Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda VERSUS Love, Simon
Mini Me's Take on Simon
I have a confession. I watched the movie first.
(In my defense, I wasn't allowed to read the book until I had seen the movie and agreed to write this book-vs.-movie review, so it wasn't technically my fault, but I know what you're thinking anyway: that is an unforgivable sin.)
Seeing the movie Love, Simon before reading the book gave me a different perspective on the storyline, especially the addition of [SPOILER ALERT] Leah telling Simon that she is in love with him; that particular detail upset me a little, seeing as I had shipped Leah and Abby from the beginning, but I got over it. The movie was more focused on Simon trying to puzzle out Blue's identity from the start, whereas as far as I can remember, the book only began to focus on that towards the end. Consequently, when I read the book, I kept wondering to myself, What about Blue? I suppose that there has to be more drama/action in movies, otherwise the viewer loses interest more quickly than with a book.
Which brings me to my next topic: the e-mails. In the book, of course, there were far more e-mails included, because if the entire movie was just a load of e-mails being read out loud, it would be almost as boring as writing this review is for me. (I was joking, just to be clear. That was a joke. This is fun. And that was not sarcasm.) However, the higher amount of e-mail content in the books gives Blue a stronger voice from the start, so you see more of what he's like as a character while Simon slowly begins to fall in love with him.
And. . . the characters! In both the movie and the book, the characters of this story are multi-dimensional, interesting, realistic, flawed, and quirky. However, it was the book versions especially that caught my eye: Leah's snarky comments, the 'Nick Eisner' cookies, the whole post about people being like big houses with small windows that just seemed very, very Blue--they made me laugh as a reader, and they also made me jealous as a writer. Everybody felt very real, like any group of high school friends in Georgia. Not that I know any groups of high school friends in Georgia.
But I digress. (Yeah, I stole that phrase from a book I'm reading. It sounds cool, okay?)
In short, while I thoroughly enjoyed both paper and film versions of Simon's love story, I feel like I connected more with the novel. This might be because I prefer reading to watching movies or TV shows, but it might also be because the book felt more realistic and in tune with the characters.
And now I'm going to go daydream about my ships. . . sigh. . .
Dr. Bookworm’s Take on Simon
I finished reading Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda at London Heathrow airport specifically so I could watch the movie on the flight home. Mini Me and I watched it together and seh had different theories as she hadn’t read the novel yet. Unfortunately for me, I kept trying to compare the two and I always have to remind myself that the movie is just an interpretation of the book!
I’m going to have to say that the book and the movie might be equivalent for me. While I felt that the novel was more poetic— for example, Simon’s email address is hour to hour, note to note, the film has some very good points as well.
Here’s what tips it slightly to each side for me:
NOVEL:
Elliott Smith and music play a larger part in the connection between Simon and Blue
Blue gives Simon a tee-shrt
Lovely poetic emails that show the connection between Simon/Blue
FILM:
Nick Robinson is charming as Simon (He was also charming in the film adaptation of Nicola Yoon’s Everything, Everything.)
I felt there was a giveaway at first: even though the film depicts different people as Blue, the very first hint was who Blue actually turns out to be. Mini Me guessed right away with that hint and I have NO poker face.
I kind of wanted to SQUEE at the last scene with the ferris wheel. And, Leah and his friends are awesome for not letting anyone film that moment.
Sequel SPOILER ALERT
By the way, Mini Me correctly shipped Leah and Abby right away from the first scenes of the movie. I was like “Nah”. But then I had to read Leah on the Offbeat. And she was right! (Damn, I hate it when that happens….)
Tell Dr. Bookworm!
What is one of your favorite teen rom-coms?
