The thing is: Simon being revealed to be gay is really cliché. We’ve all seen it before, the bully who goes after the gay kid because he has a crush and doens’t know how to handle or confront that. Been there, done that. So it got me thinking: why do I find it so impactful when Dead Boy Detectives pulled it?
Because it doesn’t matter.
Simon doesn’t feel like he was revealed to be gay as a way to expose “hidden depth,” which is why this move often feels cheap to me. It’s not used to justify his actions, and he is not excused for them. The narrative makes no apologies for his behavior. He murdered Edwin and the narrative underscores that
Instead, Simon being gay matters simply because it matters to Edwin, and that’s why this scene works. The revelation does not change how the audience is meant to feel about Simon; you maybe understand him better, but that is all. However, it changes everything for Edwin, because he’s recontextualizing all of these memories from when he was alive. The scene works because it allows Edwin to see himself in Simon, and to forgive himself for being gay and for being lonely. It’s not about Simon. It was never about Simon. It’s about what this knowledge about Simon means to Edwin.
