Hey HP!
I don’t know about you, but for the past few weeks, I’ve seen a ton of ads for Hulu’s newest show, Love, Victor which came out just a few days ago on June 17th. This show is a spinoff of the 2018 movie Love, Simon that was based on the book Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli that I remember reading (and really enjoying) a few years back. I love a good continuation story, so I decided to watch an episode or two to see what it was all about. Of course, you know me, HP, and what did that lead to? A binge watch of the whole season (but no regrets!) Let’s get into it.
Love, Victor is a show with a very interesting narrative. It follows sixteen year old Victor Salazar, a Latino American who is the new kid in the town of Creekwood, the same town that Love, Simon took place in. Throughout the show, Victor is searching to figure out his identity and the kind of person he wants to be in a new town where he could totally reinvent himself. However, Victor struggles with his sexuality and what that would mean for his relationships, as his family is very religious and traditional. In search of some guidance, Victor reaches out to Simon, who graduated a few years prior, to ask for his help to gain the courage to truly be himself.
I’m not going to lie, Hope, I really wasn’t sure about this show after the first episode. At first, the writing and the acting felt a bit stiff and awkward. My main concern was that this show would fall into the trope of having the main character’s only personality trait and story arc being their sexuality. Don’t get me wrong, I fully support the self discovery and LGBT+ storylines that involve finding out all the parts of themself that makes the person who they truly are. But unfortunately sometimes I feel like stories unintentionally forget to develop other parts of the character and make their sexuality the only thing about them. Luckily, this was not the case for Love, Victor.
After the first episode, both the writing and acting started to feel much more authentic. Victor steadily became one of my favorite characters not only because he was the main character, but because his story felt very true to a teenager perspective. One of my favorite things about Victor is that he doesn’t even know what or who he likes, he is confused and trying to figure it out for himself! In other stories I see that are rooted in sexuality and self discovery, the main character almost always knows their sexuality and almost 99% of the time have a supporting yet clueless family who they have to come out to. These shows are still great and important to get representation of all situations, but it never really shows stories like Victor’s that might not always have great endings if and when he comes out and wants to truly be himself around everyone he loves.
Like I talked about in my earlier review of the show Never Have I Ever, this show gave me a huge perspective shift that I really enjoyed being able to see. Coming of age stories, especially LGBT+ stories centered around minorities and people of color are so necessary and beautiful to see on the screen. Shows like these are so important not only for representation but also to be able to see what life might be like in a house that speaks a language other than English in the home or balancing cultural traditions in a new space or a main character trying to root themselves in two cultures at once and struggling with that. These authentic voices are something I am very happy to be seeing more of. This show is great at letting Victor have the spotlight, but also pays homage to Simon Spier, the original main character of Creekwood, and bonds the two leads together in a way that is supportive and uniquely beautiful in a way I never imagined. This show has heart, comedy, heart wrenching moments every episode, and definitely deserves a watch.
P.S.
If you watch this show, HP, you will likely not be surprised at all that my favorite character in this show is Felix. Felix is the next door neighbor to Victor who quickly becomes his best friend, and Felix is undoubtedly loyal to the people he loves. Not to mention, he is the epitome of comic relief. I can only (very boldly) compare him to Stiles Stilinski from Teen Wolf and you know how big a compliment that is coming from me, HP, haha. I slapped a GIF in for reference because how can you not love him? Adorable.
-maddie
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