Typically, a movie has to be either far better than average or far worse than average for me to waste my time watching it. And it has to be even more extreme for me to waste much time talking about it. This is about to be an exception to that trend.
Now the reason why this is one of the most memorable scenes to me is because it hits so close to home.
Far too often we play events out in our minds, and they rarely ever match our expectations, let alone exceed them. (I say we, because I'm sure I and the movie director are not the only ones who do this.)
The movie is called 500 Days of Summer, and I'll be honest with you up front: It's a chick flick. And since we're being honest, I'll admit that yes, I kind of liked it. But this isn't a movie review, so I must get to the point.
The reason I'm going on about this relatively-better-than-average-but-still-not-Oscar-worthy film is because it has one of the most memorable scenes of any movie out there, at least as far as I'm concerned.
If you haven't seen the film, I'll save you a bit of time and summarize it for you, up to the point of the clip.
500 Days of Summer follows a guy named Tom (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who is madly in love with a girl named Summer (played by Zooey Deschanel). And although they're in a relationship, Summer makes it clear that she isn't looking for anything more than something casual, and (blah blah blah), Tom wants something more than that, and they eventually break up.
Some time later, Summer runs into Tom and invites him to a party back at her place. (Tom's still crazy about Summer at this point, even though they've broken up, by the way.)
Enter memorable movie scene: On the left half of the screen, we see Tom as he imagines the night will play out: Tom's Expectations. On the right half of the screen, we see how the night really plays out: Tom's Reality.
500 Days of Summer follows a guy named Tom (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who is madly in love with a girl named Summer (played by Zooey Deschanel). And although they're in a relationship, Summer makes it clear that she isn't looking for anything more than something casual, and (blah blah blah), Tom wants something more than that, and they eventually break up.
Some time later, Summer runs into Tom and invites him to a party back at her place. (Tom's still crazy about Summer at this point, even though they've broken up, by the way.)
Enter memorable movie scene: On the left half of the screen, we see Tom as he imagines the night will play out: Tom's Expectations. On the right half of the screen, we see how the night really plays out: Tom's Reality.
What happens in the scene doesn't really matter, so much as the fact that Tom's expectations are set way to high, and could at best be met, but probably not exceeded by his reality.
Now the reason why this is one of the most memorable scenes to me is because it hits so close to home.
Far too often we play events out in our minds, and they rarely ever match our expectations, let alone exceed them. (I say we, because I'm sure I and the movie director are not the only ones who do this.)
And while I could go on blogging for hours about specific experiences of mine that relate to this scene, I don't think that's particularly necessary.
What I'm getting at is that if your'e at all like me, you should at all costs avoid the route that is setting expectations.
Take my advice: rather than setting the bar of expectations high or low, don't set the bar at all; it's not fair to you, and it's certainly not fair to them.
What I'm getting at is that if your'e at all like me, you should at all costs avoid the route that is setting expectations.
Take my advice: rather than setting the bar of expectations high or low, don't set the bar at all; it's not fair to you, and it's certainly not fair to them.
Instead, go into every situation with an open mind and an open agenda. You will be a better person for it. Who knows, you may even end up finding something better than what you've been looking for along.
"Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he will never be disappointed."
- Alexander Pope
