(500) Days of Summer: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|"''This is a story of [[Boy Meets Girl|boy meets girl]], but you should know up front, [[Foregone Conclusion|this is not a love story.]]''"|'''--Narrator'''}}

''[[(500) Days of Summer]]'' is a 2009 independent [[Romantic Comedy]] starring [[Joseph Gordon-Levitt]] and [[Zooey Deschanel]].

{{quote| '''Rachel:''' Just because some cute girl likes all the same bizarro crap you do [[Foreshadowing|doesn't mean she's your soulmate.]]}}

* [[Brick Joke]]: ''The Graduate''.

** "Roses are red, violets are blue, {{spoiler|fuck you, whore.}}"

* [[Did Not Get the Girl]]: [[Foregone Conclusion|The audience knows this from the start.]]

* [[Did You Just Have Sex?]]: One of Tom's friends asks him this, {{spoiler|not realizing that Summer is in the other room, listening.}}

* [[Emotionless Girl]]: How the [[Narrator]] introduces us to Summer. {{spoiler|Probably evidence that he's an [[Unreliable Narrator]].}}

* [[The Faceless]]: {{spoiler|Summer's Husband.}}

* [[Foregone Conclusion]]: The [[Narrator]] tells us right near the start, "This ''is'' a story of [[Boy Meets Girl]]. But you should know up front, this is not a love story. "

* [[Fourth Date Marriage]]: The entire story, including Tom's {{spoiler|post-break-up depression}}, takes place over a little less than a year and a half. Consider how Summer spends less than half that time (Days 288-500). Most couples spend more time between the engagement and the wedding than Summer {{spoiler|took meeting a total stranger and getting married to him}}. Including Millie.

* [[Freudian Slip]]: <s> [[Zooey Deschanel|Zooey]]</s> Summer [[A Worldwide Punomenon|fakes]] one in order to gently tease Tom {{spoiler|and to let him know that she overheard the [[Did You Just Have Sex?]] conversation between him and his friend.}}

* [[Genre Savvy]]: Most of the characters -- exceptcharacters—except when they're [[Wrong Genre Savvy]].

* [[Heroic BSOD]]: Tom's response upon learning that Summer {{spoiler|has gotten engaged to someone else.}}

* [[Hollywood Tone Deaf]]: Characters sing in a karaoke bar at a few different points in the movie, and their supposedly awful efforts are played for laughs, but they aren't actually that bad. Doesn't hurt that Zooey is an indie singer in real life. Seriously, go watch the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKW9na06SyY cotton] ad] she was in.

* [[Homage]]: Specific scenes from ''Children of Paradise'', ''Persona'', ''[[The Seventh Seal]]'', and ''[[The Graduate]]''. More generally, the films of [[Woody Allen]], especially ''[[Annie Hall (Film)|Annie Hall]]''.

* [[How We Got Here]]: The first day of Tom and Summer's relationship we see is Day 488, near the end of it -- {{spoiler|in fact, exactly two hundred days ''after'' she dumped him, and several days after she married someone else}}. The rest of the movie [[Anachronic Order|jumps back and forth through the five hundred days]] to explain [[How We Got Here]].

{{quote| '''Summer''': All we do is argue.<br />

'''Tom''': That's bullshit! }}

* [[Ironic Echo]]: Because of the film's [[Anachronic Order]], we often hear the echoed version first. One of the reasons the movie is in some ways [[Better Onon DVD]].

* [[Just Friends]]: Despite being [[Friends Withwith Benefits]], the core of the tension between Tom and Summer is his desire to be more than [[Just Friends]], and her desire not to.

* [[Manic Pixie Dream Girl]]: Subverted/deconstructed; Tom initially thinks of Summer as one, and pursues a relationship with her even though she flip-flops between being clear that she's [[Friends Withwith Benefits|not interested in anything serious]] and [[The Tease|leading him on]], which leads to getting his heart broken when {{spoiler|she dumps him and marries someone else}}. Thus are explored the very [[Truth in Television|true-to-life]] hazards of treating a woman as a romantic ideal rather than a human being. Arguably, Tom {{spoiler|may have been a Manic Pixie Dream ''Guy'' to Summer, who tells him at the end that he taught her that love is real}}. [[Word of God]] on the subject:

{{quote| "Yes, Summer has elements of the [[Manic Pixie Dream Girl]] -- she is an immature view of a woman. She's Tom's view of a woman. He doesn't see her complexity and the consequence for him is heartbreak. In Tom's eyes, Summer is perfection, but perfection has no depth. Summer's not a girl, she's a phase."}}

* [[Meaningful Name]]: Summer {{spoiler|and her possible successor, Autumn}}. Also, the names '''Tom''' Hansen and Summer '''Finn''' are a [[Shout -Out]] to Tom Sawyer and [[Huckleberry Finn]].

* [[Meet Cute]]: On (Day 4), in the elevator, between Tom and Summer. {{spoiler|Also, on (Day 500) / Autumn: (Day 1), another more standard [[Meet Cute]], between Tom and Autumn, as they wait to interview for a job they're competing for. The two [[Meet Cute|Meet Cutes]]s have something in common: one party was already interested beforehand while the other was oblivious to that person's existence. The first time, it's Tom who's already interested and Summer who's been oblivious; the second time it's Tom who's been oblivious (too caught up [[Angst|angstingangst]]ing over Summer) and Autumn who's already interested.}}

* [[Mood Whiplash]]:

* [[Never Trust a Trailer]]: The title and trailer imply that the movie is about the 500 days in the relationship between Summer and Tom. {{spoiler|In fact, Summer breaks up with Tom on Day 288, and the remaining days document his attempts to get over her.}} Furthermore, most viewers of the trailer expected Summer to be a straight portrayal of a [[Manic Pixie Dream Girl]] -- considering—considering she's played by [[Zooey Deschanel]] and all -- insteadall—instead of a [[Deconstruction]] of the trope.

* [[Oblivious to Love]]: Summer to Tom.

* [[One-Scene Wonder]]: Chloe[[Chloë Grace Moretz]] as Rachel, Tom's sister.

* [[Post Modernism]]: Plenty, including the [[Anachronic Order|nonlinear narrative]], the [[BigNon LippedSequitur Alligator MomentScene|spontaneous dance sequence]], the onscreen count of the actual 500 days, and one scene which contrasts "Expectations" vs. "Reality" via split-screen.

* [[Pun-Based Title]]/[[Punny Name]]: "Summer" in the movie's title.

* [[The Reveal]]: At a party Tom already finds just about unbearable, he suddenly notices Summer's {{spoiler|engagement ring.}}

* [[Shout -Out]]:

** The [[Meaningful Name|Meaningful Names]]s '''Tom''' Hansen and Summer '''Finn''' are a [[Shout -Out]] to Tom Sawyer and [[Huckleberry Finn]].

** See also [[Suspiciously Specific Denial]] for an incredibly obscure [[Shout -Out]] in the guise of a fake [[Take That]].

** Summer calls Tom "[[The Sorrows of Young Werther (Literature)|young Werther]]". Notice the potential parallel?

* [[Single -Target Sexuality]]: Tom for Summer. Even on his blind date, he can't stop talking about Summer (albeit not exactly the nicest things, but still).

* [[Spiritual Successor]]: It has a lot in common with another recent movie that [[Deconstruction|deconstructs]] the romantic comedy genre, 2008's ''[[Definitely Maybe (Filmfilm)|Definitely Maybe]]'', including but not limited to a [[How We Got Here|flashback-centric]] narrative structure, an [[No Ending|ambiguous]], [[Bittersweet Ending|less-than-happy]] ending, and a female lead named "Summer".

** A romantic comedy that's about love and not a love story where the protagonist doesn't live happily ever after with the girl from the beginning with [[Anachronic Order]] and being [[Indie]]? Sounds a bit like [[Annie Hall (Film)|Annie Hall]] for Generation Y.

{{quote| '''Summer''': "They used to call me Anal Girl."<br />

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Tom spit-takes*<br />

'''Summer''': "...I was very neat and organized." }}

* [[Stalker Withwith a Crush]]: Very early in Tom's relationship with Summer, one of his friends teases him that he's one of these toward Summer. {{spoiler|Of course she overhears.}}

* [[Stock Character]]: Rachel, the absurdly [[Wise Beyond Their Years]] younger sister of main character Tom.

* [[Stupidest Thing IveI've Ever Heard]]: Tom's thoughts about Summer's "PENIS!" game.

* [[Take That]]:

* [[This Is for Emphasis, Bitch]]:

** {{spoiler|"Especially you Jenny Beckman. Bitch."}}

** {{spoiler|"Better luck next time... bitch."}}

* [[Tragic Dream]]: Tom has two: 1) Winning back Summer. 2) Becoming a great architect. {{spoiler|By the end of the movie, it's ''possible'' he's on his way to making the latter dream less tragic.}}

* [[Wise Beyond Their Years]]: Tom's pre-teenpreteen sister Rachel is possibly the wisest character in the whole film.

[[Category:Five Hundred Days Of SummerFilm]]

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