On July 17, 2009, the eccentric and unconventional rom-com, (500) Days of Summer was released in the United States, and globally released later that year in August. This film, directed by Marc Webb, follows an on-and-off couple who show that sometimes relationships are non-idealistic when the people in them want different things and deconstructs stereotypical characteristics of movie protagonists.
The movie opens with Tom Hansen, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, upset over a breakup. As the film travels into the past, the audience learns that Hansen works at a greeting card company, where he is unhappy because he had originally wanted to be an architect. One day, his boss hires a new assistant, Summer Finn. Summer is played by Zooey Deschanel, and at first, she appears to be a typical “manic pixie dream girl,” or an eccentric character, typically female, who serves only as a muse or love interest.
Summer and Tom begin a romantic relationship; however, it’s end is foreshadowed before long. Summer has a firm belief that love isn’t real while Tom is somewhat of a romantic.
As their relationship develops, we begin to see a problem: Summer doesn’t want a traditional relationship. This causes many arguments between the two and eventually, the relationship comes to an end.
For a romance film, this break-up comes very soon. However, this is what sets this film apart from others. The rest of the film follows Tom’s journey trying to win Summer back and his wishes for what could have been. Eventually, he finds his path to getting over her, mostly because she has gotten married. This long break-up helps Tom grow as a person. He learns how to find happiness in experiences like work by pursuing his dream job. He realizes that trying to find a “dream girl” isn’t sustainable or realistic, and he eventually learns how to stop living in the past.
This movie is monumental because it challenges the standards for love that many people have. It deconstructs the idea of a typical female love interest. Usually, in romance films, the female love interest’s only purpose is to provide happiness to the male protagonists. Summer, however, is different because she doesn’t provide Tom happiness throughout the film. In some ways, she causes him sadness and anger. Despite both characters being flawed, the end of the relationship is no one person’s fault. And it is because of their flaws that the characters seem so life-like and relatable.
Another way this film is different from others is how it shows the importance of finding happiness outside of “love.”
On the blog ScreenRant, an article titled “(500) Days Of Summer: 18 Important Lessons About Love That This Unconventional Rom-Com Taught Us” discusses how Tom was able to find happiness outside of his relationship with Summer. “Instead of jumping into a new relationship, Tom learns that he can shift his focus to his career and put his time and energy into becoming a successful architect, which has been his dream job,” writes Collin McCormick. “The movie proves it’s not all about relationships, and it’s okay to focus on a career or personal goals and sometimes that’s healthier.”
This movie also deconstructs the typical female love interest through Summer’s character. Although many people may say that Summer is the antagonist because she is what keeps Tom from happiness, in reality, she is one of the most human female leads in any rom-com movie. According to Serena Smith in the article “What (500) Days of Summer did for female representation in film” on Dazed blog, “Summer was clearly created with a view to critiquing the trope. Tom sees her as a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, but by the film’s end, it becomes clear that he was naïve to look at her that way.”
Even the film’s director noted that Tom saw Summer as an idea of a person rather than a real, living person. In a Guardian interview, the director shared, “She’s Tom’s view of a woman. He doesn’t see her complexity and the consequence for him is heartbreak.”
Overall, this is one of the best and most realistic rom-coms ever released which is why it has had a cult following since its debut in 2009. This film deserves, at the very least, a 4-star rating because of the way it breaks down the stereotypes of typical film characters, and for the realistic way it portrays love.
This film could have been better if it had gone more in-depth into the characters’ flaws. But if the film had done this, it could have made the discussion of “Who the villain is” irrelevant. Simply put, neither character is a villain, they are just humans.
