Summer is a mirror throughout the whole movie, she gives him exactly what he gives her. When he expresses hope, she becomes open to the possibility of what that hope can entail. Perfect example, is when he describes his belief in true love, she believes that he believes it, and becomes intrigued by what it is he may believe. The second example is when he first introduces her to his favorite spot, she's curious as to why this is his favorite spot, not really intrigued by any of his reasons until he finally says something like, "If I could design this place, I would make people have interest in the architecture of this city"...she wants to know how he is going to do that. The only time she is interested in anything he has to say is when he is completely original and expressing some kind of desire that is unconventional and not of this world in a sense. In fact, I don't remember what architect he names when he is describing his favorite, during the beginning stages of their relationship, but I bet that is another clue regarding what she envisions her future will be like with him..if he was a more visionary, other worldly architect, then she would probably see more depth to their potential, but most likely, since he is describing some building in Los Angeles, it is probably a very modernist architect who wasn't much of a "visionary". This is how she comes to see him eventually, I think, she is no longer surprised by him at all....he does everything she expects him to do and that is when she is over him...he is no longer basking in the moment as she has conditioned herself to do.
Of course if she were truly basking in the moment and living in "the eternal presence", then she wouldn't need to be a mirror, but would rather be reflecting the glory of the universe, to speak in ambiguous terms so as not to offend anyone. She doesn't have that eternal presence though, so by necessity of gaining some feeling in life, she mirrors other's perceived feelings, looking for someone that is genuinely authentic. At first she believed Tom to be authentic but soon found that he was under the pattern of his own illusion, which she, earlier in life had already overcome.
Which brings me to him, I found it interesting that at the most pivotal moment of the movie, from his perspective, the part when she allows him into her home, and begins to tell him stories about her past...the narrator curiously begins speaking?? Why, I ask? It's because he's not even paying attention to what she is saying, he is too busy thinking he has finally achieved his goal of obtaining "the one". In other words, he really is under an illusion of love that is completely self centered and really has nothing to do with her.....she fits some image of who he wants to be. He doesn't really see her for who she is. This to me, indicates the movie real stance on "true love"....there is no "one" out there that destiny provides....the movie does a very good job of revealing that desires between people are always destined for disillusionment. Summer knows this, but doesn't know why or how she knows it.
She can't explain to others who she really is, because she thinks it would be horrifying to them, which is why she marries the guy who asks her about "picture of Dorian Gray". First off, he makes the first move, big turn on for her, second, he asks about Dorian Gray which would insinuate he read it, and if he read it, may mean he is aware of the darker aspects of the human personality, which she now knows to be true about herself, after having tried to believe in love, unsuccessfully, with Tom, and feeling nothing. Tom is perplexed because he believes that she finally believes in love, but she never admits that, she simply says that she knew something with her fiance, that she never knew with him....
It's hard to figure out Summer's personality type because, what she exhibits isn't exactly who she is....she has no feelings, but maybe she has no feelings because she recognizes how drastic her feelings are and needs to keep them in check by completly cutting them off. My guess is ISFP.
If Tom resembles an INFP, I think it's only because he has caught the INFP bug by infection. I don't think he is introspective enough to maintain the INFP Idealistic vision, most likely he will begin to conform to a hard nosed outlook. The moment he meets Autumn, doesn't necessarily mean he has found his true love after all, more likely he has fallen back into his own illusion. That's what I take the cartoon drawing of the tree being colored in autumn colors to mean.
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