500 Days of ... Jenny Beckman?
Filed under: Comedy, Romance, Fandom, Movie Marketing

It's not really a spoiler to say that in the upcoming cute and quirky 500 Days of Summer, the film begins with the following disclaimer: " Any resemblance to people living or dead is purely accidental ... Especially Jenny Beckman ... Bitch." Having seen this film play at festivals with Q&As afterward, the first or second question asked is always about whether or not Jenny Beckman is a real girl and perhaps the inspiration for the character Summer (played by Zooey Deschanel). The filmmakers have said that she is real, and at a recent screening of the film in Chicago, director Marc Webb added this to the end of his answer: "... yeah, she's real, look her up on Facebook."
So we looked her up on Facebook, and, yup, there's the Facebook page for a girl named Jenny Beckman who kinda sorta resembles Zooey Deschanel. She's a fan of 500 Days of Summer, her favorite music lists bands on the film's soundtrack (The Smiths are listed first) and she's friends with director Webb, as well as the writers of the movie. All that being said, I've walked away with a few questions:
1. Is this really the Facebook page for a girl named Jenny Beckman, and is this same Jenny Beckman the inspiration for Zooey Deschanel's character in 500 Days of Summer?
2. Is this just a piece of viral marketing on behalf of Fox Searchlight and/or the filmmakers to get people interested and keep them interested in the film?
3. If this is a hoax, then who is that girl in the picture? Is that really a girl named Jenny Beckman? Is the name Jenny Beckman fictitious, but is that still a picture of the girl who inspired the character?
We want answers! What do you think?










Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-02-2009 @ 10:12AM
C.A. said...
I think "Jenny Beckman" is pretty cute.
Reply
7-02-2009 @ 11:50AM
LMN0Potts said...
I wonder if she's very neat & organized...
Reply
7-02-2009 @ 1:20PM
ireney said...
I saw the movie at LA Film Fest, where they held a Q & A after. The writers said Jenny is a real person and they had to get her approval in order to have the opening disclaimer. One writer, I forget which one, claimed the movie is based on a real bad breakup he had, with I assume Jenny. They had to screen the movie for her and he claimed that he hated her even more afterwards because she though Joseph Gordon-Leavitt's character was based on her, as opposed to the Zooey Deschanel character.
Reply
7-02-2009 @ 11:55PM
Karen said...
I want to know!
Reply
7-04-2009 @ 12:36AM
A. said...
Hey, total spoiler! That's the most hilarious beginning, leaked now.
Anyway, Marc Webb and the writers said Jenny Beckman is a fake name and the inspiration for Summer comes from lots of different girls and relationships. Saying "look her up" was a joke, and someone clearly went and made a profile for this fake girl (which is a hilarious move).
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7-10-2009 @ 2:16AM
Me said...
A friend of mine in the film industry personally knows the girl that this movie was written about and it is not this Jenny girl.
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