okay so i was thinking about why, out of all the ZEP characters and their many, MANY mistakes, max’s tend to irk me the most. (and while i wouldn’t call this character bashing, i will acknowledge that he’s my least favorite main character and i’m pretty “blah” on zomax, so if you’re a big fan of max or zomax, and you don’t like reading criticism of your fave.... scroll past.)
and i think it’s because max, while not exactly “selfish,” is really quite self-centered. however, because he’s a friendly, approachable guy in most contexts, it doesn’t come out the way you’d expect -- he’s not a gaston type by any stretch. mostly it comes off in him being extremely clueless and insensitive, and downright boneheaded.
first, the obvious: the damn flash mob. i personally think it’s in character that max would find this romantic and cute. he’s a cheesy guy. i totally buy that max saw a viral video of a flash mob proposal or something and thought it was adorable, and would probably be super-flattered if a girl did it for him. but you know who decidedly would not like it? zoey! shy, awkward, hates being the center of attention, not good with people zoey! also known as max’s best friend of five years. if he’d thought this through for even two minutes, he should’ve been able to realize that, hey, maybe declaring his love in song to her in a very public place would be overwhelming for her. maybe he should just ask her if she wants to have dinner sometime instead!
so we either have to buy one of three options: that max genuinely didn’t get that zoey would hate this despite having been her friend for five years, that max realized she might be uncomfortable and decided to do it anyway, or that he just plain didn’t think this through -- which still isn’t good, because grand romantic gestures work when they’re tailored to the person they’re aimed at, not the person making them.
also, the fact that he expected an answer right then and there. like, jesus, give the girl a second to think. especially since he didn’t even go the “i know we’re friends but i think we could do something more, maybe we could go on a date and see where it takes us?” route, he went straight to “i love you, please be my girlfriend” -- that is a BIG jump, and a hell of a lot of pressure to put on zoey.
second: autumn. oh, poor autumn. while max’s breakup was as kind and gentle as it could have been, the way he handled it afterwards was, again, ridiculously insensitive. “don’t go where your ex works for at least a couple months” is Breakup 101. not only did max genuinely believe he’d done “the greatest breakup ever,” it didn’t even occur to him that autumn might still be upset one day after the breakup, until she explicitly spelled it out for him.
third: while it’s perfectly understandable to be sad when your crush turns you down, he spends so much of “zoey’s extraordinary confession” wallowing and refusing to acknowledge zoey’s feelings, or even give her the benefit of the doubt.
fourth: despite knowing that zoey has had a crush on simon, as well as a genuine emotional connection with him, he is utterly shocked she could have feelings for both of them, or be torn between them -- or just not want to date either of them!
fifth: he really has not been looking at things from zoey’s perspective at ALL. for example, getting pissed for setting him up with autumn because she knew he had a crush on her (zoey). while setting him up with autumn was a questionable move on zoey’s part, he’s specifically mad she didn’t tell him she knew he liked her. so....he wanted her to be like “so i know you’re deeply in love with me, and i’m telling you i know so i can make it very clear i am not into you”? she could not have more clearly been trying to spare his feelings.
and the promotion thing! zoey said, “i’ll be sad to see you go, but you should take the job if you want it,” and he said, “wrong answer.” like. HOW IS THAT THE WRONG ANSWER? he was clearly fishing for her to ask him to stay, but that would’ve been very selfish of her -- to tell him to give up such a great opportunity for her sake. not to mention, given that she’d just turned him down, it would’ve sent a mixed signal. she made it clear she values him and his friendship, but she won’t hold him back.
overall, max frequently comes off as someone who thinks, “i’m a nice guy, i work hard, i try my best -- things should generally work out for me,” and gets pissy when they don’t.
and this is fine! these are realistic flaws for someone to have! but the problem is, unlike pretty much every other character, max has yet to be called out. when zoey loses her temper or makes a bad call, she’s called out, realizes her mistakes, and tries to make amends. when leif and tobin are douchebags, everyone tells them they’re douchebags. simon is repeatedly called out for his emotional cheating. joan is demanding and rude, and while it’s never called out directly, but that has an in-universe justification; she’s their boss, and it’s hard to call out your boss. and it’s heavily implied she is not exactly Miss Popular around the office for exactly those reasons. there are consequences. but max? so far his only consequence has been.... zoey won’t date him. like yeah, zoey called him selfish for not giving the code back to the fourth floor, but zoey was clearly in the wrong there -- his code, his call, and he did just start a new job. and zoey was meant to be in the wrong. the way the show is written, i can’t tell if the writers see max as being in the wrong or not! if so, why has he not gotten a wake-up call like everyone else?
do i think he’s a bad person? no. but someone needs to lay all this out for him so he can get his damn head on straight.
