Expectation Over the Reality of Relationships in ‘500 Days of Summer’ 

When we think of life, one of the most vital and exciting parts of it is love and romance. Love, which is hard to define, gives an endless number of different meanings that differ from individual to individual. Romance on a similar aspect gives the same thoughts. We often get this deep thinking in our head that what is it about love that makes it so wondrous yet, over time, so impossible to conserve? We may never reach a conclusion, but wonder if the ideal answers should be focusing on fundamental mystique, or the mystery of romantic love—its peculiar characters of the unknown, which still carries freshness and newness—all of which aggregate its essential core.

Thanks to cinema we are not very far away from love—this is one of the best aspects of movies, which gives feelings and moments from the visual. I guess. Romantic movies are something which many of us enjoy watching, for sure. The choices will be different from individual to individual. In context to choices, we wonder what makes a romantic movie great. Is it the love between two characters? Is it the time and the circumstance it follows? Many factors make romances grand and epic. Still, the romantic stories that are most enduring through time are ironically the ones that did not last.

One of the most famous romantic movie characters, Jack Dawson and Rose Dewitt Bukater, which we all loved, did not last. Similar to the most epic love story of all time, “Romeo and Juliet,” there is something special about condemned romances, unconventional love stories, and the social pariahs that attract us.

Speaking of unconventional stories that are modern and different from orthodox romances, “500 days of Summer” ticks all the boxes.

This is not a love story; this is a story about love.

Interestingly the movie begins with an opening remark that an omniscient narrator imparts to us early on that, “This is a story of boy meets girl. This is not a love story.” Still, we get a deliberately misleading start. Yes, a boy and a girl do indeed meet.

The story is chronicles the relationship between Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel)—Tom, an architect with education and a greeting card writer by profession. He instantly falls in love with a quirky new girl at work, Summer. While they carry mutual interests and passions for sad British boy music, their views on love and relationships are like chalk and chess. From Tom, a believer in real love, and Summer, who thinks love is a fantasy. Somehow Tom manages to start dating Summer by agreeing to no name for their relationship but still calling each other a “couple.” As their relationship grows, Tom becomes love-blinded, where Summer cannot see what they are doing together. Over an argument, she quotes him,  “You are still my best friend Tom,” which leads to a breakup.

As time passes, Tom is trying to get back with Summer, where Tom seems to be only remembering the good parts of their relationship by neglecting the reality of its downsides. In this process, he meets Summer again, where he sees a ring in her hand, which leads him to massive heartache. Tom is shown the truth of the relationship in a quote said by his sister, “Just because some cute girl likes the same bizarro crap you do, it does not mean she is your soulmate Tom.”

The story gives introspection of its arcs and characters, highlighting its doomed romance, its manic pixie dream girl, or just poor Tom, all of which viewers are left to contemplate.

Do not worry; I have not given any spoilers to you guys. It’s mentioned in the beginning; this movie is not going to be about boy meets girl, we knew it would be chaos, as the narrator clearly said it. However, the film shows us their romantic entanglement spans precisely 500 days. Moving in time throughout their romance, pieces of their moments are steadily revealed to create a representation of love…at once amazing, triumphant, and grievously heart-rending.

We will be witnessing story jumping from day 28 to day 303 to day 167 to day 408, wobbling between early love and ultimate dejection; the unanticipated, unsolicited divulgence of love, and the slow, quell realization that it is not needed. “500 Days of Summer” shows us points of romance from its highs to lows, and the power of coincidence, the ideals of destiny, the wonders of fate, and the harsh contradictions between expectations and reality, or real love in disguise.

Writing and cinematic aspects of the movie 

The primary and essential need of a great movie is a story. First-time writers Scott Neustadter and co-writer and director Marc Webb have done excellent work with storyline. The storytelling is presented in a nonlinear narrative with slick humor, which makes it stand out from the regular rom-com. They have used a scene that is introduced using a title card showing which of the 500 days it is. More we will see a smart use of split screen, animation, dark and light frame, and podcast of characters, use to describe the two characters at the same time. The story gives a lot of introspection of its arcs and characters, highlighting its doomed romance, or its manic pixie dream girl, or just poor Tom, all of which viewers are left to contemplate.

Speaking of unique and creative aspects, Webb has used a technique to portray the journey of his characters, where we see the use of lighting, color, and sound to influence characters’ positivity and happiness by using blue as a theme color. At the same time, he uses darks with rainy overcast to them and slow, somber music to explain the harsh and painful emotions, along with the help of excellent camera angles.

We will be experiencing a smart use of story-skipping from time to time. Especially when we see Tom dancing on “You Make my Dreams” by Hall & Oates, after a romantic night to a song I hate, She’s Like the Wind,” by Patrick Swayze, on a bus. The same can be said with an IKEA scene where they show first how they are playing men and women, and again the men and women they now became.

Out of many inventive and unique scenes, the one which amused me was their approach on expectation over reality. Tom gets invited to a summer house for a party after they accidentally meet post-breakup. Like all of us, Tom went with some expectation and hope of how it will go. This is where we see the use of split screens, left side showing expectation of Tom getting back to Summer, and right side showing Tom experiencing distance and harsh reality, Regina Spektor’s “Hero” playing in the background. This one scene in the movie unfolds the expectations vs. reality, showcasing a relationship that’s both realistically messy and lovingly impressionistic.

Some interesting facts about movies are as fascinating as the movie.

– We will see the film begins with a disclaimer: “Any resemblance to people living or dead is purely coincidental… Especially you, Jenny Beckman. Jenny Beckman is a real-life character and the ex girlfriend of writer Scott Neustadter, which inspired him to write this movie. Tom is 75% of Scott, which he has said in one of his interviews,  whereas Summer is Jenny.

– All the band songs which are used in film music like The Smiths, Simon & Garfunkel, and Hall & Oates are the all bands that split. This was done intentionally to explain Tom and Summer’s end.

– One of the best parts of the movie is the locations we see, which was decided by production to keep everything that was built before 1950 to give the film a classic look.

– If we observe it carefully, we will see they have kept their clothing so different from each other, which provides us with a view on where they stand in life.

Thoughts on ‘500 Days of Summer’ 

This is one of my favorite movies of all time…I have lost the count of the times I have watched it over and over again, and still, it feels fresh every time. What really attracts me to this movie is the idea of the film, which makes it so far from the typical romance we have seen where boy meets girl, and they live happily ever after. This movie has a different approach to love, where it shows how modern relationships are. “500 Days of Summer’s” screenplay, cinematography, music, and directing are fantastic, followed by the stunning performances of Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel.

This movie carries a lot of theories and questions;  it makes you wonder if it’s a doomed romance or a fantasy about a manic pixie dream girl, or if it’s just a one-sided story from Tom’s side. It’s never clarified by its makers.

I personally believe that the story is what makes this film so captivating—the story of a man who takes on the stereotypical female role. We have witnessed in many stories that require a female charterer to have a relationship, be in love, and give so much time to someone who never was willing to reciprocate. In plain words, we can say emotional chaos. The need for an approach of Tom to have this relationship—and this upheaval—makes this movie distinctive and fascinating.

This movie feels very personal in many ways…for all who have experienced being in a relationship. We all go through the same emotion the same way, though at times differently. Many of us can totally relate to Tom in many ways. The movie carries some of the greatest quotes, which are my all-time favorites, such as when Tom states, “People don’t realize this, but loneliness is underrated.” Or one spoken by Neudsater himself, “People change, feelings change, but that does not mean that the love once shared was not true and real. It simply means that sometimes when people grow, they grow apart.”

“500 Days of Summer” is a must-watch in case you have not experience it yet. This movie is for all who are in love or alone. This movie gives true wisdom in recognizing that there isn’t a perfect person who meets all our benchmarks, and that we should delight to have someone who loves us indubitably, forever. The story gives us comprehension of life on expectations over reality.