500 Days of Summer by Marc Webb is a story about one-sided love between people who meet at the wrong time, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Tom Hansen and Zooey Deschanel as Summer Finn. Tom wanted a relationship, while Summer just wanted fun. The movie is relatable to those who have been in situations where strong feelings are not reciprocated. Tom Hansen tried to get over his glorified image of Summer with the help of his friends, but to no avail, a part of him still hopes that one day she will return and embrace him with open arms. As the movie progresses, one goes through the loss and acceptance of losing something they thought would last forever.
The movie strikes accord with individuals who idolize love. In the film, Tom Hansen embodies the struggles of falling head over heels for someone. Tom’s unwavering belief in love and his hopeless romantic nature can relate to those who have experienced the exhilarating highs and devastating lows that come with an unfulfilled relationship. “As someone who has been through a similar situation, it made me feel both sad and happy because it was comforting to see the feeling of one-sided love being portrayed,” said a fan of the movie. As the film progresses, viewers see Tom struggle to accept that a person’s thoughts and emotions cannot be forced to reciprocate their feelings while he continues to try to pursue Summer. He chases this idealized version of ‘forever’ that he’s made up in his head. As reality sets after Summer leaves his side, he is forced to deal with loneliness.
We’ve spoken about the idealization of romance now we will touch on confronting commitment and phobias such as Summer who does not believe in love but also Fears commitment. Later we find that she has had numerous partners but none have stayed because of her lack of commitment. She continues to lead on Tom but never outright says that she has any solid feelings for him constantly referring to him as a friend this confuses Tom and frustrates him causing him to pull away Summer realizes what she’s done and tries to rekindle a friendship but constantly continues to toy with Tom’s idea of a relationship. This allows the audience to be exposed to Inner turmoil that arises when a person longs for stability while the other runs from it which showcases commitment phobia and adds to the depth of the narrative allowing viewers to reflect on their own experiences and understand the complexities of relationships. One of the movies reviewers stated “As someone who relates to both characters it enraged me to see the authenticity of the situation and knowing how both characters were self-sabotaging and made me turn off the movie midway”
The movie presents an honest portrayal of heartache and the challenges that come with accepting the end of a relationship, it shows the emotions and vulnerability that accompany a breakup. An example of this would be when Tom goes through a depressive episode only choosing to remember the happiness the relationship has brought by forcing out the cold reality of the situation. Refusing to let go of his love and idealization for Summer causes him to spiral further into loneliness and mania. These raw emotions remind us that it is okay to grieve and heal by acknowledging pain and portraying it authentically and encourage them to find peace in the process of self-discovery. The film provides comfort for those who have experienced similar breaks which is explained as the movie goes on and Tom goes through the emotions needed to move on. He ends up finding peace in himself after choosing to work towards leaving his old habits behind to benefit his well-being.
Not only does it touch on embracing heartache, the fear of commitment, and idealizing romantic relationships it also touches on the blurry lines that define a relationship. Perfectly captures the confusion that happens when two people have differing expectations by depicting the complexities of modern dating, 500 Days of Summer goes about showing this by giving us one avoidant character while the other is very strong and set on what he wants for the two the other avoids on speaking of the relationship but continues to treat it as though they were romantically involved this confuses the other and causes him to take the relationship to Heart and when it ends it leaves him distraught the Blurred Lines caused him to believe that what he had was real and not just a casual meeting well to the girl they were simply just friends by showing us this interaction we see that the Blurred Lines between a relationship and a casual meeting can be quite blurred at times if one does not voice out right with the situation is.
Overall I feel 500 Days of Summer is a remarkable film that speaks to infidels have a tendency to love with other hearts through Joseph Gordon Levitt’s remarkable performance the movie dwells Into multiple themes but overall challenges a person’s idealization of forever and going through loss in a relationship it serves as a reminder that it is okay to experience Joys and Sorrows of love which I find very comforting it is not meant to be a love story it is supposed to be a story about love it And I think Mark Webb did an amazing job at capturing each theme of the movie