500 Days of Summer

One of my all time favorite movies is (500) Days of Summer.  (500) Days of Summer is a 2009 American comedy-drama film written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber. It is directed by Marc Webb, produced by Mark Waters, and stars the talented Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Tom) and the beautiful and funny Zooey Deschanel (Summer). It tells a story of man's (Tom) fascination with a woman, Summer. Tom works at a greeting card company, when one day his boss introduces the board room to Summer, his new assistant. Tom is immediately taken by Summer's beauty. (500) Days of Summer is presented in a non-chronological format, each scene being introduced by which of the 500 days it is. The plot is rearranged in chronological order. It is important to note cinematographically that the film opens with day 488, the scene where Tom and Summer are seated at a bench and the audience sees Summer's ringed finger as the two hold hands. As the film slowly begins, it is noted that "this is not a love story."  Tom right off the bat is obsessed with Summer, leaving him wanting more every time he sees her. While watching the movie, most women/girls (including myself) would think his  character is adorable and super sweet, and actually feel so bad for him. However, recently I read an article where Joseph Gordon-Levitt expresses his emotions about his character, Tom. According to Huffington Post, Gordon-Levitt reminded fans that though Tom's stop-at-nothing mentality in chasing Summer (Zoeey Deschanel) may appear cute on screen, it's not an attitude worth adopting in real life. The (500) Days of Summer attitude of 'He wants you so bad' seems attractive to some women and men, especially younger ones," the actor said. "But I would encourage anyone who has a crush on my character to watch it again and examine how selfish he is." He goes on to also say "He develops a mildly delusional obsession over a girl onto whom he projects all these fantasies," Gordon-Levitt explained. "He thinks she’ll give his life meaning because he doesn’t care about much else going on in his life. A lot of boys and girls think their lives will have meaning if they find a partner who wants nothing else in life but them. That’s not healthy. That’s falling in love with the idea of a person, not the actual person."  After reading this article, it really changed my whole perspective on this film. I actually went back and re-watched it and realized that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is right. His character becomes obsessed with a woman who doesn't see things the way he does. He kept pushing Summer to feel something more and couldn't understand why she never did. It really was truly selfish of him. Although my perspective of the film changed, it still remains one of my favorites and I definitely encourage you guys to watch it and remember what Joseph Gordon-Levitt said!