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(500) Days of Summer

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KvP:
The writer wants his ex-girlfriend to know that he's hot shit now so fuck her for dumping his ass.

LTK:
But... he's actually hot shit now because of her dumping his ass, right?

Sox:
I tried to read this thread and I got all this white noise, with a few sound opinions coming through from people like Lise, Clara and Ally, John. I don't feel strongly enough about the movie to talk about it, but there's another side to this thread that I would like to comment on.

'Hipsterism'. 'Hipsterism' is something we made up years and years ago to poke fun at ourselves for our tendency to gravitate towards subversive art. That's it. The entire thing was a joke.
Art can not be 'hipster'. I have no idea what people even think the word means anymore. But it definitely does not refer to the existence of trends in music and graphic design. Just because something is popular or following a trend does not make it 'hipster' or 'indie'. I can't tell, but I think people might be looking for the word 'insincere'. As near as I can tell, that's all this is. 'Hipster' is just a deplorable word for 'insincere'. 'Dishonest'. 'Devoid of charm'. 'Hipster' is a woeful wretched word now and the second I hear it being used with any degree of seriousness I instantly lose interest in whatever that person has to say.

That's not the vibe that I get from these films. I see phrases like 'false charm' or 'faux sincerity' being paraded around in relation to these things and I think that's incredibly unfair to the people involved in making these movies. Over the past decade a cultural shift has been occuring, a large part of that due to the internet, I think, and art like this has been gathering more interest. These 'trends' have existed for an incredibly long time, they're just now picking up speed. Particular styles and themes gathering interest doesn't make them 'hipster'. It just means that cultural interests are rotating and it's time for something else to be popular for a while. I'm glad that we're getting subtle movies like this in the place of trash like 'Dude, Where's My Car?' now anyway.

Calling a movie like this 'hipster' or 'faux-indie' implies that it's cashing in on a trend. While that can be true to a certain extent, I don't doubt the sincerity of the people involved in creating it. The people cashing in on trends are the people who finance them and publish them. These movies are popular because there's now an audience for it, and studios are catering to that audience. While you could argue it's about money and success, it's incredibly difficult to make a profit from a movie without studio backing. Making a movie is a long and involved process that requires a great deal of personal investment, especially with a script as personal as the one being talked about. Sure, you could finance your creative excursions by yourself and be broke, but if a big studio approaches somebody with an offer and they take them up on it, I'm not going to begrudge them for that.
I honestly will not believe that somebody sat down and wrote this screenplay for anything besides catharsis and a desire to create.

To put a long story short: Stop saying 'hipster'. Everybody who was allowed to use that term died with the 90s. Start using real criticisms instead of this cheap fallback because you don't know how to talk about film.
500 Days of Summer is not 'hipster'. It's movie containing culturally relevant music and a poster that follows current graphic design trends. These things combined do not make something 'faux indie'.

For the record, I absolutely loved Pineapple Express and was not aware it was considered a 'faux-indie' movie until this thread. Honestly, I thought it had more in common with the 40 Year Old Virgin than Nick and Norah.

Lise:

--- Quote from: Sox on 29 Aug 2009, 21:50 ---To put a long story short: Stop saying 'hipster'. Start using real criticisms instead of this cheap fallback because you don't know how to talk about film. 500 Days of Summer is not 'hipster'. It's movie containing culturally relevant music and a poster that follows current graphic design trends. These things combined do not make something 'faux indie'.

--- End quote ---

Sox, thank you so, so much for deftly writing in one post what I've been trying to say in this entire thread.

I agree with you 100% that the words "hipster" or "faux-indie" have no place in film criticism and really don't make a substantial argument for anything. I only used those words in my posts because that is the standard language that people seem to use nowadays to attack indie movies. You're right, it's absolutely puzzling that "hipster" has somehow become synonymous with "insincere" because that was definitely not its origin.

And to anyone who rags on Fox Searchlight for "faux-indie bullshit," what about the great films that they've produced that have nothing in common with Juno, such as 28 Days Later, Waking Life, Sunshine, Water, The Wrestler, Once, or Thank You For Smoking? (Those are some of my personal favs). The fact is, they work with a variety of film genres, and none of the films I listed have posters that resemble a "spunky pre-teen girl's sketchbook". And if I recall correctly, Juno was praised by a majority of viewers until it became wide release. That in itself is a really fucked up concept for me to understand, since good films should not have to remain exclusive or have "cult-status" to qualify as good film.

Anyway.. that is an entirely different issue! As the OP, I apologize for going off on a tangent, but if anyone who's seen (500) Days of Summer and would like to have an actual discussion about the movie, your opinions are welcome. For example, I asked this question in my first post ("For those of you who've seen it, what do you think? Can you relate more to the Summer character, or Tom? How realistic was the movie at depicting relationships?"), and no one has really answered it!

PS: To Cartilage Head, IMO, Adventureland was a fucking awesome portrayal of what life as a teen/young adult would've been like in the 80s, and it doesn't deserve the bad rap you're associating it with.

Jaclyn:

--- Quote from: Lise on 29 Aug 2009, 23:49 ---Sox, thank you so, so much for deftly writing in one post what I've been trying to say in this entire thread.

I agree with you 100% that the words "hipster" or "faux-indie" have no place in film criticism and really don't make a substantial argument for anything. I only used those words in my posts because that is the standard language that people seem to use nowadays to attack indie movies. You're right, it's absolutely puzzling that "hipster" has somehow become synonymous with "insincere" because that was definitely not its origin.

--- End quote ---

I wouldn't exactly call it "hipster" or "faux indie", but I do think it was a blatant attempt to tap into it's young hip audience. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing in itself, but at certain points it relies more on the cultural references and Zooey Deschanel's quirkiness than just being a good movie. I didn't walk out of the theater completely disappointed, because I'm not a pretentious asshole. I just thought that the constant references and attempted quirkiness made it feel less genuine than it really could have been.

Good night, everybody!

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