500 Days of Summer
Ricardo Facey
N. Melo
ENG4U1b
September 15, 2014
500 Days of Summer It is thought that in the film “500 Days of Summer”, a 2009 comedy drama with a truly original romantic twist, post-modernism serves to enhance the overall message of the movie that is, don’t fall in love with love. The postmodern elements such as the distorted use of time, the fact that the film does not follow the tradition “Hollywood” love story, and finally the evident presence of role reversal throughout the story, all help to convey this idea. In the movie, the distorted use of time plays a major part and is able to better the viewer’s understanding of the story by the fact that it allows viewers to see both Tom and Summer’s relationships in stages, it helps capture the highs and lows along with the humor and desperation as the relationship moves along. The film also follows a much more unorthodox version of a love story than the traditional love stories in western culture, with a boy-meets-girl narrative, yet with a not-so-happy ending. Finally, role reversal is a significant component in “500 Days of Summer”, enhancing the overall message. In Tom’s case, viewers see that he is a hopeless romantic so desperate to find “the one” that he simply ignores all of the signs telling him Summer is not the one for him. This is a quite original twist to modern western culture as typically the women are the ones trying to find “the special someone”, rather than the men. Firstly, “500 Days of Summer” is not a love story, instead, it is a story about love as remembered. Memories of relationships don’t always come to a person in chronological order but rather, they come in a mixed order. The postmodern element of the use of distorted time helps to better capture the Tom and Summer’s relationship in numerous ways, such as how the viewer can take a much more realistic view of the film than if the movie had been in order. It helps move the story along by separating the times into simple stages. If
N. Melo
ENG4U1b
September 15, 2014
500 Days of Summer It is thought that in the film “500 Days of Summer”, a 2009 comedy drama with a truly original romantic twist, post-modernism serves to enhance the overall message of the movie that is, don’t fall in love with love. The postmodern elements such as the distorted use of time, the fact that the film does not follow the tradition “Hollywood” love story, and finally the evident presence of role reversal throughout the story, all help to convey this idea. In the movie, the distorted use of time plays a major part and is able to better the viewer’s understanding of the story by the fact that it allows viewers to see both Tom and Summer’s relationships in stages, it helps capture the highs and lows along with the humor and desperation as the relationship moves along. The film also follows a much more unorthodox version of a love story than the traditional love stories in western culture, with a boy-meets-girl narrative, yet with a not-so-happy ending. Finally, role reversal is a significant component in “500 Days of Summer”, enhancing the overall message. In Tom’s case, viewers see that he is a hopeless romantic so desperate to find “the one” that he simply ignores all of the signs telling him Summer is not the one for him. This is a quite original twist to modern western culture as typically the women are the ones trying to find “the special someone”, rather than the men. Firstly, “500 Days of Summer” is not a love story, instead, it is a story about love as remembered. Memories of relationships don’t always come to a person in chronological order but rather, they come in a mixed order. The postmodern element of the use of distorted time helps to better capture the Tom and Summer’s relationship in numerous ways, such as how the viewer can take a much more realistic view of the film than if the movie had been in order. It helps move the story along by separating the times into simple stages. If