love is worth the inevitable pain

Love is Worth the Inevitable Pain

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is not the typical Hollywood love film. A Hollywood love film is a film where a couple gets together in the end and lives happily ever after, but this is a love story that shows the reality of love and the consequences that come with it. Love is not one hundred percent bliss, it also comes with pain. To get rid of this pain after a break up or death a company, Lacuna, has invented a way to erase people from their memory. The two main characters in the movie fall in love and then they both decide to erase each other from their memories. Clementine, Kate Winslet, erases Joel, Jim Carrey, because she becomes bored with their relationship. Joel goes to the Barnes and Nobles where she works to see her and she has absolutely no idea who he even is. Joel probably would not have erased Clementine, but he found a card that told him he was erased from her memory and he did not think that he could go on with the memory of her. This film is completely different from a Hollywood version, at the end of this movie it leaves room for interpretation for the viewer to think for themselves whether Clementine and Joel will end up happily ever after, there are no clear answers.

The scene begins with Joel and Clementine lying naked on a rug in the middle of the floor covered only by a repugnant quilt. The quilt has a tranquilizing effect however because of its warm colors, which is perfect for this scene. The colors of the quilt subconsciously give the feeling that everything is comfortable. As they are lying on the floor Clementine asks Joel if she is ugly. As soon as she asks the question the shot changes and it shows Joel instantly respond with an “uh huh,” in a manner saying no. The camera then goes to Clementine, but once she starts to speak, it instantly shows Joel again. Clementine tells Joel about how she remembers when she was little a little girl and she thought she was ugly, as the camera is still on a close up of Joel. Usually while someone is talking the camera would be on them, but in this scene the camera is on a close up of Joel while Clementine is talking to show his expressions and to see the sincerity of his emotions and the love he has for Clementine. The next shot is a picture of Clementine when she was little. The picture of her is a somewhat average litt...

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...something. I believe that this line is repeated to show a new beginning for their relationship, because this is a disclaimer that Clementine uses both times she meets Joel to warm him of the way that she is. Joel responds with “I can’t see anything that I don’t like about you.” Clementine says “But you will. You will think of things and I’ll get bored with you and feel trapped because that is what happened with me.” Joel says “OK” as if he is relieved, which Clementine promptly answers with “OK.” They both decide that they want to try and start over with their relationship even though they know that it probably will not work out because it has already failed once, but there is a possibility for it to succeed. They now understand that the risk they take to have a relationship and fail, is far greater than to not have even attempted to have one at all.

The movie ends with the song “Change of Heart” playing while Clementine and Joel are walking in the snow towards their new beginning. The director is implying that they had a change of heart and that things in the end did work out for them to live together happily ever after, but not with out loves temporary and necessary glitches.