it’s about stupid horny teenagers who tragically throw their lives away

So, there’s something of a debate over whether Romeo + Juliet is a Drama or a Comedy, as its relatively easy to play the high strung niche bigotries of two aristocratic families and the soppy tear-jerk romance of two teenagers repeatedly failing to kill themselves for laughs.

But I think the underlying appeal of the story is, at its heart, the idea that our history may define our current conditions but it cannot dictate our future choices. We can be born into hatred and still find love. We can break free of our family legacies. We can abandon filial obligations and golden shackles, if we can find someone of like mind to follow.

Their deaths are meant as an emphasis of their determination. But I don’t think they’re strictly stupid or even particularly horny. I think they are simply unhappy with their lives and in search of other like-minded people who would flee towards a brighter future. Romeo and Juliet are one another’s paths to escape their toxic families. And that’s honestly really sweet and cool.