end of the book. This is completely cut out from the movie, the fight is still there but it’s smaller and for different reasons. In the movie Leah’s self conscious problems are never mentioned or shown other than when she just stood in a corner at the Halloween party. Also in the movie the Abby and Leah “fued” is never shown except for an awkward scene where she complements her Halloween costume which just so happens to be a bit revealing.
Jacques and Blue’s emails
The movie did a fantastic job with this but the only thing the book did better was increase the intimacy between and in the emails. For example when Blue says he wants to be intimate with Jacques and Simon was flattered and a bit overwhelmed. Also in the book, near the end after it’s revealed Blue is Bram, they go back to his empty house and you know what occurs, well they try to at least. Again, the movie did a near-perfect job with Blue/Jacques and Simon/Bram. It’s just that they longed for each other so more in the book that you were desperate to see them together. Also in the book I also fell in love with Blue I didn’t really care who he was. In the movie, it’s a bit annoying having multiple people wear Blue’s mask through Simon’s eyes.
What the Movie did better.
The Blackmail
Martin’s character was just such a douche bag in this movie. Don’t get me wrong I hated him in the book as well but his actions were taken a step further in the movie. In the book he just says Simon is gay and posts it on CreekSecrets. In the movie he has proof as he takes screenshots of the emails. I mean if I wanted to blackmail someone, I would need proof, right? Not that I would or anything… Also I loved how in the book Simon put him as Monkey’s asshole in his phone. It’s a shame it wasn’t referenced in the movie. The Abby and Martin dynamic was played up a lot more in the movie. It made for some awkward and cringe-inducing moments.
The Mystery of Blue
In the book I envisioned Blue as just one person. Of course I knew it was Bram the whole time since I saw the movie before I read the book. But even if I didn’t know, I would still see Blue as one person meaning I would never imagine Bram, Cal or the cute guy from Waffle House to be him. I would only see Blue. The movie however shows multiple possibilities of Blue. All three suspects had a scene where they were Blue in Simon’s mind, obviously only one of them was Blue. If I remember correctly in the book Simon just wandered and thought that Bram, Cal and Waffle House guy were cute, he only suspected them for a bit, like the readers he saw Blue as a person not as a persona. The movie has Simon always trying to figure out who he is making the audience even more intrigued in finding out, therefore making the mystery a much bigger deal.
After Coming Out
In the movie both Simon’s mom and dad have an emotional scene with him after he comes out. In the book however I don’t recall any scenes like that. There may have been but they still wouldn’t be as impactful as the scenes in the movie.
Scenes that are perfect in both versions.
- Simon coming out to Abby in the car
- All of the e-mails between Jacques and Blue
- The Halloween Party
- Why is Straight the Default?
- Halloween Oreos are the best Oreos
Scenes I wish made it to the movie
- Simon, Abby and Nick going to an adult bar, Simon getting drunk and flirts with a college guy.
Even though this isn’t in the movie, it is actually in the deleted scenes. There are two actually. One of them sees just Nick and Simon going to the bar. The next scene shows the drunk Simon and the other drunk College guy “hitting it off”.
- When the drama club practices their play during the holidays and after they’re done they have fun singing Disney songs and Cal pushes Simon in a rolling chair down the hall and it’s amazing.
Read First or Watch First?
This is the crucial part. Here I suggest whether you should read the book first or watch the movie first. With Love, Simon I have to say that watching the movie first is better. Once you’re a fan of the movie, you’ll go to the book and you’ll get a more detailed and longer extended story. Then obviously you will want to rewatch the movie again.
Have you read Simon vs The Homo-Sapiens Agenda? Have you see Love, Simon. Have you done both? Would you read or watch first?
Both Love, Simon and Simon vs The Homo-Sapiens Agenda are available for purchase everywhere.
owen is a filmaholic 