Adam Soisson Angel Matos

If you ever want to anger a group of teenage girls, simply mention the name Summer Finn (played by Zooey Deschanel). Chances are what will follow is a rant about the title character from Mark Webbs (500) Days of Summer (Fox Searchlight 2009) centering on how evil she is to the protagonist Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). The film is told in a non-linear fashion, almost as if the whole movie is a memory, which serves to connect the audience even more to Tom. It is a story about boy-meets-girl, but I should tell you upfront, it is not a love story, as the narrator firmly states in the beginning scene. Before each scene, there is a picture of a landscape with a number on it to mark the day that Tom is remembering. The landscape matches Toms mood, which effectively sets the tone for the scene. 1Tom believes that Summer is the girl he will marry, but his love is unrequited. She tells him upfront (and reminds him three times later) that she does not want a boyfriend, yet he still makes romantic advances towards her, and when she says they should stop seeing each other he goes into a deep depression2. Perhaps due to his early exposure to sad British pop music and his total misreading of the movie The Graduate Tom from (500) Days of Summer expresses emotions to extreme degrees, to the point where it is impossible for the audience to disconnect from his emotions. Just as Tom is unable to see logic clearly, his vast embrace of emotion makes the audience unable to do so as well. Tom in (500) Days of Summer is so wrapped up in extreme emotions, from elation to depression, that he fails to think or act logically until the end of the film. There is hope that he will overcome his emotions when he

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quits his job as a greeting card writer, and he confirms that he is moving on in the last two scenes when he finally severs ties with Summer and meets his new girlfriend Autumn.

Tom seems to be drunk in his happy times, not on alcohol but on love, and the sad times are his long, painful hangover. In each mood he refuses to see the other side, completely skipping logic for emotion. When Tom is high, he is very high, in that when he is happy he is ecstatic to the max. The best example of this happens during the musical piece set to Hall and Oates You Make My Dreams. Tom is so happy that his emotions are infectious- as he walks through the park a group of strangers joins him in a spontaneous coordinated dance routine. He is a hero to everyone he passes; the people on the street smile at him and shake his hand. A marching band even comes to cheer him on and an animated bird lands on his shoulder. Why does an animated bird land on his shoulder instead of a real one? Perhaps the bird represents the fairytale of love and how unrealistic Tom is at this point. This scene is particularly important because it goes against the realistic nature of the film. This is one of only two unfeasible scenes, the other which I will discuss later. The audience questions the authenticity of the scene, but not enough to completely discredit it. They accept that it is true because they too are so connected with emotion to see reality. They should recognize that Tom imagined the whole thing because he was so happy; no matter how well your day is going, random people never join you in a coordinated dance, and marching bands dont just suddenly appear to celebrate you. Nevertheless, the audience ignores the absurdity of the scene and stays connected to Tom. He has the same happy mood on day 154 when he narrates all the things he loves about Summer as images of what he loves about her flash across the screen- her hair, her legs, and her heart-shaped birthmark included. I love how she makes me feel, like anythings possible, like life is worth it, he says to his friend Paul standing next to him. The audience takes the same view as in the dance scene and is still tied to Toms

emotions, rooting for him. It is very easy, then, to miss Pauls reaction- This is not good, he says with a skeptic expression. His look implies that Tom has been down this road before and it did not end well the last time. The hangover is just as bad as the inebriated high. When he is low, he is very low. Day 314 shows Tom in a movie theater, isolated from the rest of the crowd, with no one around him for five rows. This is the other unrealistic scene, the second deviation from reality, and it is equally important as the first. Initially the audience is confused because they see Tom watching himself onscreen, but that confusion evaporates at the end of the scene when they realize he was dreaming. Though the audience is still connected to Toms emotions, because they know it is a dream they can clearly see that the performance did not actually happen, something that was markedly absent in the dance scene. Also, this time the manifestation of his mood into a performance is completely negative. As the fake Tom walks somberly down the street, the French narrator of the dreamed film explains his mood. He is broken. More than broken, he is alone. Now his only friend is grief. When a clown walks by and asks him for his balloon, Toms face shows a smile and he consents, but the clown purposefully lets the balloon slip out of his hand. Tom now has a puzzled look that seems to ask why the clown would do that to him. The clown then proceeds to slap him, adding injury to insult. This scene could be used as a metaphor for his relationship with Summer. Tom gives up his heart (the balloon) to Summer (the clown) and she takes it, but she never wanted it, so she carelessly lets it go. Tom asks why she would do such a thing, and she ends up getting married to someone else (just like the clown slapping him in the face). On Day 322 the film shows the same shots of Summer as on Day 154, but Toms view of her characteristics has completely changed. Now, he hates her 1960s haircut, her knobby knees, her cockroach-shaped splotch. The audience again goes along with Tom, hating all the things that he previously loved.

It is interesting that the audience aligns with Tom so much, especially because there are so many people reasoning against his extreme emotions. Tom once again refuses to acknowledge the truth, and his ignorance will only cause him more pain. Tom also develops a pattern of ignorance that causes him ecstasy when he is happy and misery when he is sad. Any time that someone makes a point that would help him, he simply chooses to ignore them. Consequently, the audience also chooses to ignore his friends advice for a long time, as again they are too tied to his emotions to see logically. First, he ignores the key person in the whole relationship, his non-girlfriend Summer. She explicitly says four times she does not want a relationship; I dont feel comfortable being anyones girlfriend. I dont really feel comfortable being anyones anything. He is so infatuated with her and so headstrong that she is the one that he shuns logic, hoping that she might change her mind about love. Toms 12-year-old sister Rachel, though, is ironically the strongest voice of reason. Even though she is young, she is exceptionally mature. She sees what Tom fails to realize and she is not shy about pointing it out. Tom visits Rachel on Day 11 to tell her all about his compatibility with Summer. She is not impressed, though; Just because some cute girl likes the same bizarro crap you do, that does not make her your soul mate, she points out. Tom is so fixated on the possibility of a relationship with Summer that he refuses to even acknowledge her response. On Day 290, right after Summer tells him she longer wants to see him, his friends McKenzie and Paul struggle to comfort him in his apartment. At this point, an unkempt and inconsolable Tom is breaking dishes on the counter, his emotionless face not even blinking with every smash. They try to reason with him, but it is to no avail. Youll meet somebody new. Youre the best guy I know, youll get over her, says McKenzie as Tom shakes his head disagreeably. Its like they say, there are plenty of other fish in the sea, adds Paul. No, theyre liars. I dont wanna get over her. I wanna get her back, Tom

retorts. It is clear at this point that he is thinking irrationally, although the audience is blind to this because all they can see is that hes fighting for what he wants. The audience wants him to be with Summer because that is who he currently loves, so they too dont realize that there are other people out there for him. There is a change in perception starting on Day 345 when Tom is on a blind date with Allison, a very attractive and sophisticated woman. He doesnt care about her, though, so he drones on about Summer. I know shes the only person in the entire universe that can make me happy, Tom says about Sumer. After rambling on for a little longer, Allison finally stops him. She never cheated on you? Did she ever take advantage of you in any way? she asks as Tom replies that no. The last question she asks is the most important. And she told you upfront that she didnt want a boyfriend? to which Tom sheepishly replies yeah. After this she rests her case, but Tom once more ignores a pivotal piece of evidence and he changes the topic. These quick few lines start to disconnect the audience from Tom because they can see he is not as much a victim as he seems. He has put a lot of hurt on himself, and the audience finally recognizes his absurd behavior. He does not see this yet, as he is still too stuck in self-pity.

Tom refuses to accept his friends authority until the very end of the film, rejecting them because he is too concentrated on his own emotions. It is easy to discount Rachels words because she is so young, so she couldnt possibly know anything about true love, but it is harder to argue against his same-age friends McKenzie and Paul. That is, until Tom points out their poor credibility. First of all, your last girlfriend was Amy Sussman in the 7th grade and you dated for like 3 hours, he says to McKenzie. And youve been with Robin since 1997. I dont think the two of you are really authorities on modern relationships. Tom has a point, but he fails to see the truth in their statements. Yes, they may not be authorities, but even without experience in a modern relationship, they still have a more clear view on reality

than he does. They are not weighed down by the burden of emotion, and perhaps not having experience in a modern relationship is even helpful to them because it helps them approach the situation completely logically. Hope springs when Tom finally quits his job as an architect by going off the rails in a staff meeting. During his impassioned speech, he picks up a Valentines Day greeting card, reads it, and then disgustedly throws it on the table. These cards, the movies and the pop songs, theyre to blame for all the lies and the heartache. By throwing the card down, he is rejecting the ideology of love. He is able to see the truth about love, and this will help him move on. There is a parallel between his job and his relationship with Summer. She never loved him and was only with him because it was convenient and easy; Tom felt the exact same way about his job. Once he freed himself from the job he is finally ready to move on to what he has always wanted, to be an architect. Rachel again has some sage advice on Day 450. I know you think that she was the one, but I dont, she says. I think youre just remembering the good stuff. Next time you look back I really think you should look again. After cutting out the bad in his life and rejecting the ideology of love, Tom is finally able to see things clearly. As he looks back on the same scenes where he thought everything was going well in his relationship, he sees that they were not as great as he first thought. The last two scenes cement that Tom come back to reality. When his last conversation with Summer begins, Tom still holds some animosity towards her. She has just gotten married to a guy she was only dating for three months, and Tom resents this very much. In anger, he says something he doesnt truly believe. You know what sucks? Realizing everything you believe in is complete and utter bullshit? You know destiny, soul mates, true love, all that childhood fairytale nonsense, Tom says as he holds back tears, juxtaposing Summers smiling face. She then explains how she met her husband. It was meant to be and I just kept thinking, Tom was right. It just wasnt me that you were right about, she says as Tom cracks a smile. She has changed her mind about love completely,

and although its too late for Tom, he is happy because he now knows that love does exist and can be found in the most unlikely places. In the last scene Tom

The tag line on the movie poster can summarize the movie quite well. This is not a love story. This is a story about love. The film approaches love realistically, the way it actually works rather than give another sappy love story in a romantic comedy. Regardless of what this genre has you believe, people dont always end up with the first person they fall in love with, and the film shows that from the very beginning. Tom does end up with another girl at the end of the film, but their relationship is left completely ambiguous. The non-linear format helps connect the audience to Tom. People do not remember things in the exact order that they happened; instead they remember bits and pieces, both good and bad. Their perception of the goodness or badness of the situation depends on how they feel at the moment. Even though it exists within the romantic comedy genre, (500) Days of Summer does not play to its stereotypes. Tom in (500) Days of Summer is so wrapped up in extreme emotions, from elation to depression, that he fails to think or act logically until the end of the film. There is hope that he will overcome his emotions when he quits his job as a greeting card writer, and he confirms that he is moving on in the last two scenes when he finally severs ties with Summer and meets his new girlfriend Autumn.