Scott Springmann - Eternal Sunshine

This is one of my favorite films. There is so much symbolism in there as well as good messages that come out of the story. I’m sure that most people have things from their past that they would prefer not to remember, but in this movie we see people who decide to erase those memories. The main characters, Joel and Clementine, were in a relationship for two years when they decided that they couldn’t stand each other anymore, so they have each other erased from their memories. However, as Joel soon finds out, they end up taking away all of the happy memories as well. We also see some of the negative effects of the procedure through the employees of the Lacuna Corp. One of the employees of the corporation had had an affair with the head doctor and then they had her memory of it erased. She then repeated her previous actions resulting in greater emotional damage to everyone involved. The fact that she repeated her actions also brings up the idea of fate. This is also seen in the fact that Joel and Clementine meet again and get back together after they have their memories erased. These people are tampering with fate and trying to change it, but ultimately end up repeating it. The original ending to the movie had an older Clementine getting her memory erased again, and we see she has an extensive file in which she is has had her memory erased many times, each one because of Joel. This can be seen as a warning to take things as they come and not to forget your past.