500 Days of Summer – Was there a real villain, or is it just the complex concept of the term love

“This is a story of boy meets girl. The boy, Tom Hansen of Margate, New Jersey, grew up believing that he’d never truly be happy until he met “the one.” This belief stemmed from early exposure to sad British pop music and a total misreading of the movie ‘The Graduate.’ The girl, Summer Finn of Shinnecock, Michigan, did not share this belief. Since the disintegration of her parents’ marriage, she’d only loved two things. The first was her long, dark hair. The second was how easily she could cut it off and not feel a thing. Tom meets Summer on January 8th. He knows almost immediately she is who he has been searching for. This is a story of boy meets girl, but you should know upfront, this is not a love story” (500 Days of Summer, 2009).

One of the trickiest terms in the English Language to define, in my personal opinion, is the following: “love.” What is love? Is it the strong affection for another individual, is it deeply caring for another person, is it adoration, is it the feeling of not being separated from another person, is it sexual affection, or is it just a word that we use inconsistently? Is it just an idea people gather from listening to Kiss Me from Sixpence None the Richer? 

There are many interpretations of this. Probably one of the most complex terms to understand. When you ask someone, “How do you know you’re in love?” The most common answer… “when you know you know.” They claim it is simply a feeling. Something that can come easily and that just happens. Some either have the perception of a hopeless romantic who believes in the fantasy of falling in love within 5 minutes, while others simply don’t believe it exists. A perfect image of this can be found within the 2009 romantic drama 500 Days of Summer, starring Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, directed by Marc Webb.

Even though the narrator perfectly reads off the plot of the film in the beginning of the movie, let me reiterate (probably not as great as he did, but hey, worth a shot). The film centers around the hopeless romantic, Tom (Gordon-Levitt), and the realist, Summer (Deschanel). Both Tom and Summer could not be utterly different; sure, they both absolutely rock with The Smiths, but the perception of life and love…that’s the tricky topic there. In simple terms, Summer believes love is a fantasy and not real, Tom believes it is the realist it can get, true, and almost fate. Tom immediately felt attraction towards Summer the second he laid eyes on her, and when he found out how Summer really felt, and they began seeing each other, she made it clear to him that she was not looking for a relationship, just something fun. Tom knew from the very beginning. Summer didn’t believe in love; she didn’t want a relationship. We discovered in the beginning that this was due to the trauma she experienced from her parents’ marriage. This led to a spiral downward for the two’s relationship. Now, some claim Summer was the villain. She played with Tom’s feelings; she knew what she was doing, she was despicable (their ideas, not mine…I think she’s utterly awesome and hilarious.) Others believe that Tom was in the wrong. He already knew what Summer’s perception and thoughts were, yet he was still angry with her when it didn’t go his way. So what’s the real answer here? 

Short answer, and maybe a bit surprising. Neither was in the wrong. They just both experienced different stories that caused the outcome they are in now. Summer experienced trauma and gave up on believing love existed. Tom clung to the hope that love was everywhere and there was “the one” somewhere. Due to the conflict of opinions, they were not able to see eye to eye. Now, you might say while reading this, that is utter bullshit, Emily. How can I possibly know this is even possibly factual? Well, because I was once in the shoes of both main characters, Tom and Summer. If you were to ask me in June of 2025, “Emily, what is your favorite genre of films? I would no doubt say ROM COMS!!!! However, after understanding on a personal level what each character is feeling, their emotions, personal character development… You realize neither was in the wrong; they were just two of different personalities. Difficult miscommunications. Love means different things to different people. And that is the reality we must face. And it is the reality our two main characters had to face. Even though in the film, we see Tom in the most pain after Summer broke it off with him, we must understand why Summer did what she did. They did not see eye to eye on what love was. 

There was never a real villain. There were just two perceptions. “If Tom had learned anything… it was that you can’t ascribe great cosmic significance to a simple earthly event. Coincidence, that’s all anything ever is, nothing more than coincidence… Tom had finally learned, there are no miracles. There’s no such thing as fate; nothing is meant to be. He knew, he was sure of it now” (500 Days of Summer, 2009).