Summer in the City

There are many references to “movie moments” throughout the novel that serve as a motif for Becoming the Protagonist of Your Story. During the first chapter at the club, Elle refers to her passionate stairwell rendezvous with Parker as a movie moment. Though it is promptly ruined by him wrongfully judging her as a gold-digger and her subsequently learning that he is a wealthy tech-CEO, this illustrates the first time Elle breaks from the predictable monotony of her life to do something spontaneous and exciting.

After this incident, she moves to LA and isolates herself with her friend, Penelope, serving as the epicenter of her social life. Elle becomes comfortable staying inside in her sweatpants, hate-writing fueled by Parker for inspiration until that runs out leaving her creatively blocked. When she moves back to NYC for the summer and discovers Parker is her neighbor, she views it as “a movie moment […] Only this time, it’s horror” (19). These self-proclaimed “movie moments” are mentioned when a change comes into her life that forces her to actively live it rather than remain stagnant. Over time, the motif evolves from jarring disruptions to welcomed turning points.