Unhappiness is…

… reality falling short of our expectations.

That’s what I realized from watching 500 Days of Summer.

It’s true, though, isn’t it? So I guess the moral lesson is to not have high expectations? Like with me and that movie.

See, years ago, a close friend of mine said she didn’t like that movie, so I decided not to waste my time on it.

Flash forward to many years later, to my roommate mentioning that it’s one of her favorites. That intrigued me, so I decided to give it a shot, but still keeping my expectations down because of the mixed reviews.

And you know what? I LOVED IT! It’s a beautiful film that shows what happens in a relationship when one loves more than the other, juxtaposing the happiness of the early stages with the moroseness of the latter days and using numbered days to show the timeline. It is funny and heartbreaking and relatable.

It is now one of my favorite films too. I wish I had seen it sooner.

So I guess another moral lesson is that when someone shares a review, or advice, always take it with a grain of salt, because what he says could not be true for you. And this is applicable not just to movies, but to everything in life.

Anyway, since we’re talking about 500 Days of Summer, I’d like to share some of my favorite quotes from that movie:

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 the day he met the one. This belief stemmed from early exposure to sad British pop music and a total mis-reading of the movie ‘The Graduate’.
The girl, Summer Finn of Shinnecock, Michigan, did not share this belief. Since the disintegration of her parent’s marriage she’d only love 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.

Tom: What happened? Why – why didn’t they work out?
Summer: What always happens. Life.

Technically, the girl of my dreams would probably have like, a really bodacious rack, probably different hair.. and she’d probably be a little more into sports. But truthfully, Robin’s better than the girl of my dreams. She’s real.

Tom: You never wanted to be anybody’s girlfriend and now you’re somebody’s wife.
Summer: It surprised me too.
Tom: I don’t think I’ll ever understand that. I mean, it doesn’t make sense.
Summer: It just happened.
Tom: Right, but that’s what I don’t understand. What just happened?
Summer: I just… I just woke up one day and I knew.
Tom: Knew what?
Summer: What I was never sure of with you.

Tom: You know what sucks? Realizing that everything you believe in is complete and utter bullshit. It sucks.
Summer: What do you mean?
Tom: Oh, you know, destiny and soul mates, true love and all that childhood fairy tale nonsense. You were right, I should have listened to you. What are you smiling at? What are you looking at me like that for?
Summer: Well, you know, I guess it’s ’cause I was sitting in a deli and reading Dorian Gray and a guy comes up to me and asks me about it and… now he’s my husband.
Tom: Yeah. And… so?
Summer: So, what if I’d gone to the movies? What if I had gone somewhere else for lunch? What if I’d gotten there 10 minutes later? It was – it was meant to be. And… I just kept thinking… Tom was right.
Tom: No.
Summer: Yeah, I did. (laughs) I did. It just wasn’t me that you were right about.

It’s a really awesome film. No wait…. don’t expect it to be. Go watch it and decide for yourself.

This post is part of the A to Z Challenge, a blog hop that goes through the alphabet for all the days of April except Sundays.