Save the Simps
February 22, 2023
Writer: Morgan Millstein and Grace Gefsky
Editor: Lynn Sabieddine
Morgan: Whenever I go home from college, I always notice the little changes amongst my family members. The last time I was home, I immediately noticed my baby sister (who is now in high school – yes, she is still a baby to me) had new bright blonde highlights, and my 18-year-old brother was towering over me, inches taller than when I had last seen him. I never fail to compliment (and later steal) new additions to my fashionable Momma’s wardrobe, and last but not least, I quickly noticed my Dad’s new wallpaper on his iPhone: a selfie of my Mom. When my siblings and I first saw his bold screensaver, we immediately started to poke at him, “Dad is a SIMP!” we yelled out.
Grace: Morgan’s love-enthralled family dynamic replicates that of my own. My parents love telling the story of how they met— they were best friends at law school for years, but my Dad fell for my Mom the moment they met. My siblings (especially the 11-year-old) and I always resort to the same disgusted face, while my Dad ends the story beaming. My youngest sibling routinely yells “SIMP” at him, which ends the entire interaction with my Dad feeling completely and utterly puzzled.
Morgan: My parents, confused as to what a “simp” is, resorted straight to the handy dandy urban dictionary we all know and love. My dad read out the definitions:
“A man who will defend a girl he has feelings for to the death” and “Someone who shows excessive sympathy and attention toward another person.”
“How is that a bad thing?,” my Dad asked us. He did, in fact, agree that he is a simp, and now it is his new favorite word in his vocabulary.
Grace: In the first scene of one of my all-time favorite movies, Love Actually, Hugh Grant reflects at the Arrivals Gate at the Heathrow airport. He says: “General opinion makes out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. Seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy - but it's always there - Fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends.” His monologue has always stuck with me; he was able to highlight the intensity of love through a place of utter simplicity. Though I say this with guilt, I have always been a hopeless romantic —a simp for love. Unfortunately, our culture today revolves around games and hookups- and I have never quite understood that. Rather than celebrating the love present in all dimensions of life, we choose to make a mockery of it.
Morgan: Ever since my Dad challenged the way I thought of simps, I’ve been thinking - Why does being a “simp” have such a negative connotation in society? I constantly hear my guy friends use that term to make fun of their friends who aren’t afraid to express their romantic feelings. C’mon, we all know that they are hopeless romantics deep down. If we channeled our inner “simp” more often, the world would explode with love and pride!
Grace: Being a “simp” lets me romanticize my life. Seeing my Dad hold my Mom’s hand in the car, getting weekly ice cream with my friends, and uniting with my brothers to make fun of my parents makes my life extraordinary. To be a simp for love is to embrace and appreciate how much better our lives are with our loved ones in it. Hugh Grant was right - love, actually, is all around.
