Kaplan argues that the spectator always aligns with the male in film and argues that the spectator must have a conscious decision to align with the female in the film. For example, a spectator may align with Summer consciously in the scene where she's explaining her dream to Tom, If the film is viewed through subconcious male gaze, the spectator may not align with Summer, as the audience cannot hear her perspective due to the voice-over explaining how this was a big moment for Tom, not her. In 500 days of summer, Kaplan's theory of the submissive female gaze is presented to a certain extent. Although the film is thrown primarily from Tom's point of view and how he sees the "relationship", the negative parts of his encounters with Summer can possibly be from her perspective. Summer is a dominant and independent character who takes on masculine qualities, reversing/challenging stereotypes of Hollywood cinema, therefore making Tom the subject instead of her. Summer adopts qualities of being a femme fe tale character, becoming the central aspect of the story line as opposed to being the subject.One may adapt a negotiated reading from this film; if the spectator is not white, straight and male due to the film being created by a white, male director and the entire film being focused around a straight, white, males relationship with a women who is not falling all over him. For the audience to take a conscious decision to take the woman's perspective then they will most likely take a negotiated or oppositional reading due to the gaze being an oppositional gaze.
Linda Williams is another female film theorist who suggests that when a woman becomes dominant in film, she usually pays for it and is punished. In 500 Days Of Summer, it's not Summer who's punished, but Tom. Summer adopts masculine qualities that make her independent, leaving Tom to be the fragile and emotional character. An example of this is when Tom and Summer are in the pancake house and she ends their "relationship", describing that their Sid and Nancy. When Tom argues this, Summer says that she is Sid, enforcing more ideas that her masculine qualities make her strong and independent, challenging Williams' theories seeing as Tom is the one who suffers emotional damage, not her.Summer is not punished diegetically for this but she is punished by the spectators response to her unconventional attitudes. Spectators may have an oppositional reading to the film due to the way Summer is presented in such a masculine manner, causing the audience to align with and feel sympathy for Tom.
There are specific parts of the film where the Male Gaze is clearly presented and conforms to the stereotypical Hollywood film. An example is the scene where Tom has sex with Summer for the first time and it breaks out into a massive dance scene in the middle of the street. Although this is a comical part of the film, it displays the male gaze on a large scale; a large celebration of Tom conquering Summer with his penis, making Summer the subject and Tom regain his masculinity. Another example is when Tom and Paul are talking about Summer and Paul is only interested in knowing the sexual details of their relationship, enforcing more ideas that the male gaze is a dominant aspect in Hollywood cinema. Based on theories of Freud, Bellor and Metz, Laura Mulvey explores the Male Gaze and how women are the subject of the film, only making an appearance for visual pleasure. The narrator describes her physical features, causing her to be the object of visual pleasure only by through the male gaze of the spectator
