Near the end, why did Summer come looking for Tom at his hangout?
When Summer gave Tom's hand a squeeze on the park bench, I wondered if she had realized the great qualities in Tom that she gave up. Or perhaps she regretted how it all ended and was just trying to mend fences a bit.
Thoughts?
trying to mend fences a bit
shareIt could be a mending-fences exercise, but how about a more cynical analysis as an alternative explanation (not saying this is the case, just throwing it out there for the sake of entertainment and discussion).
What if this is Summer's way of remaining in control right to the end, sort of a last-bullying opportunity before moving on?
She wants to end the relationship with Tom liking her; not because she finds value in that, but because it offends her that he has any power over her, even in the slightest. Even being able to secretly say to himself, "What a jerk she was," she can't let that happen, exist. She wants total devotion, even at the end when she basically has hurt him.
Maybe a good analogy might be a rich person. A rich person has it all -- money, power, a good life. A rich person should be able to withstand criticism. Oftentimes, though, this is not the case -- a rich person will be vindictive and maybe even sue someone for saying something bad about him.
Summer perhaps wanted that control, to quash any negative thoughts in Tom's head about her. Think back to the way she was smiling in that scene, and to how she responded to Tom wishing her congratulations -- her response was something like, "Only if you mean it." Not a simple "Thanks." She couldn't say that, she had to issue a rejoinder even to that.
Even the touching of his hand was almost an expression of domination over him, especially with the ring prominently displayed.
Again, I'm not saying this is the correct way to think about that scene. But I keep thinking to that smiling expression on her face (if I am remembering the scene correctly) -- there was something ghostly and insincere about it.
Of course, someone else posted about the possibility that the meeting took place in Tom's imagination. That's a very fascinating notion, and it does sort of fit (one could say her expression makes sense under that theory).
But I wonder if the way she acted proves it was real, simply because Tom's recollection of her for one final epilogue before the arrival of Autumn would have been more sweet.
Not sure I explained this clearly, but I hope some of it makes sense. And it's definitely a good question.
That's a great point. To some degree we all try to control other people's feelings. Sort of a human trait.
I might look at the other side of the coin and focus on how Tom tried to control the situation. Was his head in the clouds most of the time, while trying to control or at least deny what was really going on with Summer?
Tom certainly never gave up that he had a shot at continuing with Summer. He wanted to believe that. But perhaps he never did have a real shot at marriage, if that is what he wanted.
The earlier scene in the park with the marching band told us how over the moon he felt, perhaps unrealistically so. Perhaps Tom remained positive about his chances in that way, even though there were clues he had little chance to marry Summer. She enjoyed him a lot, but not to the depths that Tom felt.
I don't believe Summer ever wanted a sort of fellow like Tom for marriage and we're shown how she gave honest feedback towards him while trying not to devastate him. She told Tom marriage wasn't for her, yet Tom persisted.
At the point where he saw the engagement ring, Tom could no longer deny what was real, that she didn't want him. His magical thinking how the two of them would remain a couple sort of vanished at that point.
The idea about how the final scene together in the park was imagined by Tom starts to make sense to me. Perhaps that scene was one more dose of his magical thinking, that the two of them at least still cared for each other.
Maybe they did. That much was real. That much still felt good to Tom. At least he told himself so.
</redpillanalysis>
shareSpot on
sharesounds like you are right, a beautiful girl can make a kingdom collapse, just like TROY.
THRILLER IS MY FOOD!
I think she wanted closure. But, man, when she tells Tom "I just knew what I was always unsure of with you..." ouch. I think I would've cried if someone told me that, but, hey, he asked.
shareBut, man, when she tells Tom "I just knew what I was always unsure of with you..." ouch. I think I would've cried if someone told me that, but, hey, he asked.
I'm pretty sure Summer come seeing him one last time at his spot was real and not imagined -- although of course I could be wrong. But regardless great points (and thoughts) by the two of you.
shareThere's some debate other whether that's really Summer or if Tom just imagined the whole conversation. Apparently the writer and director have different opinions about this.
Unless Alpert's covered in bacon grease, I don't think Hugo can track anything.
I've always thought it was imagined...a way for Tom to get closure.
Remember, the day they met was a Wednesday. Unless he makes a habit of swinging by there at the same time every day/week, I don't know why Summer would think to look for him at that specific moment on a workday
Here's my take on that scene. Summer had been selfish her whole life and didn't want to be in a committed relationship because committed relationships require hard work and hard work is not fun, especially to someone as self-centered as Summer. She didn't want to feel anything for anyone or anything. This was demonstrated early on when as a child, she cut her long hair, and it didn't even phase her one bit.
As an adult, she kept her same cold persona, knowing very well that men would still desire her even though her personality was so off-putting. She didn't have to be nice or kind, they would still line up for her. Then came Tom. Even though Summer stated very clearly that she didn't want a boyfriend, she was bored at the moment and sent Tom the message that she was interested in being more than just friends. Not too much later she became bored with Tom also.
After their breakup, she met someone, and for the first time in her life, she fell in love. Knowing true love for the first time in her life, she realized just how much she had hurt Tom. I think she wanted to smooth things out with Tom for two reasons. First reason is that she didn't want to live with the guilt of knowing how deeply she had hurt Tom. She wanted to make sure that Tom was OK so that she could feel better about herself. The second reason is that she wanted him to know that he did make a positive impact on her life. The fact that she was at the same spot that he had introduced her to is an example of this.
So, in a nutshell, finding true love made her aware of just how rotten she had been to Tom, and she didn't want to live with that kind of guilt.
"Don't tell me your little problems son, all I'm interested in is results."
No no no no nooooo
It was the line
`what i was never about you`
In the scene, Tom had to throw away his face..it really2 hurt guys emotionally
Additionally, Tom did ask why she want to dance with him, and the answer well, because i want to
I think its because Summer wants to keep Tom as her best friend (or friendzone i might say)
I think Summer was being 100% genuine. My take was that she truly cares about Tom and felt bad about hurting him. She just wasn't deeply in love with him. I think it was important for her to let Tom know that he still was a meaningful part of her life, even though they did not end up together romantically.
There is a balance between idealizing love and shutting love out. They learned from each other where that balance is. Summer wanted to let Tom know that he taught her about love.
The hand squeeze meant she still liked him as a friend. She also says, in certain words, that he was right about falling in love - it just wasn't him. That scene was all about closure.
shareI don't think Summer was anymore selfish or manipulative or self-centered than Tom. Summer's parents got divorced when she was young and it changed her whole outlook on life and love. I think it kind of stunted her which is why she is still into nostalgic pop culture like the Beatles octopuses garden which is considered kiddie by most people. She became desensitized and thought herself enlightened. She thought she knew something that other people didn't know and that made things easy.As she was learning this Tom was learning the opposite. He just knew that things would be easy and perfect after he found the one. Its like they were looking at the same optical illusion and but seeing different images. It was because of their different point of views that the relationship didn't work. Tom was trying too hard for the romance, and Summer just wanted the fun. They were different people, and I think people were too rough on Summer. Honestly, most of the times, Tom got on my nerves! While I understand why people think she was kind of a jerk(the copier), I don't understand how you can just scrutinize a character until its just what he/she did to someone else and not look at what happened to make this person behave this way. I hope someone who wants a discussion and not a fight will respond, because I just find Tom to be kind of hilariously in the wrong. People comment on him being an ideal boyfriend and while I can see the charm, there was no depth. And this is not to bag on the movie or say that Summer would've made a better protagonist, because I thought he was great at showing cluelessness, and don't get how people can hate Summer, who definetley made some relationship no-nos and not find fault in Tom who does as well. I guess I'm more about the things you say than what you do, because she did say she wasn't looking for something serious and then Tom would say some ridiculous stuff like how he hates the way girls dress and for her not to change anything and made fun of her liking Ringo Starr.
Wildcattin'...Wildcattin'. Pow! I'm gonna go.
Don't overthink the movie. Summer realized nothing. She just wanted to ensure they're okay with each other.
share