This is Why Tom Couldn’t Make It
500 Days of Summer, released back in 2009, some labeled as a “depressed movie” despite its high rating, is officially one of my comfort movies today. And I’m not regretting why I just watched it today when its cut scenes, pictures, and quotes had already been on almost any place on the internet under “recommended movies” sections for years.
I watch this at the exact right time. When I can’t help but sometimes overthink about the right person, wrong time, and fate as such, 500 Days of Summer confronts the idea of ‘fancy’ love perspectives — or more like naive beliefs — that unfortunately have been deep-rooted in our pop industry (that later on give contributions to how most people think).
500 Days of Summer is not a love story. But a story about love.
Turns out, there’s a huge difference in that.
Just like the majority of teenage girls, I have ever been fancying a love like Noah to Allie, William to Anna, or what’s more recent, Peter to Lara Jane.
However, if we think about it, what did we really learn about love in those movies? Did that lesson align with who we are?
What happened if Noah never see Allie again after that summer night? Will he be suffering forever, will it be fair? Wouldn’t it be better for him to consider moving on after years of not getting any single answer from his girl?
Right after the credits showed, I immediately know what distinguish ‘love story and ‘story about love’. A love story only shows you what it looks like to be in love and, if it’s a happy ending and fairytale-ish, then it’s also about what kind of future we want to have while we’re in love.
On the other hand, the story about love serves you how love works in reality. It’s fleeting — not lasting. It’s dynamic, nothing static. What’s even hard to swallow is that we can’t really work on it. We can’t really make love stay longer. You can be a total jerk, and other people can still love you, and vice versa.
No one can control it, love, and that’s why it often hurts. And I know a lot of us can either be Tom or Summer. We were ever so stubborn to make it last, like when Tom confessed to Summer that he’s okay with their relationship being unlabelled, all he wants is clarity that Summer wouldn’t wake up one day and lose her feelings for him.
That led to Summer saying nobody can do that, and we knew she was true.
She was true about most of the things, but end up marrying someone else who most likely spend less time than the amount she spent with Tom. It almost feels like we can finally justify Summer as the villain, a girl who did everything for her own pleasure without minding others’ feelings.
Just look at Tom Hansen — charming, smart, witty, and looks like he’ll give her a world without a second thought. But Summer looked like she wasn’t even sure about him from the very start.
What is lacking about our guy? Wasn’t he the right guy?
I think it was because deep down, Tom wasn’t really sure about Summer, either.
He was too scared to lose her so he never tried to break into her deepest fears. When he thought he succeeded in making her break her wall, it was actually the bottom-of-surface. Deeper than anyone has ever been, yes, but still on the surface. It was because the time and place were supportive, and Summer herself decided to open up, mindlessly.
It’s almost like Tom’s priority was to make her be with him before how to love her right. Although I believe his love for Summer was no joke. But love alone wouldn’t ever be enough, Summer needed more.
She needs something steady to grab and believe. Not in material ways, but on an emotional level. As a child from a broken family, she needed someone confident and strong to pull herself out of her fears disguised in a choice to not be “anyone’s anything”. That’s why when this new guy came and proposed to her right away, her heart began to reassure, something she failed to feel with Tom.
But just like life, no one is fully true about what she/he believes, and neither do fully flawed. The unlabelled relationship that Summer had with Tom was to depict her need to be loved which contradicts her principle — but she won’t admit it and end up hurting him badly.
The same goes for Tom. It’s moving how honest his feeling for Summer, his longing for the one, but sometimes we do need to be deeply hurt to know the reality.
500 Days of Summer has the perfect ending already. It somehow saved me. I hope it can save anyone in this state, too. Happy watching (or re-watching) alone, or with your loved one.
p.s. : love doesn’t last, but a commitment to reignite it over and over does.
