Scott Pilgrim VS The World VS J. Alfred Prufrock

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is an angsty poem about love, so when given the chance to compare it to modern media I knew I had to choose the 2010 movie “Scott Pilgrim VS The World.” “Scott Pilgrim” is a movie packed to the brim with young adult angst and ennui. “Prufrock” is about a (presumably) young man visiting a party and wishing to talk to girls, but failing to have the courage. “Scott Pilgrim” opens with the main character, Scott Pilgrim, going to a college party where he only knows one other person. While there, he sets his eyes on the girl Ramona who instantly captures his heart. Unlike Prufrock, Scott has the courage to talk to her, but ends up acting awkward and embarrassed, failing to impress the girl like in Prufrock’s nervous fantasies.

While “Prufrock” is written to take love and angst and turn the feelings into something beautiful, “Scott Pilgrim” revels in drowning the audience in angst and ennui to be cutting, relatable, and funny. Scott and his closest friends play in a band, whose female drummer Kim acts perpetually bored. She seems to care about nothing, doesn’t bother trying to be nice, and is always in a combative, self-absorbed funk. Kim is only shown with other ensemble characters, seemingly tagging along because she has nothing better to do. She is the perfect modern representation of modern ennui. Whether someone had a friend like her, or actually was her, the character of Kim is a relatable comedic take on ennui. When Scott suggests that their garageband should perform secret shows, she unenthusiastically replies that all their shows are secret.  Even though Kim is a comedic character on her own, she really shines by acting as a deadpan foil to the other hyper-reactive members of the cast.

Both “Prufrock” and “Scott Pilgrim” primarily deal with chasing after love. The weather sets the mood. The party Prufrock and his friend attend is coiled in strange yellow fog, while Scott finds love in snowy winter Toronto. The angst in “Prufrock” is the narrator worrying over trivial things, such as whether or not to speak to the women attending the party. In the end, Prufrock is paralyzed by angst and indecision. On the other hand, “Scott Pilgrim” is filled with angst over relationship trouble. Scott begins the movie casually dating a high schooler, but must break up with her once he begins pursuing his dream girl Ramona. Every interaction with the highschool girl Knives begins with awkward angst from the age gap between 22 year old Scott and 17 year old Knives, but progresses to uncomfortable angsty hesitation when he must deliver the news that the two must break up. In between are scenes of Scott being totally consumed by thoughts of Ramona. Scene transitions happen instantaneously, with Scott going from home, to with his band, to with Knives all at once. He can’t concentrate at all with Ramona on his mind, visually communicated by the jarring scene swaps.

After Scott breaks up with Knives and starts seeing Ramona, the two are both filled with awkward angst over their previous exes. The main thread of the movie is Scott having to face and defeat all seven of Ramona’s past boyfriends, and as the movie progresses both characters struggle to open up about their past relationships. Both Scott and Ramona have a history of past relationships that didn’t work out for one reason or another, and their interactions are often soured by having to explain their past romantic failures. While “Prufrock” is ultimately an angsty tale of failure, “Scott Pilgrim” is an ansty tale of success. By confronting their pasts and being open to each other, Scott and Ramona are able to physically and emotionally get over their past exes and live happily together. The movie shows that worrying, arguing, and seemingly trivial things happen in a relationship, but working through those issues builds an even deeper bond.

Finally, “Prufrock” and “Scott Pilgrim” are very similar with their use of reality bending sequences that walk the line between reality and total dreamlike fantasy. Prufrock ends the poem on the beach watching mermaids, almost in a daze. Similarly, Scott being absorbed with Ramona when they first meet causes him to retreat from reality, totally lost in his own thoughts. Later, his fights with Ramona’s 7 ex-boyfriends are shown as fights between superheroes. Scott is supposed to be a normal guy, but he is thrown through walls, punched into the air, and generally beat up in ways that would kill a normal person. Similarly, the opponents he has to face range from just an overly edgy, angsty, emo guy to a vegan with psychic powers. The movie never explains whether this is literal and real or simply Scott being an unreliable narrator, with these characters being exaggerated through his own perception. Similar to how Prufrock acts like mermaids on the beach is business as usual, background characters don’t bat an eye to the equivalent of a superhero fight between Scott and the evil exes. All in all, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” and “Scott Pilgrim VS The World” are two very different portrayals of angst and ennui that perfectly fit with their time period. Both center around chasing love, with characters facing self-doubt and listlessness. Both stories also hover between reality and fiction. While “Prufrock” is motivated to turn feelings of angst and ennui into a sadly beautiful poem, “Scott Pilgrim” uses angst and ennui as comedic tools to tell a relatable story of love.