MovieChat Forums > Adventureland (2009) Discussion > Did Joel like Em?

Did Joel like Em?

posted 8 years ago by RivCreek
4 replies | jump to latest

James tells Joel he kissed Em:
(hesitates) "Cool, man..."

James gets closer to Em during the fireworks show:
cut to Joel's morose side-eyeing

After the whole pot-cookie-fueled fight night, James and Em walk away from the group together:
more side-eye, then he quits.

Later he tells James he doesn't appreciate the beautiful, perfect girl he has, which would have been an innocent enough comment if it hadn't been for the camera focusing on him every time James and Em had an intimate moment.

Does anyone get it?

[–] dlg-73012 7 years ago

Yes i noticed it too

[–] Future_Games 7 years ago

Yeah, I noticed Joel shooting the odd look at James. I'm not sure it was because he wanted to date Em. I think he was jealous that James - the slightly awkward, average looking new guy - had two of the hottest girls at the park interested in him. Joel had issues with himself, and he probably wondered why James was having so much luck when he wasn't one of those good looking yuppies.

You keep on reminding me of a darkness only I can see

[–] lizlemon567 7 years ago

I'm not sure if Joel actually liked Em (he probably did), but at the very least he was jealous of James's relationship with her and felt sorry for himself. Not in a bad way, but just in that way where you go feel like everyone is in a relationship except for you.

[–] looper007 (1126) 9 months ago

I think Joel sees James taken advantage of some good luck he has with women, while guys like Joel struggle with having women notice him or like guys Sue dismiss him as a drunken mistake. It pisses him off that James has a great girl in Em there and he's not taken it serious.

I don't know about Joel liking Em, she sticks up for him and treats him as a friend and I think Joel respects that. But maybe he does like Em, I have to watch the film again.