Have you ever been alone in a crowded room when I'm here with you?

Have you ever been alone in a crowded room; well I'm here with you...

Jon Wong on (500) Days of Summer

I feel like (500) Days of Summer has gotten a lot of flak since I first saw it in theatres. It's not because there's been a general consensus among the public that it's a bad film; it's more the fact that it's been panned by most people whose tastes in films I respect a good deal. None of these people have really sat down and told me why they think it's bad so I'm just going to take the opportunity here to write down what I think of some of the more "contentious" points. By the way, this is going to contain spoilers. I think anyone who would be reading this blog should have seen the film by now, though.

First, some good points. One of my favorite scenes from the film occurs when Tom visits Summer a few months after they break up (where he finds out about her engagement) and they do this spilt-screen thing where they show the scene as he hopes it will turn out in contrast to the way the scene actually plays out. After all, haven't we all, at one point, imagined how a scenario would turn out in a perfect world, only have to have it turn out differently when we actually went through with it?

One other particularly memorable scene (or pair of scenes) was the one where Tom described Summer's traits early on in the relationship and how he loves the way she does this and that. Later on in the film, we hear him talk about the exact same traits, but this time, their inherent qualities irk, rather than charm, him. I thought it was a clever way of illustrating how we see our significant others through rose-colored glasses in the early stages of a romance. Now, I want to emphasize something that I only suspect to be true: I don't know that being in the honeymoon phase of a relationship means that we're always wrong about the positive traits we see in our significant other. I've seen occasions where people say, "Well, she's dating him so of course she likes (this or that) about him," to suggest that if the girl in question were NOT dating the guy in question, she would not think so highly of him.

Now, on some level, I agree with this. I do think that people do present biased accounts of their significant other, especially during the honeymoon phase (as it kinda should be...). I mean, that's kinda what love is, isn't it? Two people who are a little bit deluded in each other's favor. Still, I don't know that we should be too quick to dismiss the positive way people speak of their significant others. I mean, what they're doing, for all intents and purposes, is choosing to interpret everything their significant other does in the most positive way they can. And why not, you know? I always hate it when people choose to interpret things in the worst way possible just because the OPTION to interpret it that way exists. So it's really not such a bad thing, at the end of the day, that people speak well of their significant others. I guess it really only becomes a problem if they actively ignore some objectively bad trait (which I'm sure happens too).

At any rate, I did like those two scenes in the film. I find the film funny and charming in all its other parts so I guess I'll skip over that/assume it's a matter of taste. I would like to address two big criticisms I've been told about. The first is Summer's character.

First and foremost, let me just say that I don't actually really like Summer. A friend of mine mentioned that he sees in Summer, "all things about indie-hipster girls that [he doesn't] like." And I can't say that I disagree. One scene, in particular, stands out to me and it takes place near the end when Tom and Summer sit on a bench (in fact, this scene seems be a crucial scene in determining the quality of the film). They talk about Summer's engagement and they have this conversation:

Tom: "Why did you dance with me if you were going out with someone else?"
Summer: "Because I wanted to."
Tom: "Of course."

Of course indeed. I don't really like that "because I wanted to" attitude that doesn't take other people's feelings into account and it's evident in Summer's character throughout the film. She's independent, yes, but she's also self-centered. She's upfront and frank, yes, but that's not always a good thing.

Then again, as I pointed out to my cousin, I don't know that we, as the audience, are necessarily meant to love Summer; I think we're just meant to understand why Tom loves her. That may address Christian's criticism... it may not. It depends if you feel like you need to like the main characters. But I mean, they're both flawed - we just don't see it as obviously in Tom because we see the story from his point of view so we sympathize a little more. I don't get the sense that the filmmakers tried to manipulate us into liking Summer so I think I'm ok with the fact that I don't like her.

Second point. The final scene of the film has also been a point of contention. Some people love it, some people hate it. Now, the fact that we have such a variety of opinions suggest that it's not really fair to use it as a knock against the film since it seems to boil down to taste as well. You could argue that your taste is better than other people but I've gotten conflicting opinions from people whose opinion I hold in high regard so you know, there you have it. Still, I would like to point something out to those who dislike the whole autumn ending.

The main argument against the ending seems to lie in the feeling that the writers tried too hard to make it a happy ending. Maybe it would have been better if the film had ended with Summer leaving Tom sitting on a bench, contemplating if he should maybe just kill himself. Or something. It does seem a little cheap to just stick a somewhat unrealistic "he meets an attractive girl within days of the whole bench incident" scene at the end just to give the audience a reason to feel good. I'm not sure whether the inclusion of that scene illuminates something about life or if it's purely meant to give us a reason to smile. I do have to give the scene credit - it seems a little cheesy, when you think back on the film, to name the girl Autumn, but I'll bet that nobody expected that when they saw it the first time so that was a nice touch.

STILL. I can personally relate to this because I am currently going through a bit of a similar dilemma regarding my manuscript. Without giving too much away, let me just say that as the writer, it is VERY tempting to give your main character a happy ending. Whether or not I will actually do this or find a way around this dilemma, you'll just have to wait and see. The point remains, while I can see why it might be in keeping with the theme of the film to have it end with Tom sitting on a bench, I really can't bring myself to fault the writer for tying it up with the Autumn scene. You develop an attachment to your characters and even if you're trying to present a message that more or less says, "life is hard and relationships can suck... get a helmet," that can seem too harsh and realistic. You just think that, well, real life is like that... but since you have control over the fate of this character, you want to cut him some slack because in your heart of hearts, you wish someone would do the same for you.

Starting my 4 month sentence. Where did my summer go?!