500 Days of Some Loud Song

In the movie (500) Days of Summer (I prefer to spell the title with the parentheses that are on the ads, even if that's not necessary), the two characters, Tom and Summer, first bond over a shared moment in an elevator. (It's right at the beginning of this trailer, if you wish to have a look.) They are riding together as they leave the office for the day, with him listening to music through headphones. And I mean headphones in the literal sense; they weren't little iPod earbuds but the kind that go over the entire ear with a connecting bar running over the top of the head. They appear to be fairly high quality.

Summer hears the music of the Smiths ("There Is a Light That Never Goes Out") bleeding through from the headphones while they're on Tom's head, and she notes out loud her love for the group. When he detects her speaking he takes the headphones off and lets them hang around his neck so he can hear her. (See official photo below.) She sings along with the line in the song playing, then compliments him on his good taste in music, and they start talking.

It's the necessary moment to spur the rest of the story. In the context of the scene it's fine. However, reflecting back, I am slightly troubled by a particular detail.

If you are listening to music through headphones and the person standing three feet away can hear what is playing, it means one of two things: either they're crappy headphones or the volume is up way too high. However, in the scene, as I noted, they didn't look like crappy headphones. That would seem to leave only one alternative explanation for how Summer could hear the tune, but when Tom removes them from his ears the sound emanating from them is not at an ear-splitting level.

Obviously, in the context of the scene, it's necessary that the music not drown out their conversation; him being near deaf doesn't advance the plot. Also, if the volume is so high he cannot hear anything else he doesn't detect her saying anything, and he doesn't remove them to initiate the actual bonding. Thus, the volume couldn't have been excessive.

So we're back to crappy headphones. Certainly it's tricky to say whether they're really of any quality just by looking at them, and they do not completely envelop the ear, so some bleeding of sound could be feasible, but his character seems the type who would have gotten a decent set. Just my impression, but that's what colors my viewing.

In any case, whether it's poor sound mixing or inconsistent character development, one thing is not up for debate: Whether the volume's too loud or the headphones too crappy, it's inconsiderate to play music and make others around have to hear it, too. Even if they love the song playing.

Give a hoot. Get some good headphones.

You're not going to meet Summer anyway. She's just a character in a movie.

~

What's the point? As always, you should take from this a renewed appreciation that your brain doesn't operate as mine (unfortunately) does.