Existentialism and fate
The film, Eternal Sunshine of the Spitless Mind, provides the viewer with an intriguing look at the potential effects of having your life and all of your past erased from your memory. In the movie, a man, Joel, meets a girl, Clem, and falls in love with her. Over time they begin to fight and get bored with each other and ended up breaking up. A few days later Joel goes to the bookstore where she worked to apologize, but she acted like she didn't even know him. He was very confused and went out his friends' house for advice. While there he saw a letter from a psychicatrist that told the friends to stop talking about Joel because he had been erased from Clem's memory. Joel goes to the clinic and is convinced to erase Clem from his memory as well. He collects all things related to Clem and returns to the clinic to begin the erasing process. He start to bring back all the memories they had together from the first meeting all the way up to their last fight. In his mind he began to bring up all the emotions related to the events and he began to realize he didn't want to lose these memories of Clem. He tries to fight the doctors and hid Clem in other areas of his brain. They find her eventually, but before all of the memories are erased, she tells him to come and find her on the beach so they can start over. Joel already knows that their time isn't going to be perfect but he is willing to take that chance and find her again. He ends up finding her again and they start their lives together over.
In this film, we see that existential existence is important to both Joel and Clem. Clem is a free spirited girl who does not worry much about the future and wants to live in the moment. She hates being labeled and doesn't want life to be predictable and boring. Life is full of change and freedom. She was very interested in changing and renewing her ideas and life in order to achieve authentic life. Life is not supposed to be predictable. People create their own destiny and are free to choose where life will take them. Joel realized this as his memories were being erased. He saw that what he did determined his life and that there was no fate to control the out come. He was to decide whether or not he wanted to continue with Clem and start over or totally erase her. He chose to seek her out eventhough he knew she was not predestined. He would have to work and make choices to allow them to stay together and continue to grow and change. It is not promised to them but they chose to fight for it. Joel and only Joel wanted the power to control his memories and impact his future. The doctors took away that power by erasing his memories. He fought it and was able to find Clem as begin his life with her. Existence is radically free and constantly changing. People are always becoming something new. Joel and Clem became new people and formed their own futures.
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