20th Century Fox Home EntertainmentJoseph Gordon-Levitt has entered the long-running debate about the behavior of his character in 500 Days of Summer, calling him out as "selfish."
In the fan-favorite 2009 film, the actor plays Tom, who falls in love with Summer, played by Zooey Deschanel. He wants her to promise him that she will always feel the same way about him. Summer, who is not happy in the relationship, deems his expectation unrealistic. She breaks up with him and marries another man, after which they meet again. Heartbroken, Tom questions how she was suddenly able to commit to somebody. For years, fans have debated who was to blame for his and Summer's failed romance.
"Still haven't forgiven Zooey Deschanel for what she did to Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 500 Days of Summer," user @_EmperorJustin_ wrote on Twitter this week.
"Watch it again," Gordon-Lewitt replied. "It's mostly Tom's fault. He's projecting. He's not listening. He's selfish. Luckily he grows by the end."
Naturally, people had a lot of feelings.
While Gordon-Levitt's response went viral, it's not new.
In 2012, he told Playboy, "The (500) Days of Summer attitude of 'He wants you so bad' seems attractive to some women and men, especially younger ones, but I would encourage anyone who has a crush on my character to watch it again and examine how selfish he is. He develops a mildly delusional obsession over a girl onto whom he projects all these fantasies."
"He thinks she'll give his life meaning because he doesn't care about much else going on in his life," he continued. "A lot of boys and girls think their lives will have meaning if they find a partner who wants nothing else in life but them. That's not healthy. That's falling in love with the idea of a person, not the actual person."