500 Days of Summer: what this 2009 flick says about Gen-Y

For those of you who actually spent last summer outside, instead of inside watching a movie about a girl named Summer, let me brief you on the plot (warning: spoiler alert).

Boy meets girl. Boy wants girl. Boy gets girl. Girl wants freedom. Boy loses girl. Boy falls apart. Boy quits job. Girl finds herself. Boy still wants girl. Girl finds new boy. Old boy finds new job. And a new girl. Named Autumn.

Get the picture?

Those who enjoy sappy endings may have been frustrated by this movie. Why couldn’t Tom (boy) and Summer (girl) just make it work? They were so damn cute. And happy! What went wrong?

Why did it take a devastating break-up for Tom to pursue a career he loved? And how is it possible that Summer, a girl who didn’t believe in love, could change her mind and marry someone else in a year’s time?

Oh-so-Gen-Y, right? Just another story about a couple of flaky 20-somethings. A couple of hot messes.

Well, that’s one perspective.

I love this movie because it gives an honest portrayal of our generation’s impassioned idealism.  Many of us grow up assuming everything is going to work out the way we planned. We’ll get into college, graduate, land a great job, make enough money and live happily ever after with our one true love.

Now, I’m not saying this can’t happen – but it’s not an easy or frequent reality. As the movie shows, there are road bumps, break-ups, even quarter-life crises. Sometimes, life gives us a swift kick in the ass and we have to deal.

Are we stubborn? Confused? Completely lost at times? Sure. But who wasn’t in their early 20s? And even later on in life for that matter; “quarter-life crisis” was inspired by “mid-life crisis” after all.

What’s important is that when faced with our first big disappointments or failures as young adults, we learn how to move on. In most cases, like Tom’s, it makes us stronger in the end. We can cry, pout, sulk and fight it forever, but as the Rolling Stones hit goes: You can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, well you just might find, you get what you need.

Because, in reality, Autumn always comes after Summer.

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