Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

One thing I've given a lot of thought into whilst writing this here blog is how much fun it'll be to read through all of this stuff in years. Anyone who's seen the bags of crap that I keep in my room, thinking that I'll enjoy looking through it all eventually, reminiscing, can tell you that physical memories are just part of the way I work. Why do I still have a little wooden disc I got my senior year at an away football game that I was supposed to redeem at the concession stand for a free soda? Why do I still have the christmas paper that I colored and won first place on in 5th grade? Why do I keep all kinds of knick-knacks like those, when I really don't have the space in my room to keep it?

I don't really know... but I suppose it sort of works the same way that all of the video I have of programs and such does. I mean, c'mon, half of the videos that I've taken over the years were a pain to shoot. Having a camera anywhere without a clear, necessary reason, unless you're talented from an artistic standpoint, is not easy to justify, to yourself or anyone. Most of the video I've shot really isn't all that interesting to watch, anyway. I've probably got about 10 hours of NYC footage overall from several trips, and I think about 6 minutes of it is probably worth watching, if I'm lucky. But I've never erased any of that video, or thrown it away... perhaps, in a way, the fact that I shot the video and held onto it is a memory of it's own. Deep stuff, huh?

I guess I've got memories on the mind. I just got done watching the most interesting, emotion-triggering film that I've seen for a while. I think most of you probably remember a flick Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind coming out a few years ago, and maybe even saw it since then. Well, since I've been home for a few days already on spring break, I guess I picked up a habit from my older sister and decided to see what's "on demand" on our cable. After watching The Spongebob Squarepants Movie yesterday (Very impressive from a technical standpoint, but lacking in the plot-department, which I'm sure you're all very surprised of) and watching a bizarre little movie called Delivering Milo about a boy who decides that he doesn't want to be born. I picked a random movie; if you've never done that, I can't say I reccomend it, but I truely beleive there's SOMETHING to be gained from watching ANY movie.

Anyway: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Where to begin... I really really liked it a lot. I decided that this movie is definetly the movie that I've understood the least but still liked the most. Usually if I don't understand a film, I dismiss it or focus on technical aspects, but somehow, this one really touched me emotionally and confused me for the most part. It didn't help that the on demand decided to cut out before I could finish the film. I HAD to read the ending on wikipedia. I was completly on the edge of my seat. I can't beleive it would do this to me! I should sue Time Warner

I've been doing a lot more thinking about life and relationships at this point in my life than probably the rest of it combined, and that, to me, is what the whole movie was about. It's basically a romantic film, and romance is awesome. I've still got a lot of living and learning to do, but love is the strongest emotion I've ever experienced as of yet. I probably can't honestly say that if I hadn't been dumped a month and a half ago that the movie would have affected me as strongly, as the movie was all about a man losing a woman he really loves a lot and watching it all fall away as he has no way to stop it, which is something that happened to me in a way.

Also, the movie had a lot of actors and actresses in it that I enjoy. Jim Carrey, of course, who I won't pan for doing serious stuff. Elijah Wood and David Cross have really minor roles, but I enjoy them quite a bit. Also, the technical stuff in the movie was pretty amazing. Watching his memories literally fall apart as they were erased and seeing Jim Carrey's character move seamlessly from a memory in his apartment to the sandy beaches was very beautiful. You really have to see the film to understand what the heck I'm talking about, but you'll like it.

A lot of the happenings in the movie really struck chords with me. I really hated Elijah Wood's character for using Joel's items and memories of Clementine to win her over, just because he was insecure himself and didn't honestly have that connection with her. I really hated how Kirsten Dunst and the mind-erasing programmer treated Joel with no respect while they were carrying out the procedure, having sex and smoking pot while the program ran. I really (at least I felt like I did) related to Joel, watching how much he loved Clementine, how they seemed to fit perfectly when he told her that he finally for once, was happy, as they lay on the ice, but as was seen from the previous clips, their relationship seemed to fall apart more and more as it went on, just because of little dumb things. Then later, in his own memories, he told Clementine that things would be better, that he only loved her, even though all of her responses were just in his own mind... really deep stuff.

Bottom line: I would really reccomend the film to anyone who hasn't seen it. Maybe it just strikes me in a personal way, so I'm over-attached to it than I should be, but I enjoyed it verymuchso. It was better than Delivering Milo, anyway. And in the end, isn't that what every film really should strive to be?

I think I'll leave it at that and go sleep. Watch it.

-Jimmy