ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND

3 STARS – Thought-provoking

By the time Alexander Pope was twenty-nine years old, he had already experienced both the joy and sorrows of love. A life-long Catholic who had the benefit of formal education in Latin, Greek, French and Italian, Pope wrote his “Epistle from Eloisa to Abelard” in 1717 and expressed the wisdom on which Michel Gondry created his modern science fiction love story. In his poetic epistle, Pope wrote: “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.”

Turning this phrase on its end and suggesting that what Pope struggled to achieve through his faith, “the eternal sunshine of a spotless mind,” could be experienced through the technology of science is a fascinating premise. Like Pope, most of us struggle with our inner thoughts and memories of painful experiences. Far from spotless minds, we may look at the nuns of a monastery and think, “How happy these blameless vestals must live. They forget the world and its troubles, every prayer is accepted, every desire purified. But how do I find such eternal bliss?” And if we decide not to go the spiritual route through the care of God, then it is natural to turn to science and ponder: “Perhaps if science could simply help me forget things and persons I don’t want to remember, then everything will be sunny!” This film explores why that would be unlikely.

Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) has just had his heart broken by a girlfriend. Fleeing into his inner thoughts, he withdraws at a party only to be pursued by a beautiful and impulsive woman named Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet). Attracted by their opposite personalities, Joel and Clementine do not take the time and care to develop a committed relationship, but instantly meld their lives together into a relationship that soon turns sour as they focus more and more on their dissatisfactions. This focus culminates when Clementine engages the services of a physician who can remove every memory of Joel from her mind.

Creating a map of where Clementine has stored her memories of Joel, Dr. Howard Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson) and his technicians simply remove them during one long night of forgetting. When Joel realizes what has happened, he too decides to undergo the procedure.

What follows is enlightening. Love is something deeper than the memories of our times together with someone. We bond with them in levels of our lives that cannot easily be removed. Even if we could remove their memory, the damage to our personhood would be extensive, for we would have to also let go of that part of ourselves that was bonded to them.

The disappointments of life that clutter our minds are inextricably woven together with the joys and pleasures in such a way that we cannot remove the one without the other. The only true path toward “eternal sunshine” is a path that cherishes the memory of the sorrows and the joys, the loves and the disappointments of life. Fully placed within the forgiving love of God, the weave that results can be eternally blessed.

Discussion:

When Joel meets Clementine, it is clear that their opposite personalities are both the attraction as well as the difficulty in their relationship. How have you found this to be true in your relationships?
The nature of forgiveness is to not forget what someone did to harm us, but to admit it, confront the person and seek reconciliation and forgiveness. How would this have changed Joel and Clementine’s relationship?
Today, some are turning to science rather than to God to find their joy. Do you believe science will ever develop the methods to deal with our propensity to harm ourselves and those we love? Would you place your brain in the hands of this doctor and technician?
Even if it became possible to remove someone from your physical memory, what do you believe this would do to your soul? Can you remove someone from your soul?

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Cinema In Focus is a social and spiritual movie commentary. Hal Conklin is former mayor of Santa Barbara and Denny Wayman is pastor of the Free Methodist Church. For more reviews: http://www.cinemainfocus.com.