HOMOSEXUALITY DEPICTED IN LOVE, SIMON

(2018) MOVIE BY GREG BERLANTI

PROPOSAL THESIS

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Strata-1 Degree Majoring

American Studies in the English Department, Faculty of Humanities
Diponegoro University

Submitted by:

Rr. Deska Inggit Sulistyowati

NIM 13020120140160

FACULTY OF HUMANITIES

DIPONEGORO UNIVERSITY

SEMARANG

2022
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

In this chapter, the researcher briefly represented the research background,

research questions and purpose of the study as well. The researcher also
demonstrated five previous studies to help the readers figure out the novelty
of the research. Finally, writing outline was presented in order to show the
framework of thesis.

1.1. Background of the Study

In social life, several groups are part of the gay, lesbian, and bisexual
groups. It cannot be damaging that even though homosexual groups
are in the community structure, some areas consider homosexuals to
be a wrong group. Therefore, many people who belong to the
homosexual group hide their identity as gay, lesbian and bisexual
because they tend to be disliked by society and are considered
"negative others." An analytical action conducted by Istighfaroh
(2020) stated that discrimination against LGBT groups is because
they are "negative others."
Homosexuality is a relatively new word because it was only
discovered at the end of the 19th century. According to the book
Queer Theory (1996) by Annamarie Jagose, the word
'homosexuality' was proposed by the Swiss doctor Maria Benkert
which was not used in England until the 1890s. According to Simon
Watney (1992), a homosexual is usually used to describe one's
sexuality which is used in society in the late twentieth century.
Rudy (2016) said that the term 'homosexuality' is widely used for a
person who practices Homosexuality and is called homosexual. It
can be said as a person, a man or a woman, who is sexually attracted
to people of the same sex. Marcus (2005) stated that the word
'homosexuals' is frequently replaced by the term 'gays.' This term is
 widely used to refer to male homosexuals, whereas the term 'lesbian'
is used to define a woman who is sexually attracted to the same sex.
Rudy (2016) stated that Homosexuality is not something that many
people can talk about, but the public can also see it from another
angle, creating different perceptions about Homosexuality. With this
difference in perception and technology and media that are
increasingly developing, many people do works with Gay elements,
such as novels, movies, music, and literary works. One of them is
Love, Simon (2018), which Greg Berlanti worked on with his
inspiration from a novel with the same title. Rudy also added that
many gay movies became popular in the 2000s in the USA. This
reason agrees that American gay films are exciting to be discussed in
a study.
Love, Simon (2018) describes Simon as hiding his sexual orientation
from those closest to him. Until an upload on the school page from
someone with the nickname 'Blue' who stated he was gay. Simon felt
that Blue was in the same position and confused as he was, and
finally, Simon started to tell Blue about his situation via email. In the
beginning, various conflicts emerged, among which people close to
Simon knew about his identity as a gay person.
In the story, there is also a character named Ethan, a student who has
long recognized his identity as gay. In this movie, Simon and Ethan
have a much different portrayal of characters where Simon feels
scared and worried about his identity being known to others. At the
same time, Ethan lives quietly with his friends even though there is
still several discrimination against him. The differences between
these two characters will be discussed in this thesis. Both characters
have the same role but have different portrayal.
1.2. Research Problem
The problem raised in this thesis is how this film depicts
homosexuality in the film, especially Simon and Ethan's characters
as gay characters.
 a. How does Simon's character describe homosexuality at school?
b. How are the depictions of Simon and Ethan's characters in Gay
different?
1.3. Objectives of the Study
Related to what is written in the research problem, the purpose of
writing this research is to answer how Simon, as the main character
in Love, Simon (2018), describes homosexuality in school, as well
as the difference with the character of Ethan. The latter has long
recognized his identity as gay. In these two characters, there are
quite a lot of differences. Simon is still hiding his identity, while
Ethan has long revealed that he is gay. Queer theory is used in this
study to help represent the author's views in clarifying the research
results.
1.4. Previous Studies
According to Tessa Monica Chantyan Zie (2021), in the film Love,
Simon, directed by Greg Berlanti, there are four signs against the
defense of homosexuality, namely the struggle to come out as
homosexuals, increasing the acceptance of homosexuals, changing
negative perspective about homosexuality, and supporting the
homosexuals starting from family and friends. In her research, Tessa
also stated that the film Love, Simon (2018) directed by Greg
Berlanti is a film that represents the views of a student who is gay.
Kadek Putri Pradnyaningsih (2022) states that external factors
influence Simon to resolve conflicts in the story. According to the
author, Simon faced his external conflict between man vs. man and
man vs. society. On the man vs. Man. Simon gets external conflicts
with other characters, namely Martin, Abby, Nick, Nora, Leah, and
Blue. They also get the external conflict between Simon and the
community at school.
Anisatul Istighfaroh (2020) argues that in the film Love, Simon
(2018) describes that there is much discrimination by the community
towards the LGBT community because they are considered
 "negative others" by expressing harsh words or bullying or talking
about the LGBT community as if they are wrong, or characters who
are afraid to come out because of the flawed view of society. From
this analysis, it can be said that acts of discrimination by the
surrounding community affect the main character.
Anna Riana Suryanti Tambunan (2022) uses the Queer Theory by
Giffney (2007) to analyze the influence of sexual orientation secrecy
from the utterances of the main characters and the author's narration
and the realization of the influence of sexual orientation found in
Love, Simon (2018) movie. Anna found six kinds of romantic
secrecy of sexual orientation flouted by the main characters and the
author's narration in Love Simon: Romantic Secrecy, Burden,
Instruction Thought Suppression, Perceived Physical Attractiveness,
Break-up Distress, and Love.
Rudy (2016) states that many gay movies were produced in the
2000s in the USA. Gay films offer various stories, such as comedy,
romantic scenes, horror, detectives, and violence. In his studies, he
analyzes and describes reflections and pictures of gay life shown in
films.
1.5. Method of the Study
In writing this study, the researcher uses a qualitative method where
the author looks for sources of research content through various
books and journals. The purpose of this paper's qualitative method is
to explore and understand the meaning of Love, Simon, in his part,
represents homosexuality. The author also looks for research sources
through articles, journals, and various e-books found on the internet
to help the author complete the information in this paper.
1.6. Scope of the Study
The researcher analyzes a film called Love, Simon, produced in
2018 by Greg Berlanti, where he made it based on a novel with the
same title. In analyzing this research, the researcher uses the Queer
theory proposed by Annamarie Jagose (1996) to facilitate the
 description of the object and the study that will be from the research.
The topic of discussion in this research is Simon's character, who is
gay, describing his identity in the film and the difference between
him and Ethan, who has recognized his identity for a long time.
1.7. Writing Organization
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This chapter consist of the background of the
study, research problems, objectives of the
study, previous study, scope of the study and
writing organization
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
In this chapter, the writer mentions the
theories which are utilized in this research.
CHAPTER III METHODS OF THE STUDY
In this chapter, the writer mentions the
methods of the study which are utilized in this
research.
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS
It is the main chapter of the study. The
character Simon and the difference of Simon
and Ethan depicted in Gay Character are
examined in this chapter.
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION
This chapter is the result and outline of the
previous chapters.
BIBLIOGRAPHY