Fools you know not what you do!: Romeo + Juliet film study

Romeo + Juliet had a lot of really good themes I could write a post about, but this is the one that I noticed the most, even though it isn't as obvious as you think it is. It's not really a theme, more of an idea if you want to state it literally. The idea is that the Capulets and the Montagues are fighting against each other in a one way battle.

The first time I noticed this was in the first scene where the Capulet boys and the Montague boys get into a fight at the gas station. You see them all draw weapons, but if you look closely, the Capulets are the only ones shooting towards another person. Before Benvolio even has a chance to shoot Tybalt, Tybalt shoots his gun out of his hand. One of the other two Montagues hides behind the car, and the remaining Montague cocks his gun, and empties the entire clip on cans of tomato's and on the sign of the gas station, instead of the Capulets.

The second time I really noticed this was when the Montagues crashed the Capulet ball. The funny thing was, they weren't really crashing it, because they disturbed no one. They had multiple opportunities to start a brawl, but kept it peaceful instead. On the other hand, Tybalt tried to confront Romeo, but was stopped by Lord Capulet.

Tybalt killing Mercutio, and the following scene of Romeo getting revenge by slaying Tybalt is, what I feel, the climax of the one way battle, because for once it's changed. Tybalt killed Mercutio in revenge for the Montagues coming to the party uninvited. This honestly didn't have to happen. Romeo made probably the most justified murder in the story, by killing Tybalt in revenge for the murder of his best friend.

In short, the Capulets actually fought while the Montagues gave the illusion that they were fighting, until Tybalt killed Romeo's best friend, in which case Romeo took revenge.