Favorite Films-Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Who hasn’t wanted to erase the pain of heartbreak?
In “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” one of my favorite films of all time, Joel (Jim Carrey) goes to a company that specializes in erasing memories. He’s just learned that his ex-girlfriend Clementine (Kate Winslet) has erased him, and their relationship, from her memory. What follows is a mosaic storytelling of what is happening in Joel’s mind, in Joel’s apartment, and the day after the procedure.
How happy is the blameless vestal’s lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot,
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each prayer accepted, and each wish resign’d.
It’s such a heartbreaking film. Almost at the moment Joel starts the procedure, he regrets what he’s doing. We see him running through his memories of Clementine, trying to save them. Trying to save her by hiding her in the inner recesses of his mind. Joel is no longer willing to lose these memories of love in exchange for a cure to his depression and anger. We see the day they met–a quiet man approached by an extroverted woman. They spend the day together. We see Joel go through more good memories of them together. Simple memories of them in bed and talking. Slowly they fall in love. How wonderful are those memories? A particular place or time or film can bring back warm memories of a person you’ve loved.
“Too many guys think I’m a concept, or I complete them, or I’m gonna make them alive. But I’m just a fucked-up girl who’s lookin’ for my own peace of mind; don’t assign me yours.” - Clementine
But we also see Joel and Clementine’s relationship begin to unravel. These are, after all, two very different people. The novelty wears off. Clementine wants to experience life while Joel is almost scared of life. We see it in Joel’s memories but we also hear part of their testimony tapes. Are these two people meant to be together? Are they soulmates?
“We met at the wrong time. That’s what I kept telling myself anyway. Maybe one day, years from now, we’ll meet in a coffee shop in a far away city somewhere and we could give it another shot.” - Joel
The day after Joel’s mind wipe we see that they might be more than just two people who shared a relationship. Joel and Clementine meet again. They are attracted to each other and have a spark. They’re about to start their love story all over again, with a clean slate. Who knows if they’ll make the same mistakes and end up hating the same things about each other as they did the first time, but it’s interesting that they love each other all over again. Eternal Sunshine wants us to believe that there are such people out there as soulmates and that, try as you might, “you can erase them from your mind, but getting them out of your heart is another story.”
