In the movie 500 Days of Summer, we are introduced to two characters, Tom and Summer. Throughout the movie, the idea of Summer being the bad guy emerges almost immediately. It shows her being on and off with Tom and not giving him her full commitment. While the viewer watches this, they most likely start to believe that Summer is the true antagonist of this movie. But that doesn’t always seem to be the case.
First and foremost, during the movie, Tom shows his rather clingy, codependent side towards Summer. Right off the bat, in the well-known, very popular elevator scene, where Summer recognizes Tom listening to The Smiths, he is immediately attached to her. After not knowing her for long, he was already saying, “I love her smile, I love her… neck. I love her knees. I love her elbows. I love her freckles. I love the way she makes me feel, like anything is possible, or like… life is worth it.” Tom had already been totally invested in Summer from the very beginning. Already showing his excessive attachment towards her.
Moving on, Summer was a very unique character. Her flaws were very expressed in the film. Countless times throughout the movie, Summer has to remind Tom that “I’m not looking for anything serious.” She clearly saved her intentions from the beginning, expressing that she doesn’t want a boyfriend or believe in love. She also mentions her discomfort with titles after her parents’ divorce, indicating she was not seeking a serious relationship with Tom nor anybody else. Each and every time she tells Tom this, he almost falls into a depressive episode, claiming he hates her and everything about her. This leads into the next point.
Lastly, though Tom was quick with switching how he felt about Summer, He never failed to attempt to drag Summer back into his life. When he keeps going back to her, he keeps giving himself false hope, which is not Summers’ fault. There are multiple scenes where Tom is yelling at Summer because she is simply not ready for anything serious and can’t make up her mind. In a scene where Summer tries to get her point across, Tom says, “This is not how you treat a friend. kissing in the copy room, holding hands in IKEA, shower — c’mon! Friends, my balls.” This shows his extreme anger towards her. Tom had such high expectations for Summer, and got let down every single time. He really had false hope in thinking anything more than what was happening would happen with Summer. Tom just didn’t know how to listen and simply accept his fate and move on.
Wrapping things up, Tom and Summer had a very complex relationship throughout this film. Although Summer was victimized, Tom was the true antagonist.
