Queer Gaze Theory: 500 Days of Summer: Butler and Rucas

Judith Butler suggests that gender is not biological, but socially constructed. This can link to aspects and themes in 500 Days of Summer. Most significantly in the scene with Tom and Summer in the pancake house. Here, Summer describes her relationship with Tom as Sid and Nancy, then correcting Tom for thinking that he would automatically be labelled as Sid due to his gender. However, this is subverted when Summer describes that she is the masculine, she is Sid. This therefore can relate to Butler's theory, that gender is merely a performance rather than something biological. As a result of this, men may not align with Tom due to his femininity, and therefore through Butler's theory, through his gender performance. This would result in the spectator adapting to a negotiated reading of the film: Although we see the film through Tom's perspective, one may not feel allegiance and therefore align with him, even if the spectator has the same biological gender, as he may not have the same gender performance. 

One may also look at the casting of 500 Days of Summer and expect to align with Tom due to being played by a big Hollywood actor. However, the film incorporates notions of gender trouble; challenging the preconceived notions of gender in the film. The spectator may assume that Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character will be stereotypically masculine, resulting in gender trouble.