A Theme of Memories in Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind

Introduction

People go through a tremendous amount of things throughout their lives. Numerous events occur which give people both cheerful memories as well as painful memories. Whether the memories are good or bad, there are certain memories that at one point, people want to delete and get rid of completely. But is it possible to completely erase a memory from your head and forget the reality of that memory?

A Theme of Memories in Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind

After watching the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the plot of the movie is still fresh in my mind. In the movie, the introspective Joel Barish meets Clementine Kruczynski at a party, and they become a couple. Like ordinary couples, their days are spent in sweetness and quarrels. On the eve of Valentine's Day in 2004, when Joel carefully prepares a gift and seeks Clementine to apologize for a recent quarrel, he is surprised to find that Clementine doesn't remember him at all. The impulsive Clementine couldn't stand the pain of quarreling in this relationship and went to Lacuna INC, a clinic that helps people erase their memories, to have her memory of Joel erased. Joel, unable to forgive Clementine's waywardness and unable to bear the pain of losing her, also visits Lacuna INC and asks Dr. Howard to eliminate his memory of Clementine.

The Complexity of Forgetting

After the failure of love, the first impulse for many is to eliminate the memory of the other party from their minds. Just like childhood sorrow and shame, they are buried in the corners of the soul, hoping never to touch that place again. In the movie, Mary quotes Nietzsche: “Blessed are the forgetful, for they get the better even of their blunders” (Nietzsche, 1886). If there is a clinic where one can completely remove the unpleasant parts of the brain through unimaginable high technology, would you visit it on Valentine's Day after a heartbreak? Is it truly necessary to erase the past's unfortunate results? The film explores whether choosing to escape leads to happiness or ignorance when faced with people who once held close relationships. This question is central to the film's narrative and reflects a broader discussion in neuroscience about the reinterpretation of memories in light of mental and emotional states (Schacter, 1996).

Emotions and Memory

Emotion is the subjective experience of an individual's attitude toward objective things, whether they meet their needs. In the movie, Dr. Howard explains that erasing people’s memories targets the emotional core; when you eradicate that core, it begins a degradation process, technically causing brain damage. Emotions are closely attached to memory, so erasing a memory might entail removing the emotion associated with it. Despite Howard's reassurance, the result is essentially brain damage—a frightening thought. During the memory-clearing process, Joel revisits his memories. Initially, Joel feels unease and pain recalling his quarrels with Clementine, but soon he remembers the good times they shared, like their trip to Frzee Charles, realizing those moments, painful or sweet, were precious. He desperately wants to stop the procedure because his emotions are so strong, fearing he will forget everything about Clementine. Ultimately, Clementine and Joel don’t become different people after their memories are erased; their emotions persist, revealing that emotions are deeply ingrained and not easily erased (Engel, 1999).

Neuroscience and Memory

Neuroscience plays an important role in studying memory, offering theories that demonstrate the reinterpretation of memories in light of mental and emotional states. For instance, Daniel Schacter’s Searching for Memory notes that recalling sad episodes can bring tears, while happy incidents can induce elation, indicating that emotion significantly influences memory perception and processing. Sad emotions trigger sad memories, and happy emotions trigger happy ones, supporting the idea that memory reinterpretation is influenced by emotional states (Schacter, 1996). Another example from Radiolab discusses how neuroscientists at MIT used slight electric shocks on mice in a special cage, inducing fear. The mice remembered the fear associated with the cage, trembling upon re-entry, demonstrating that memory reinterpretation might not always align with current mental and emotional states (Radiolab, 2012).

Conclusion

In conclusion, evidence supports the reinterpretation of memories in light of mental and emotional states. In contemporary neuroscience, researchers continue to explore the relationship between emotion, remembering, and forgetting. Memory exhibits great plasticity, and laboratory research is limited. Differences in opinions about inducing certain emotions pose obstacles in research. The relationship between emotion and memory remains a mystery in neurological studies, and further exploration is necessary to understand this complex interplay.

References:

• Engel, S. (1999). Context is Everything: The Nature of Memory. W. H. Freeman.
• Nietzsche, F. (1886). Beyond Good and Evil. Penguin Classics.
• Radiolab. (2012). Memory and Forgetting. WNYC Studios.
• Schacter, D. L. (1996). Searching for Memory: The Brain, the Mind, and the Past. Basic Books.