Just this past week, I saw #500DaysOfSummer trending on Twitter. Having both seen and enjoyed the movie, which was released 9 years ago, I thought I'd check out what was going on - if perhaps a sequel was in the mix. To my surprise, that wasn't the case at all. The hashtag surrounded a "great debate" regarding the film. Honestly, even after seeing the film a half dozen times, I had no idea what this "great debate" was until I clicked on the showcased link, featuring a quote by one of the two co-leads of the film, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who played the role of Tom Hansen. Levitt was quoted as basically saying the downfalls of he and Summer's relationship in the film (Summer played by Zooey Deschanel) were mainly his character's fault and people should stop criticizing Deschanel's character as being the main culprit. After looking through the thread, I read many Team Summer and Team Tom posts. Only a minority of the tweets declared both characters being at least partially responsible for the relationship's undoing. Yup, Twitter had turned (500)Days of Summer into Twilight.
First off, isn't this kind of a silly Twitter debate? Really? Nine years after a film's release and we've got a trending Twitter hashtag revolving around Team Tom and Team Summer?
Secondly, rarely ever are the downfalls of a relationship all one person's fault. Yes, there are occasions when we can realistically say that, but as noted, this is rarely the case. That's displayed front and center in this film, as both characters make their fair share of mistakes and showcase they have quite a bit of growing up to do. So how can we rightly say the relationship's demise is purely Tom or Summer's fault? I read many tweets basically suggesting that if a person saw things as either Summer or Tom's fault, that there was something seriously wrong with them and they weren't datable because of it. No, if we continually involve ourselves in relationships and always pin the full blame on the other person, there's likely something seriously wrong with us, as we can't admit fault, can't take responsibility for our own words and actions, and limit our growth and potential as a result.
The movie starts with the narrator saying this:
"...Since the disintegration of her (Summer) parents' marriage, she'd only loved two things. The first was her long hair. The second was how easily she could cut it off and not feel a thing..."
Both of the co-leads' parents' divorced and the event seemed to impact them differently. As this introductory quote should showcase, Summer seemed to lack emotion.
As the film progresses, we see Tom crush on summer (in the infatuation sense, not the physically abusive one). Before the two begin seeing each other more, he tends to overanalyze her every word and move. He comes across as shy, uncertain, and pessimistic.
When the two co-leads start seeing each other more, Summer says she's not looking for anything serious. Tom says he understands that she's not looking to rush anything, wants to take her time, and she seems to agree. The relationship lines then become increasingly blurred as the platonic rhetoric soon interacts with sexual actions, ultimately leading to actual intercourse. As the pair's words begin to constantly conflict with their actions, this leads to a series of arguments. Summer goes back to her line about not looking for anything serious, that Tom is just a friend. Tom rebuts this by claiming what they've done together isn't indicative of how (just) friends behave around one another (kissing at work, having sex, role-playing as husband and wife at a retail outlet). At the end of the day, Summer marries another man and Tom bumps into a woman named Autumn before a job interview, whom he asks out, to which she agrees.
So whose fault is it? Tom's? Summer's? Why must it be a black-and-white issue? To me, Summer is an idea. That may be why she wasn't provided a last name in the film. Tom wants love, has a crush on this woman, and turns her into his idea of an ideal woman and relationship. So, sure, perhaps Tom is an unrealistic dreamer, who should have gone for a woman that appeared more certain of her romantic endeavors than Summer. On the flip-side, while Summer may have just been an idea, she let this idea grow and linger for an extended period of time. In the latter portion of the film, Tom is asked if Summer ever took advantage of him. He says no, but I tend to disagree. Summer knew of his romantic interest in her, knew she could count on him for anything, and used this to her advantage on more than one occasion. Yeah, we could paint Tom as weak in this scenario, but either way, Summer did take advantage of him. While (500)Days of Summer likes to paint itself as an atypical rom-com, I've seen stories like it more times than I care to count. Two young adults are uncertain about themselves, their futures, have some maturing to do, are physically attracted to one another, are looking for different things, but perhaps out of loneliness, give each other mixed messages, and at the end of the day, at least one of the two parties gets hurt. If nothing else, I think the film at least somewhat accurately showcases the typically differing communication styles between the two sexes. Summer seems to think words are more powerful than actions and Tom sees things from the polar opposite perspective. Tom thinks Hallmark cards are stupid, that another person writing words for you to share with your loved one is phony, and things that involve physical intimacy are far more illustrative of one's feelings for another. To summer, it seems as though, so long as the words are spoken to establish such, any successive contradictory actions are irrelevant. No matter whose side you're on in this "debate," the film should suggest that consistency throughout ones words and actions are incredibly important, as is thorough communication and understanding of one another. At the end of the 500 days, I may lean more toward Team Tom, but anyone who classifies this so-called debate in a black-and-white manner is missing the point(s) of the film completely.
First off, isn't this kind of a silly Twitter debate? Really? Nine years after a film's release and we've got a trending Twitter hashtag revolving around Team Tom and Team Summer?
Secondly, rarely ever are the downfalls of a relationship all one person's fault. Yes, there are occasions when we can realistically say that, but as noted, this is rarely the case. That's displayed front and center in this film, as both characters make their fair share of mistakes and showcase they have quite a bit of growing up to do. So how can we rightly say the relationship's demise is purely Tom or Summer's fault? I read many tweets basically suggesting that if a person saw things as either Summer or Tom's fault, that there was something seriously wrong with them and they weren't datable because of it. No, if we continually involve ourselves in relationships and always pin the full blame on the other person, there's likely something seriously wrong with us, as we can't admit fault, can't take responsibility for our own words and actions, and limit our growth and potential as a result.
The movie starts with the narrator saying this:
"...Since the disintegration of her (Summer) parents' marriage, she'd only loved two things. The first was her long hair. The second was how easily she could cut it off and not feel a thing..."
Both of the co-leads' parents' divorced and the event seemed to impact them differently. As this introductory quote should showcase, Summer seemed to lack emotion.
As the film progresses, we see Tom crush on summer (in the infatuation sense, not the physically abusive one). Before the two begin seeing each other more, he tends to overanalyze her every word and move. He comes across as shy, uncertain, and pessimistic.
When the two co-leads start seeing each other more, Summer says she's not looking for anything serious. Tom says he understands that she's not looking to rush anything, wants to take her time, and she seems to agree. The relationship lines then become increasingly blurred as the platonic rhetoric soon interacts with sexual actions, ultimately leading to actual intercourse. As the pair's words begin to constantly conflict with their actions, this leads to a series of arguments. Summer goes back to her line about not looking for anything serious, that Tom is just a friend. Tom rebuts this by claiming what they've done together isn't indicative of how (just) friends behave around one another (kissing at work, having sex, role-playing as husband and wife at a retail outlet). At the end of the day, Summer marries another man and Tom bumps into a woman named Autumn before a job interview, whom he asks out, to which she agrees.
So whose fault is it? Tom's? Summer's? Why must it be a black-and-white issue? To me, Summer is an idea. That may be why she wasn't provided a last name in the film. Tom wants love, has a crush on this woman, and turns her into his idea of an ideal woman and relationship. So, sure, perhaps Tom is an unrealistic dreamer, who should have gone for a woman that appeared more certain of her romantic endeavors than Summer. On the flip-side, while Summer may have just been an idea, she let this idea grow and linger for an extended period of time. In the latter portion of the film, Tom is asked if Summer ever took advantage of him. He says no, but I tend to disagree. Summer knew of his romantic interest in her, knew she could count on him for anything, and used this to her advantage on more than one occasion. Yeah, we could paint Tom as weak in this scenario, but either way, Summer did take advantage of him. While (500)Days of Summer likes to paint itself as an atypical rom-com, I've seen stories like it more times than I care to count. Two young adults are uncertain about themselves, their futures, have some maturing to do, are physically attracted to one another, are looking for different things, but perhaps out of loneliness, give each other mixed messages, and at the end of the day, at least one of the two parties gets hurt. If nothing else, I think the film at least somewhat accurately showcases the typically differing communication styles between the two sexes. Summer seems to think words are more powerful than actions and Tom sees things from the polar opposite perspective. Tom thinks Hallmark cards are stupid, that another person writing words for you to share with your loved one is phony, and things that involve physical intimacy are far more illustrative of one's feelings for another. To summer, it seems as though, so long as the words are spoken to establish such, any successive contradictory actions are irrelevant. No matter whose side you're on in this "debate," the film should suggest that consistency throughout ones words and actions are incredibly important, as is thorough communication and understanding of one another. At the end of the 500 days, I may lean more toward Team Tom, but anyone who classifies this so-called debate in a black-and-white manner is missing the point(s) of the film completely.
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