#max murphy

“Max!” A high-pitched cry of his name startled Max Murphy, and he whipped around, attempting to see through the crowd of people and figure out who’d called out to him. (He knew, instinctively; after all, there was only one person that would be yelling for him in this particular crowd.)

Sure enough, a stocky boy came barrelling through the crowd directly into him, nearly bowling him over in the process. A loud peal of laughter slipped from him as Vincent’s arms crushed his torso.

“You made it!”

“Of course,” Max replied, going for cool and missing it by a mile. He only responded once Vincent’s arms had loosened a little, and he was sure his cheeks were flushed red from the enthusiastic embrace. “You said it was important to you, Vin. I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”

Vincent was staring at him, gaze fond, features positively glowing. “But how?”

Max smirked. “Oh, y’know. Called in a favour or two.”

“...My parents?” Vincent asked, brow furrowing in confusion. Max laughed again, shook his head.

“Nope,” he replied. As if on cue, the sound of two raised voices could be heard over the general hubbub of the crowd as Brick and Savannah pushed their way through, arguing about the high school basketball game they’d just been forced to sit through.

Vincent choked on a laugh. “No way. You got them to bring you?”

“Apparently, they owed my ‘rents a favour,” Max responded modestly with a shrug, though the effect was ruined by the smirk he couldn’t seem to get rid of. “Something about chasing them through the sewer when they were kids…?”

“Oh, my god.” Vincent leaned forward, breathless with laughter, letting his forehead rest briefly on Max’s shoulder. “I can’t believe it. Thank you so much for being here. I saw you in the crowd and I just… it was so good to see your face, Max, seriously.”

Max felt himself flush again, and he revelled in the warmth radiating from Vincent’s body for a moment before gently pushing at him.

“I told you, I wouldn’t miss it for anything. Now get offa me, you big lump. You’re all sweaty.”

Vincent giggled, pulling away and shaking his sweat-filled hair like a dog. Max groaned and covered his face with his arms.

“Wanna go get milkshakes?” Vincent asked, once he’d calmed down again. Max grinned at him, dropping his arms.

The building shuttered.

I saw smoke, I smelled

Cordite.

Fireball belched out across the sidewalk,

Running and screaming, I saw

Chaos, mass chaos.

She couldn't find her child.

I'm talking about legs being blown off.

I found her child.

This is the type of stuff you see in Baghdad,

Not Boston.

I gave her the child.

It could be anybody.

Our ears still ringing from the bombs,

See something, say something.

Somebody knows who did this.

Flipping through videotape now,

Lots of pictures, lots of cameras, looking

For a needle in a haystack, but

The needle is there.

Suspect 1:

Black cap with a white Bridgestone golf logo,

Tan pants,

Hooded black jacket.

Suspect 2:

White baseball cap backward,

Dark pants,

Similar black jacket.

Manhunt launched for pair.

Shootout with police. Killed.

Suspect on the loose in Watertown,

SWAT teams in the backyards,

Do not answer door,

Stay away from windows,

Keep doors locked, and

He's 19 years old.

Captured in a boat on Franklin Street.

A sweet measure of relief, it's a proud day

To be a Boston police officer, but

We will never feel totally safe in this city again.

It was a beautiful day, people were cheering.

An 8-year-old boy from Dorchester,

A 29-year-old woman from Medford,

A Chinese graduate student at Boston University. But

We will get through this,

We summon the strength that maybe

We didn't even know

We had, and

We carry on.

We finish the race.

This is our fucking city.

Acknowledgements

Note: I have left this essay in its original form (completed on October 30, 2018) due to the topical nature of its call to write.

The perfect couples’ costume is no more. This Wednesday, trick-or-treaters may come across various Ariana Grandes and Pete Davidsons, but, alas, the two will never be seen together. For anyone lost following these opening sentences, I am referring to singer Grande and comedian Davidson’s recent split, calling off their planned engagement. However, I doubt that anyone can be too lost. Since May of this year, articles about the two’s relationship have been dominating news and pop culture outlets. Originally covered by celebrity gossip-centered websites such as TMZ and E! News, the interest quickly spread to more mainstream news sources, with the recent breakup making its way to CNN. But “interest” is an understatement. Unlike normal celebrity relationships, a national obsession developed over them, with the internet blowing up at every little move by the couple.

But why?

In an article on Refinery29, a media and entertainment outlet, Kathryn Lindsay attempted to answer that question. In her piece entitled “Why We'll Never Stop Caring About Pete Davidson & Ariana Grande,” one can find her answer about halfway through: “Their story is cute. Their story says there is a right person out there for you and that you know it right when you meet them.” Not only is this a troubling answer, but it only scratches the surface. Why is that a message people want to hear in the first place? 

This stems from the belief in “the one.” When looking for romantic partners, many believe that their soulmate is somewhere in the world, waiting to be found. This can be traced to our desire for a basic human attribute: empathy. Empathy is the ability to share and feel the emotions of others. I can picture my fifth-grade teacher making very clear the difference between this and sympathy. While sympathy involves feeling your own negative emotions for what a person is going through, empathy is feeling their emotions. To feel someone else’s emotions suggests a sense of connection to that person, and that is the basis for the concept of soulmates. And while people feel empathy for each other all the time, there is a belief that there is only one true soulmate because of how deep a connection people are looking for. In an ideal world of soulmates, each pair has a mutual understanding so strong that the two are almost one with each other. It is therefore easy to understand why people think one will know who their soulmate is right away. Often two people can tell when they “click,” and this is the highest form of that.

While this all sounds theoretically wonderful, in reality, it is harmful to those looking for their soulmate. For many, “soulmate” simply means “perfect partner.” The problem is that no one is perfect for one another. According to Gary Lewandowski, a professor of psychology at Monmouth University, those in a relationship who believe in soulmates are more likely to break up. Because of the notion that soulmates are one’s perfect match, any imperfections can cause people to doubt the entire relationship. On the other hand, those who do not believe in soulmates have a healthier way of thinking; if a relationship is not perfect, then its success comes from whether or not the partners can improve upon it. This prevents one from constantly waiting for the perfect partner to come along. These two schools of thought are similar to the concept of fate versus free will. Those who believe in soulmates believe that the universe has already picked who their perfect match is, and they will either find them or they won’t, whereas the others believe that when any two people find each other, it is up to them to make the relationship work. While those in the former camp are often seen as romantics, the very nature of their ideology discourages healthy romance.

But one cannot blame this harmful way of thinking entirely on the individual—American celebrity culture feeds on this attitude. Throughout the course of their relationship, discussions surrounding Grande and Davidson had been almost entirely positive. With each new update online came copious comments about how perfect they were for each other. When Davidson went on Jimmy Fallon following his engagement, the crowd roared with excitement at the mention of it. And while there was certainly room for positivity, people also praised the more questionable parts of Davidson and Grande’s relationship. Their permanent tattoos for each other were seen as “couple goals” rather than brash decisions that could potentially backfire down the line. Fans saw their decision to marry after one month of dating as an amazing decision rather than… well… a not-so-amazing decision. The internet celebrated each move because the two must have been soulmates. This is due to the nature of our culture and how we tend to romanticize celebrities and their lives.

The romanticism exists because people like to look at the top and see perfection, no matter how little is known or how many imperfections are in view. In general, humans are naturally envious, and celebrities represent everything we want but don’t have. We put ourselves in their shoes, imagining possessing their fame and money. But when we dream about things we want, we tend to ignore any negative aspects. Instead, we focus on everything that’s good and form it into a perfect ideal. We want celebrities to be perfect, because in our minds those are our future lives—and of course we would want our own future lives to be perfect. So to Lindsay’s claim that Grande and Davidson’s story told us that the right person is there for us and we will know it right away: of course it did; that is what we wanted it to tell us, so we ignored everything that might say otherwise. We were in love with this story because we took away an unrealistic message about an unrealistic concept. And sure enough, reality finally came crashing down: the perfect couple broke up.

But this is not the end of love as we know it. I certainly believe in love, I just think we have to work a little harder to get it. I do not think that just because you hit it off with someone really well after meeting them, you are destined to be together; but I also do not think that a shaky relationship can’t blossom into a fruitful one. And I certainly don’t think that there is only one person on the entire earth who you can truly be happy with. As for celebrity culture, I do not plan on shutting it out entirely. I think that when followed sparingly, it provides a valuable break from the scary world we live in. But a break is all it should be. One should always remember to come back to reality—because celebrity culture is anything but. 

Works Cited

Lindsay, Kathryn. “Why We'll Never Stop Caring About Pete Davidson & Ariana Grande.” Refinery29, 2 Oct. 2018.www.refinery29.com/en-us/2018/10/212925/pete-davidson-ariana-grande-never-stop-caring.

O'Brien, Kathleen. “Here's How Many Americans Believe in 'Soulmates'.” NJ.com, NJ.com, 13 Feb. 2017, www.nj.com/healthfit/index.ssf/2017/02/two-thirds_of_americans_believe_in_a_soulmate_poll.html.

Acknowledgements