Written by Samuel Niles
The 2018 film Love, Simon ends with its title character (Nick Robinson, who serves as a producer for Love, Victor and has a voice over cameo in every episode) coming out on his terms. He gets a fairy tale ending, where he meets his anonymous lover on a Ferris wheel, and they share their first kiss.
This fairy tale has a positive impact on his school, Creekwood High, and we see all sorts of people showing their comfort in coming out thanks to Simon.
So when Love, Victor (Hulu’s spinoff sequel series of the original film) opens with our new title character (Michael Cimino, Annabelle Comes Home) sending his predecessor a message, the series of “screw you’s” that end the message stand out. He states “screw you for having the world’s most perfect, accepting parents, the world’s most supportive friends. Because for some of us, it’s not that easy.”
Love, Simon was critically acclaimed. I partake in that acclaim. It’s a lovely little movie with a wonderful script, cast, and heart. But acclaim from most doesn’t mean acclaim from all, and the film was criticized for being idealized, with some calling it fantasy and wish fulfillment. This is criticism that the film’s writers Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger have taken to heart as the showrunners of Love, Victor, where they openly explore issues that their film didn’t, and do so effectively thanks to its new perspective.
Victor Salazar is a new student at Creekwood High. He recently moved from Texas with his family: Mother Isabel (Ana Ortiz, Ugly Betty), father Armando (James Martinez, One Day at a Time), sister Pilar (Isabella Ferreria, Orange Is The New Black), and little brother Adrian (Mateo Fernandez, in his screen debut). The introduction to his family is similar to the introduction we had to Simon’s. We learn that they’re loving, but completely oblivious to his secret. Pilar presumes Victor is straight, and we get a flashback to his father making a homophobic joke. There are also similarities in his new friends, like Mia (Rachel Hilson, This Is Us) taking a liking to him. There’s also the friendly goofball Felix (Anthony Turpel formerly of The Bold and The Beautiful, who graciously gives a great performance to match the writing for what could have been an insufferable stereotype) who, like everyone else in Victor’s life, presumes he’s straight.
Creekwood High seems to take great pride in the story of Simon (the vice principal refers to him as a legend). He certainly still has a positive impact on the school. As an example, the trope in Simon’s story of trying to discover if certain guys are gay or not is not at all present. When Victor first sees his hopeful beau Benji (George Sear, The Evermoor Chronicles), rather than playing high school Sherlock in trying to find out if Benji is gay or not, he learns (in the affirmative) immediately.
But despite these similarities between Victor and Simon, and despite the positive impact Simon has had, the differences between the two and the limitations of Simon’s impact are also plain. In the first episode, we learn that, while Simon came from a family of means, Victor does not. Victor’s parents, while not necessarily on their way out, are clearly having problems that Simon’s weren’t. The Salazar’s race also has an impact on Pilar, where some racist bullying makes the pain of the new move stand out.
What these different issues bring to light is that no one is ever just dealing with One Important Problem. Creekwood High may put Simon’s story on a pedestal, but acceptance of LGBT people isn’t the only key to opening up Victor, nor is it the only problem Creekwood has. Indeed, the show intentionally inverts the Ferris wheel ending of Love, Simon, both in reality (with Victor getting on the ride with Mia) and nightmare, where he dreams he’s on it with Benji and the residents are all screaming at him.
Going further, something crucial about the show is that it embraces its core concept (new perspective in Creekwood) in other ways. It’s not a criticism of Love, Simon to point out that it’s almost exclusively from his perspective (it’s the point). But rather than being exclusively from the perspective of a new character, Victor expands its scope to its supporting characters. The new, long form media is perfect for this: we see conversations that Victor isn’t present for, learn about nuances that he isn’t aware of, giving us a fleshed out world.
Everyone has their secrets, their insecurities, their things they don’t tell everyone. Mia doesn’t relish in her “prettiest girl in school” title the way her best friend Lake (Bebe Wood, The Real O’Neals) does. Broad cultural landmarks and stereotypes like parties and the cool guys do little to positively impact the individual students, and the perspectives of characters like Mia, Lake, Felix and Victor’s family remind us that we’re all going through something, and that we all need each other.
But, all the same, we also can’t completely rely on each other, in the sense that if we’re lying about ourselves we’ll never be complete. Friends can’t be supportive if they don’t know who they’re supporting. And so, while the multiple perspectives are refreshing, we still need a core character to follow throughout. And the character of Victor, who is a knock out both in the writing department and in the winsome but vulnerable performance of Cimino, is a wonderful anchor in this familiar but new world of Creekwood High.
He navigates through high school tropes and expectations with finesse that shows wisdom and curiosity and messiness that reminds us of his youth and humanity. He likes basketball but loathes the “cool guy” culture that comes with it. He loathes the cultural pressure that comes with being close to Mia, but likes being close to Mia. He thinks he’s happy not being out, until his heart is shattered in a way that is impossible for him to deal with in the closet.
Ultimately, Victor doesn’t come to terms with who he is in these first three episodes. But he’s learning bit by bit. And I look forward to seeing him continue to learn.
Love, Victor is currently streaming on Hulu.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh-IaEaEdE0
Comments are closed.