The Negative Effects of Sad British Pop
Written on October 16th, 2022 by Jacob Mayes
500 Days of Summer & The Male-Centric Gaze
Throughout the vast majority of Western cinema, in relation to heteronormative, romantic relationships, the viewer is placed into the position of the protagonist, who is traditionally male, and is made to observe the feminine object of desire. This consistent relationship between masculine force, viewer, and feminine character made to be objectified by both the masculine force and viewer is referred to as ‘the “gaze,” (Parker 191) by Laura Mulvey. This gaze enforces a male-centric view when it comes to the experience of viewing a film, which is both caused by a patriarchal society and culturally defending that patriarchy. While many films enforce this gaze, especially within the realm of Romantic Comedies, there are some that explore this male-centric view of romantic relationships in a more complex and even critical way. 500 Days of Summer, a film directed by Marc Webb, is one such film that explores this male-centric experience that is so prevalent throughout American cinema.
Webb’s film, 500 Days of Summer, follows the relationship of two people in Los Angeles, though at the beginning of the film, it is revealed that the relationship between the two ended the 290th day of the titular 500 days. The protagonist is Thomas, a man in his twenties working at a greeting card company even though he is qualified to work as a professional architect. Thomas has consistently believed that he would “never truly be happy until the day he met…the one,” (500 Days of Summer 1:17-1:21) due to a misunderstanding of films such as The Graduate and an obsession with melancholic British pop songs. His counterpart, Summer, is a similarly aged woman who does not share his sentiments regarding love and relationships and instead chooses to follow her impulses and live life as carefree as she can. As the two interact, and as they become romantically and physically involved, becoming closer and closer. Thomas is looking for a committed relationship, and Summer bristles at the idea of being considered a couple as seen in a scene where, following a fight with a man who was bothering the two, Summer chides Thomas for acting as if they are not “just friends,” (500 Days of Summer 0:46:40-0:46:46) because she does not want to be in an official relationship. This denial of affection is culturally not as accepted from the side of a female, which, Thomas responds by denying her denial of their relationship, instead insisting that “I say we’re a couple, god damnit,” (500 Days of Summer 47:10-47:11). This outright denial Summer’s feelings and the constant desire to label her as his girlfriend is one of the many ways that Thomas embodies the gaze and the patriarchal values associated with it, but the viewer is not as perfectly in line with his perspective, even though he is the technical protagonist. Webb achieves this through repeatedly showing the negative effects of this male-centric gaze on the characters, but also shows the ways that Thomas does not fit wholly within the gaze.
One of the scenes that Webb showcases the futility and foolish nature of ascribing to any gaze occurs in the later half of the movie where Thomas reconnects with Summer sometime after their breakup at a wedding. Throughout the wedding, they have lively conversations, tell jokes, and dance, which are three things that are not exclusive to romance, but often accompany those feelings of attraction. This wedding ends with Summer inviting Thomas to a party the following Friday and with her falling asleep on Thomas’s shoulder. Thomas, who has been trying to think of a way to get back together with Summer since she left him, fully believes that this is his opportunity to “get her back,” (500 Days of Summer 7:03-7:05). The gaze is especially present in this moment, as Thomas believes Summer is a prize to be won back in the battlefield of love and that, if he tries hard enough, somehow she will want to be in a committed relationship with him. The film advances to the party, and the screen is split into two halves, with the left side labelled “Expectation” and the right side labelled “Reality”. The expectation is everything that Thomas wants and believes he is going to get, because of his interpretation of Summer’s actions at the wedding and due to his rose-tinted perspective regarding their relationship. The reality is the actual series of events that follow during the party. The expectation is that he will be greeted at the door with a kiss on the cheek and gratitude for the gift he bought. He pictures that, while the two are together, it will be as though no one else is able to intrude on their conversation and they will be lost in one another’s presence. In this image of his expectation, Webb is displaying the fact that in Thomas’s mind, the entitlement to the feminine object that is Summer is present, and that Thomas feels entirely dependent on this submissive and doting image of Summer that is his greatest desire. This will eventually lead to them sleeping with one another and rekindling their lost relationship. However, in reality, his expectation of being absorbed with one another is not realized, and he spends much of the party separated from the rest of the attendees drinking beer and mixed drinks. The “Reality” screen then obscures the “Expectation” side before culminating in a realization that Summer has become engaged since Thomas had seen Summer which likely means that, while they were at the wedding, she was in a relationship. The entirety of this scene is accompanied by a song tiled “Hero”, by Regina Spektor, which repeats the lines, “I’m the hero of this story. I don’t need to be saved,” (500 Days of Summer 1:10:00-1:10:30). This line mirrors the feelings of Thomas, as he is in denial of the reality being presented to him and is almost begging to be returned to the state of expectation and for a reinstatement of the previous gaze where he held power in the relationship. Despite this, the obliteration of his own gaze and the male-centric view is not the destruction that Thomas immediately feels it is.
Following this realization, Thomas is inconsolable to the point that his personal relationships and professional life suffers. Summer’s engagement sends Thomas spiraling into a deep depression that leaves him acting completely apathetic, each day blending into one another, taking his aggression out with snide remarks to strangers on the street, walking around in public with only a bathrobe on, and eventually quitting his job in spectacular fashion yelling about the futility of the greeting card industry in the face of the existential crisis he is having. During this tirade, Thomas feels a moment of realization regarding his own feelings of romance and the expectation he has towards his own relationships, saying that it’s “these cards, and the movies, and the pop songs,” (500 Days of Summer 1:14:08-1:14:13) that are deceiving society and creating false expectations and views on love. In this moment, this feeling that romantic love is a lie sold by media to the world is a projection of Thomas’s own emotions and the realization that these songs and movies are what have shaped his view of love. This projection reaffirms what was told to the viewer in the opening of the film, that Thomas’s view of love has been shaped by the media around him and that his view of love is based on a misunderstanding of that media. This media, of course, reinforces the mythical male-centric love story that women are objects meant to fulfill men because without women men are miserable. This self-perpetuating cycle has resulted in the self-centered, overly romantic, and unfulfilled man that is Thomas. Summer committing herself to someone so wholly they become engaged while she was unable to fulfill Thomas’s expectations that he put on her is what was necessary to fully disrupt this cycle.
After quitting his job, Thomas is given advice from his younger sister about changing his perspective to view the relationship from a new lens and in his emotionally vulnerable state, he manages to comprehend what was being told to him and presented to the audience throughout the movie. In a scene where Thomas is in his room, he tears down what appears to be a simple wall covered in sappy romantic notes and posters, revealing a chalk board with the remainders of architecture sketches from the past. For the better part of three weeks, he begins working on his architecture again, writing notes and sketching new buildings out all over the chalkboard. In this remastering and newly renewed passion for architecture, Thomas is rediscovering himself in a way that would have been impossible had he stayed within the patriarchal framework of the gaze, as his obsession with love rendered him as much of an object as it rendered Summer and kept him from being able to seek out a way to fulfill himself outside of a relationship. Summer and Thomas then share the screen, with Thomas finally being able to focus on himself without needing a relationship and Summer at her wedding, able to share herself with someone she can commit herself to. Their true desires were only within reach when this codependent attitude fed by the patriarchal culture of cinema and music was torn away from Thomas and he could see that he was not only hurting Summer with his obsession, but he was also hurting himself.
500 Days of Summer tells a story of a charming but obsessive young man in Los Angeles enforcing his media-fed views on romance and love onto a woman who lacks any interest in being in a relationship with him. Within this story, there are many examples of why a male-centric view of love within media is harmful to those who consume it, often using the protagonist as an example of what could happen if the viewer is not careful. Additionally, the perspective of the story is such that it highlights the objectification that women receive, as Thomas switches back and forth from admiring and idolizing the Summer in his mind, to rejecting and resenting her image after being rejected, as in both cases, she remains an object to fawn and obsess over. Overall, this film explores the harm that can be done to oneself and those around if they obsess over the unattainable media-created idea of a relationship in their minds.
