What would it be like if any bad memory or any sad memory could be erased out of the brain forever? In the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) Joel (Jim Carrey) and Clementine (Kate Winslet) had that opportunity available to them which they took full advantage of more than once. Thanks to the company Lacuna who does the erasing of Joel’s brain, we see the operation happen inside the thoughts of Joel. As the operation happens we see Joel slowly start to regret his choice of erasing Clementine. But as we continue to run though Joel’s memories we see different parts of them starting to fade away, which he learns but does not remember, even some of the bad memories are better to be kept than thrown away such as when they were at the train station, the bathing scene, the books at the book store, and the beach house are all memories that would have had some meaning to him that will remain lost.
In the movie there are a lot of scenes were we see Joel’s memories being erased. One of the moments he remembers was Clementine and him at the train station when they were on their way to see Clementine’s grandma, when Joel notices the people around him start to vanish, that is when they drop their stuff and Joel grabs Clementine and tries to run away from the memory erasing. At this point we see Joel regretting his decision and try to take control of the situation and try to get away from what he got himself into by attempting to run from it. Although he believes that he is able to escape this procedure by running from it, but just like in a dream or sometimes nightmares running is identified as trying to get away from something that is threating or just trying to escape from, he quickly finds out that running is not going to so...
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...ost too, he lost childhood memories that someone should never loose, he lost important memories about Clementine that helps people from making the same mistakes twice, and he lost a little of his personality. Joel was not the same character the first time they met, as they turned out to be other times they met again for the “first” time. Overall if this film were to teach a life lesson, it would have to be that no matter the memory, memories are there for a reason and they shape personalities and they help and make people the way they are. This is something that should not be controlled by a company.
Works Cited
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Dir. Michel Gondry. Perf. Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Tom Wilkinson. Focus Features, 2004. DVD.
Shepard, Lucius. "Forget About It." Fantasy & Science Fiction 107.2 (2004): 123. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
Much Ado About Nothing. Directed by Kenneth Branagh. Samuel Goldwyn Company and Renaissance Films, 1993.
American Psycho. Dir. Mary Harron. Perf. Christian Bale, Justin Theroux, and Josh Lucas. Lions Gate Films, 2000. Film.
Little Miss Sunshine. By Michael A. Arndt. Prod. Marc Turtletaub. Dir. Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton. Perf. Steve Carell, Greg Kinnear, and Toni Collette. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2006. DVD.
Their Eyes Were Watching God. Dir. Darnell Martin. Perf. Halle Berry. Harpo Films, 2005. DVD.
Grazer, B., & Howard, R. (2001). A Beautiful Mind [Motion picture]. United States: Universal Pictures
Inglourious Bastards. Dir. Quentin Tarantino. Perf. Brad Pitt and Christoph Waltz. The Weinstein Company, 2009. DVD.
Pulp Fiction. Dir. Tarantino Quentin. Perf. John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Tim Roth
Most people are very convinced that they have memories of past experiences because of the event itself or the bigger picture of the experience. According to Ulric Neisser, memories focus on the fact that the events outlined at one level of analysis may be components of other, larger events (Rubin 1). For instance, one will only remember receiving the letter of admission as their memory of being accepted into the University of Virginia. However, people do not realize that it is actually the small details that make up their memories. What make up the memory of being accepted into the University of Virginia are the hours spent on writing essays, the anxiety faced due to fear of not making into the university and the happiness upon hearing your admission into the school; these small details are very important in creating memories of this experience. If people’s minds are preset on merely thinking that memories are the general idea of their experiences, memories become very superficial and people will miss out on what matters most in life. Therefore, in “The Amityville Horror”, Jay Anson deliberately includes small details that are unnecessary in the story to prove that only memory can give meaning to life.
Jonas misses the way it was before he had memories where there was no pain or feeling, because everything was innocent. But he understands that although there was innocence nobody feels true happiness.Jonas thinks: “But he knew he couldn’t go back to that world of no feelings that he had lived in so long” (Lowry 131). Jonas wishes he could go back when everything was innocent and when he had no burden of pain, but although there was innocence the bad memories were stripped away to avoid the feeling of pain but also leaves everyone emotionless. But he knows it can never be the same again because of all the knowledge he gained from memories. He learns that memoires need to be valued, even the painful ones. Jonas feels that his community can change and things could be different. He thinks they should live in a world with memories. Jonas says: “Things could be different. I don’t know how, but there must be some way for things to be different. There could be colours [...] and everybody would have memories [...] There could be love” (Lowry 128). Jonas wishes that they could all have memories because everyone would be able to experience love. Love is one of the most important things in human life. He knows that there are bad memories, but without them, he wouldn’t be able to enjoy the good ones. Eventually, with his feelings
Much Ado About Nothing. Directed by Kenneth Branagh. Samuel Goldwyn Company and Renaissance Films, 1993.
The movie selected for the assignment is A Beautiful Mind. A Beautiful Mind is a 2001 critically acclaimed film starring Russell Crowe The movie is a biographical drama film based on the life of Professor John Nash. The movie begins during the earlier years of John Nash’s life. Nash is a new graduate student at Princeton University. A young prodigy, Nash is under a lot of stress and pressure. Nash earns his way to Princeton not through wealth, but instead through prizes and scholarships, for his remarkable intellectual abilities in mathematics. Nash receives a room and Princeton and a completely paid tuition. However, Nash has to move in with a roommate named Charles. Contrasting to Nash, Charles is an outgoing person with a lively
do we really get the better of our mistakes if we forget about them? Do forgetting and ignorance make us better people? Does oblivion make us happier? Is it worth going out of our way to make sure we forget? These are the kinds of questions Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind addresses. Even though it is one of those movies which grapples with immense philosophical concepts, it does so effortlessly and without seeming elitist or pretentious. In this romance-science-fiction-comedy
Dir. Julie Taymor. Perf. Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 1999.
In Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) and Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet) meet on a train to Montauk, New York, where they instantly become drawn to each other. They don’t know it at the time, but Joel and Clementine use to be in a relationship lasted two years and ended with heartbreak. Clementine, who is naturally spontaneous, hires a company called Lacuna Inc., and they specialize in erasing people memories. When Joel discovers that Clementine has erased him from her memories and has no idea who he is, he decides to do the same to her. The process happens when you are asleep, and the majority of the film is based in Joel’s own mind. We see his memories being erased one by one, from the end of the relationship to the beginning. Once Joel experiences a good memory with Clementine, he finds he doesn’t want to continue the procedure, but there is no way to stop it. Throughout the film he tries to preserve at least one memory of her, but he isn’t able to. The last memory of Clementine tells Joel to “Meet me in Montauk” (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)
The Pianist. Dir. Roman Polanski. Perf. Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Emilia Fox. 2001. DVD. Universal Studios, 2003.