The Classic Love Story Ends in Tragedy

By: Melvin Hernandez


Verona County - In late February, a teenage couple was found dead in their Verona County town home. Police reports say that Romeo Montague, 16, and Juliet Capulet, 12, had committed suicide after an terrible misunderstanding. Full details on the events leading up to their deaths, are still under investigation, but our sources have covered some breaking information.

A family rivalry is initially the reason behind Romeo's and Juliet's forbidden love. They first met at a Capulet's Birthday Celebration. Romeo was not on the guest list, however he was in attendance, against his will, with a few friends. Tybalt, cousin to Juliet, took notice of the party crashers and was furious at their presence. It wasn't long before Romeo and Juliet began sneaking around the party, unnoticeably. Shortly thereafter, they were "in love" and wished to get married with the assistance of Juliet's Nurse, and Friar Lawrence, who agreed to marry the youngsters in hopes that it would "end the feud and join the families together at last." All, however, had to be kept secret.

Things take a turn for the worst, once Romeo wishes to avenge for the death of his dear friend, Mercutio. He kills Mercutio's murderer, Tybalt, who was seeking revenge on the the Montagues for stepping onto his grounds. Romeo flees the scene, and Verona, for he has just killed his wife's cousin. Juliet hopes to scare Romeo into returning home by pretending to be ill and dying. Romeo misinterprets this information into thinking she has already passed and decides to end his life than to continue without her. Juliet hears of this terrible news, and finds Romeo dead in his home. She then also, ends her life. They were found that evening laying next to each other.

Romeo's Profile:

Romeo, a young boy around the age of 16, has always had a compassionate heart, intelligent mind, and peaceful hand. Although in the middle of his family's feud with the Capulets, Romeo pays no mind to what is going on between the two households. Instead, he enjoys spending time with his cousin Benvolio and close friend, Mercutio, kinsman to the Prince of Verona. Romeo has also dealt with a heavy hand of heartbreak. But he was soon able to move on with his life shortly after being dragged along to a Capulet's party, where his life was altered at the first sight of Juliet Capulet.

Juliet's Profile:

Juliet was a very young girl, of about 12. Her care-taking Nurse thought of her as highly naive, although that would be normal for a child of her age. She knew nothing about love, or marriage, even though at the time, her wedding was already being arranged. Her world soon changed, after laying her eyes on Romeo at her cousin's birthday celebration that the Capulet House was throwing. She did not know that the boy, who she thought was her true love, belonged to the Montague household, and that this was about to make her life more complicated than it destined to be.

Statements from Capulet:

In an emotional interview with Juliet's mother, Lady Capulet says, "I can't believe this all happened so fast, and without any of my knowledge either. Juliet never told me about Romeo, for i would never approve of their hidden relationship. However, knowing would have been much better than having to lose my precious daughter. I would've stopped that vile Romeo from ever entering her life and ruining her future. He took so much away from her, and us, her family."

Statements from Montague:

I was also able to get an interview with Romeo's father, Lord Montague, who was also very upset, but saw the story from a different standpoint. He says, "Romeo was a very good boy. He was the perfect son. Always so passionate, making him very likable. I'm sure Juliet was a wonderful girl, despite her having a despicable father. If I had known about the relationship, i would i have tried to deal with what was happening at the moment. Unfortunately, all was kept under wraps, ending both our son and daughter's lives."

Consequences:

Discussions are still being held as to what penalties, if any, will be held against the families of these two unfortunate souls. What is heard and believed to be negotiated, is having a trial where both households will have their say on the matter, but neither will be punished for acts committed by the victims, for there was little involvement within the two families. The case is still being discussed. The Prince, however, has scheduled a hearing for the Nurse and Friar Lawrence to attend, which will be held next month.

The Views On Euthanasia

What do think about Euthanasia...

Well, after reading two informative articles giving me some perspective, and the novel "Of Mice and Men", my own personal opinion on Euthanasia has not changed or varied in the lease bit, because instead i received more of an understanding for the exceptions and also the absurd objections. I can earnestly trust that Euthanasia is a practical way to end someone else's life with out their direct command. I mean, this is one of those controversial topics that would be better off if people extrapolated the concept. However, that that is not the case. People can be so quick to judge so rigorously that they don't take the time to comprehand what is reality. In one of the articles i read, a father decided to pull the plug on his then 38 year old daughter after 17 years of being in a vegative state. I think that what he did was one of the best things that could've been done. It was at her request. She said that she would prefer to not live, if she can't live for herself. Finally, the anguished father was able to put his daughter out of her nonliving state, and a burden was liberated off his shoulders. Although their lives surely would not stay the same, they can ultimately live and rest peacefully.
Soon after, i read an article about a father and mother who thought that they would be better of dead after getting canned from their positions at a Los Angeles hospital. After loosing all hope, the father decided to shoot and kill his entire family in their home. At first i was bewildered at the thought that such event could happen, but as it sank in, i had this insanely morose feeling inside of me. This "Mercy" Killing was what i believe, the worst way to handle a situation and i am still saddend that these parents were unable to get a hold of and foundate what was necessary to take care of their family.

"Mercy" Killing

1A.
-George probably decided to end Lennie's life because it would make thing a lot easier for him and in some way, Lennie too. Certainly, he did not want to do it, but he thought that it was one of the final options. The best option. He would've hated to see his good friend brutally murdered by angry farm men who were not going to take it easy in anyway. Instead, he decided to do it himself, in a much faster way.
1B.
-I mean, being killed is not the best thing for anyone, but in Lennie's case, there is no longer the struggle for survival. What i mean by this is that there was just so much trouble being caused by Lennie, and Lennie was getting himself into some trouble too. It was just harder to live life with out any complications all around. There definitely was another way to do things, but regardless this is how it did happen.

2A.
"Late last year, 67-year-old Beppino Englaro, won an intense 10-year legal battle to allow his daughter's feeding tubes to be removed, saying that was her wish."
-This father clearly believed that after 17 years, it was time to pull the plug on his daughter. It's what she wanted. And he only fought so hard, for so long to give her what she wanted.
2B.
"...,his daughter had expressed a preference for dying over being kept alive artificially."
-The good man was only trying to meet her daughter's request. It had been much too long, and it was time to come up with a decision. Luckily, he was able to base it on his daughter's words. What better way to die, than the way you preferred to?
2C.
I would have to agree with the father's decision, and i can say this because i am putting myself in his position. The way i look at it, there's no point in living, if you can't live for yourself. Being on life support; you are restricted. And being in a vegetable state, well your helpless. So do you die, or continue living off of machines? There comes a point where someone else has to make that decision for you. I myself would prefer go out easily, and not struggle. And i would hope that someone would choose that as the best choice for me if such thing were to happen. Then again, everyone thinks differently.


3A.
-This father unfortunately lost hope. He was scared of the outcome, so he decided to quit the game early. He was probably drowning in emotional thoughts such as:

• "Why did all of this happen?"
• "How badly are we going to suffer from this?"
• "How am i going to support the kids now?"
• "I've let my family down."
  
• "She says we should kill ourselves. It might be the only way."
• "We have to take the kids with us. We just can't leave them with anyone else."
• "This is what they wanted. So we have to go."
• "There's no other way out. This is the easiest escape."

Ervin was paranoid about how he could possibly become incapable of supporting his family, because he believed that there was no way that he could ever be employed again.

3B.
Clearly, there were other ways to go about this situation. I believe that it was up to he parents to morally support their children, but sadly they failed. What they could've done was reassured their kids that everything was going to be okay. Sure they were in a huge slump, but in time they could've found their way back to the top. They also lacked encouragement. His wife, Ana, was in no way a confident person in order for her to suggest that the family is better off dead. Ervin, the father, was neither hopeful or confident that things could turn out alright at the end. So they gave up. At this breaking point, their licenses shouldn't have mattered. What did matter, was the kids. They needed to know that the lighter things in life sometimes come at the darkest hours. So they should've encouraged their kids to succeed in school so that later in life they would have greater opportunities. A lot things could've been changed. Now if only there was going back.

"Route South"

Playing the Role of Ralph: Milo Ventimiglia-Milo (Heroes) was chosen for Ralph because he's been said to have taken a variety of challenging roles. Therefore, playing Ralph should be no hard task. He also stars in NBC's hit show, "Heroes", and I'm confident that he can play the hero that Ralph wants to be. The clash between Ralph and Jack, would play out pretty well when Milo and Cam take their place.

Playing the Role of Jack: Cam Gigandet

-Cam (Twilight, the Unborn) has very often played the villain or antagonist. His face says it all. He can portray the bad guy with a single smirk, so it shouldn't be hard for him to want take control, just like Jack did in the story. His past acting roles and films are the main reason why i chose him. It couldn't have been an easier decision.

Playing the Role of Piggy: Jim Sturgess -Jim (Across the Universe, 21) is a great actor. He is also in fact, from London, United Kingdom, so you already have the voice that would remind you of Piggy. In "Across the Universe", Jim Sturgess plays Jude, who quickly befriends Max (played by Joe Anderson), so this leads me to believe that he can play Piggy who befriended Ralph. Piggy is put through a couple emotional test when on the island, and i believe that Jim is a good enough actor to portray any feeling.

Playing the Role of Simon: -Zach (Scrubs, Garden State) is one of my all time favorite actors. He's a really wacky, yet witty, character in real life. But his work in "Garden State" is what made it one of my favorite movies. He was able to play the numb-to-emotional feelings Andrew Largeman, and for most of the film he was in his head because he just had so many thoughts running around. Well, his somewhat quiet role makes me think that he's capable of playing the somewhat quiet Simon.

Playing the Role of Roger: Joe Anderson-Joe (Across the Universe) puts in a lot of energy into his roles. In 2007's "Across the Universe" he played Max, who was a young man who was drafted to the Vietnam War. His character was exciting, yet somewhat temperamental and leads me to think that he can play Roger. Roger also supports Jack's decisions, and i can see Joe and Cam working great together to fill those roles.

The "Beastie":

The Hot Sun over the Desert

Location/Setting:
I decided to change the location to a desert road in Nevada mainly because i was inspired by the Independent Film Wristcutters: A Love Story. I thought that it would be more realistic if my cast were to be driving down an empty road, after an unexpected detour, when suddenly their car breaks down. Being older people, i imagine that the storyline would take a different path. For only about 24 hours, (instead of days) the guys are left to cope with each other for the meantime, until they can receive help.