I get it. I totally get it. I also get why a lot of people hated the movie. They walked into thinking they were getting a romantic comedy; Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, why wouldn't you think so? But truthfully, the movie is an honest dose of reality. Relationships are not perfect, people are different than who you think they are, and you can't plan everything.
It brings up a great point: expectation vs. reality. There's a split-scene part of the movie that plays these two universes simultaneously. Similarly, I imagine this to be the experience of the dissatisfied movie-goers, disappointed in the reality. But wake up, people. Life is not a Disney movie. Why must everything end with a "happily ever after?" It's just not the case. And I'm not saying it's always the case, I've certainly had my share of Disney-perfect moments, but we all run out of fairy dust after awhile and life picks up and moves on.
Thought: If you've been in a failed relationship, you get it. If you haven't you don't.
Now, failed is a harsh word. Sometimes they fail, sometimes they just expire or get lost. Would I say that my most recent relationship failed? Absolutely not. But I'm not married, so maybe by that standard it is. And what kind of standard is that? A pretty crap one if you ask me. But I won't get into the societal norms and what's expected... Ah, that word again.
*Spoiler Alert* Summer didn't exactly strike me as the marrying type. So that, obviously, came as a shock, but okay, I'll go with it. This point in the movie brings up a really interesting theme that I struggled with lately as well: treatment of the people you care about. She didn't tell him about the new guy and that it was a serious relationship. She was still flirty with him, and could you blame her, I mean look at the guy... Okay, that's the extent of my gushing on Joseph G-L.
But seriously, where do you draw the line? How are you supposed to treat a friend in that situation? How are you supposed to treat an ex? How much information do you share? How much do you let your feelings dictate and how much do you hold back in order to protect the other person? How much are you willing to hurt someone you care about in order to fulfill your own happiness? All of these questions have no one answer, there's no right way. To steal a phrase from a friend, up until this summer I was a serial monogamist. My relationships end approximately three months after they actually end, and that time just passed this round. My ex, who was also my best friend, and I struggled with all of these questions as we tried to balance each other and new people in our lives. He went about it one way, I another. Breaking off ties was one of the hardest things I've ever done, but afterward I felt nothing but relief. In the movie, she never broke off from him, she kept dragging him through the mud and simply because she enjoyed the friendship and selfishly hung onto it. But I can't argue! We need to be selfish sometimes, and one of the thing I loved most about Deschanel's character was her willingness and risk and ease to do whatever she wanted. It was when she was unhappy in the relationship that she lost sight of herself and her wants and needs. Hence, the break up. All understandable. And clearly, food for thought.
