Nostalgia is one of those things that is so difficult to define. It’s because it’s different for everyone. For some people it’s the smell of strawberries, others a song from the 80s their dad loved. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind tackles just what memory and nostalgia are in a world where both are optional. The year is undetermined, but science has caught up with the angsty sting of first heartbreak. Now people are able to surgically remove the memory of someone from their minds. After Joel learns his ex-girlfriend, Clementine, has undergone the procedure, he decides to have it done himself. The bulk of the movie comes from the surgery, where piece by piece his memories of Clementine are being removed. He remembers the good and bad times, and eventually realizes that the surgery shouldn’t be performed. Joel’s slow recount of every memory of Clementine act as a pseudo relationship of sorts. He idealizes Clementine to the point of delusion. He completely ignores the issues he and Clementine faced. I loved how this was done. Usually, the protagonist of a romantic comedy will try and “get back” the girl. Here, Joel does the same, but it is completely inverted. A common romantic trope was used, but flipped on its head. How often does this happen in a relationship? And if technology advances, does that mean that humans are intrinsically changed for the better? Are Clementine and Joel better off forgetting one another? The whole film uses nostalgia to ask the question of memory’s importance. Can we survive without the memories of loved ones, even if they tjey hurt? Or is it better to erase whatever hurts? The film answers this question with its use of the memory erasure itself. For the most part it is unsuccessful. It’s why Joel and Clementine meet in Montauk and why Mary, a Lacuna Inc. secretary, is still in love with Lacuna’s founder who she previously had an affair with. The procedure doesn’t work as well as it should. One may still remember brief moments or feel a connection to someone, even after the erasure process.
Ultimately, Eternal asks questions of fate and free will. Director, Michel Gondry says he imagines after the film, Clementine goes onto keep having Joel erased from her memory until she is an old woman. Again, this shows the procedure doesn’t work. Yet, people are so desperate to erase pain, they don’t care. Are Joel and Clementine fated to be in a cyclical, miserable fate? Are they doomed to repeat their mistakes into eternity? One might argue that the procedure itself is more harmful, as it completely erases the basis of what it feels to be hurt, or to feel in general. How can you learn from your mistakes if you forget the mistake itself? Personally,  I was disappointed when I read this. The end of the film is heartbreaking and beautiful. It fulfills the premise of the film. Joel and Clementine find each other, and recognize one another. They should be happy. There is a beautiful moment where Joel asks Clementine, so what? So what if they don’t work out, why not try again, and enjoy the memories? But with Gondry’s comments in mind, I wondered just what would happen. I think Joel and Clementine would try again at a relationship. Maybe they’d work out, but probably not. Clementine would get the procedure again just to keep repeating the cycle. Erase Joel. Meet in Montauk. Fall in love. Break up. Repeat. For me, this completely changes the film. Before I thought it was beautiful and romantic. Now I think it’s sad and melancholy. It’s filled with nostalgia, and what-ifs. My favorite character was Clementine because she seems so real. She challenges the trope of the damsel in distress so often seem in romantic comedies. She completely flipped the manic pixie dream girl trope on its head. In the library scene, she tells Joel his preconceived notions are wrong and she has her own agency. Eternal Sunshine pairs a smart, innovative script with sincere acting to form a work that questions humanity itself. It resonates with me so much because I often wonder about the issues brought up in the movie. It is so human because it touches on the desire to want to be loved and remembered. Ultimately, Eternal asks what is nostalgia, and how does it operate?