Confession, Coming Out, and Postfeminism: Gendered Representations in Love, Simon and Alex Strangelove

ABSTRACT I argue that the gay teenage coming-of-age films Love, Simon and Alex Strangelove enact two conservative gendered representations. First, both films portray a post-feminist, single-issue LGBTQ allyship which rationalizes a male-centered understanding of coming out at the expense of the girl best friend. Second, both movies display gendered spatial arrangements which reify problematic gender dynamics by physically displacing the girl best friend with the lead’s new boyfriend. While both films ought to be celebrated for their portrayal of positive environments for closeted teenagers to come out into, they simultaneously deliver narratives which should be further investigated by rhetoricians and media theorists. This essay invites scholars to interrogate gay teenage coming-of-age movies to better understand coming out in the modern era.