Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

How happy is the blameless Vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd.
- Alexander Pope

A close friend introduced me to this amazing film about memories, longing and fate. It's an intriguing story told in a fractured narrative about erasing painful memories and exploring the implications of that sort of possibility. As much sorrow that could be had by living through pain, I'm not sure that I would opt for it and this is why: I think suffering yields growth and art... maybe even a connection to humanity, and I'm not sure if I would want to eradicate that part of me. The human experience would be far less meaningful, I would think.

There are a few moments that I particularly enjoyed in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The first is  when the two of them escape to his childhood memory framed by the beautiful scoring of Jon Brion.



The second is the moment when Joel realizes that he doesn't want to give up the happy memories along with the sad ones. Creating these memories are fleeting enough and I think one of life's gifts is that through time, you do look back fondly at the happy moments in your life and push away the dark ones.



And I love what Ebert had written in his review, "Discovering this, Joel in revenge applies to have his memories of her erased. But the funny thing about love is, it can survive the circumstances of its ending; we remember good times better than bad ones, and Joel decides in mid-process that maybe he would like to remember Clementine after all. He tries to squirrel away some of his memories in hidden corners of his mind, but the process is implacable."


Punchlines
Do midgets belong in porn?
Oh pish. Come on, don't be such a prude. We all need a little fun.