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| Promotional Image for Love, Victor |
Love, Victor is a Hulu original series, and a sequel to the endearing 2018 hit film, Love, Simon. The show follows Victor Salazar (Michael Cimino), a new student at the school from Love, Simon, Creekwood High School, as he navigates friendships, family issues, relationship trouble, and discovers his true identity.
Produced by 20th
Century Fox television, its creators and showrunners are Isaac Aptaker and
Elizabeth Berger. It premiered on June 17, 2020, on Hulu. Nick Robinson, who
played Simon Spier in the film, reprises his role in the TV show and is also
one of its producers. Becky Albertalli, the author of the book Simon vs. the
Homo Sapiens Agenda and its universe, upon which both the film and the
television show are based, has been heavily involved in consulting on the
production of the show.
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| Victor with His Friends |
Victor has a wonderful
group of friends, such as his awkward neighbor, Felix Westen (Anthony Turpel),
Victor’s potential girlfriend, Mia Brooks (Rachel Naomi Hilson), and her
quirky, social media-obsessed best friend, Lake Cunningham (Bebe Wood). Each of
Victor’s friends has their own issues to work through. Felix is incredibly
nerdy, and has a troubling family secret. Mia is incredibly wealthy, but has a
distant, dysfunctional father. And Lake is constantly worrying about
appearances, thanks to astronomical expectations from her mother.
Victor has just moved
from Texas with his Puerto Rican-Colombian family, which includes his father, Armando
Salazar (James Martinez), his mother, Isabel Salazar (Ana Ortiz), his younger
sister, Pilar Salazar (Isabella Ferreira), and his little brother, Adrian
Salazar (Mateo Fernandez). Victor’s family is moderately conservative, and
there is a fair amount of attention within their relationships. Victor’s
Armando and Isabel have a tense relationship, and are covering up secrets about
the truth of their move. Pilar has left her entire life behind, and has trouble
relating to others, including her parents. Adrian is often left to whether the
fallout of these troubling relationship developments.
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| Tito Salazar Speaks with Derek and Benji |
Of course, a large part
of Love, Victor is spent on Victor’s discovery of his own sexuality. Victor,
who has always tried to live up to his family’s expectations that he be
straight, finds himself falling for a fellow student, his coworker, Benjamin “Benji”
Campbell (George Sear). At sixteen years old, Victor is still figuring things
out, and facing pressures from friends, family, and the world at large.
Victor’s family is adamantly influenced by their faith, and traditional
expectations. For example, they keep a figurine of a crucified Jesus in the
center of their apartment, and Victor’s mother prays to him regularly. Victor’s
grandparents visit for his 16th birthday, and Victor’s grandfather,
Tito
Salazar (Juan Carlos Cantu), takes issue with Benji and his boyfriend, Derek (Lukas
Gage) openly expressing affection.
Love, Victor deftly
portrays teenaged life and angst with the sensitivity it deserves, all the
while portraying the subject matter in a refreshing, humorous fashion. The show
portrays the embarrassing moments of teenage life, the discovery of identity,
the social life, and of course, the brooding teenage angst, which it does well
enough to put Dawson’s Creek to shame. There are carnivals, band battles,
school dances, detention, bullying, and so much more. In fact, the characters
in the show and their interactions are anything but one-dimensional, as is
shown by Andrew (Mason Gooding), who could be perceived as a bully, but is actually
an incredibly complex character, and by the end of the season, one cannot help
but feel for him.
Part of what makes Love,
Victor so enthralling is the wonderful detail and consistency with which it
portrays its supporting characters. They are extraordinarily well-written, and
not only serve to move the story forward, but also often as comic relief. For
example, there is a basketball coach who is constantly bemoaning his team’s
failures, and tragedies that befall himself and others. Similarly, there is a
teacher supervising detention with an absolutely chaotic love life. These
facets normally do not seem humorous, but with the style of delivery the
writers give these characters, one cannot help but chuckle with mirth.
One of the highlights of the show is in episode eight, when we find out what Simon is up to now. His boyfriend, Abraham “Bram” Greenfeld (Keiynan Lonsdale) also makes an appearance, as do their wonderfully supporting roommates. This episode also reaffirms the place of non-binary and transgender individuals, and gives a little lesson in pronouns. There is even an appearance by famed drag queen Katya Zamolodchikova. This episode serves to encourage the LGBTQ community, and reaffirm the fact that it does indeed get better.
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| Victor |
There is a little bit of
controversy over the fact that a gay actor was not chosen to play Victor. The
requirements for playing the character were somewhat stringent, with the need
for a noticeably Hispanic actor who could appear sixteen years old, had no
aversion to playing a gay character and being recognized incredibly publicly
for it, and many other requirements needed to play the character. In acting,
auditions and skill at performing is how talent is chosen. While it can
definitely be agreed that it is ideal to have a gay actor playing a gay
character, this process of choosing talent can lead to some amazing things. One
is reminded of the casting of Duane Jones in Night of the Living Dead, which,
in 1968, was an absolute triumph for the civil rights movement.
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| Victor and Benji |
Love, Victor is a beautiful, sweet, touching, and funny show about the power of being yourself. It is a lesson that everyone growing up throughout the world needs to learn: never be ashamed of who you are.
- Rating: 10/10
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