Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

What about this film is comedic at all? I swear, I nearly lose it every time Clementine gives her “I’m just a fucked-up girl looking for peace of mind” speech. The only humorous moment I can think of right now is when David Cross’s character is “building a bird house.”
Anyway. I did think the whole movie was a unique addition to the romance paradigm we’ve been discussing in class. As I mentioned during discussion, I do think the movie could be read in a way to suggest that there is “only one person for everyone.” It certainly suggests that Clementine and Joel will constantly return to each other. The film presents us with a number of romantic pairings; Clementine/Joel and Mary/Howard both return to one another after the memory erasure procedure, which to me suggests that attraction is somehow biological, innate, that we just “can’t help” wanting the people we do. Even when Patrick tries to imitate Joel as best he can–repeating his words, hijacking his gifts–Clementine just doesn’t love him. To me, this says that there is more to love than pretty language, material gifts, convenient situations.
But ALL of these movies suggest that, in some way. Eternal Sunshine is unique because it calls into question the “romance” of the one-person-for-everyone idea. If you were to ask me whether or not this movie has a happy ending, it would be a struggle to answer; this is one movie where the main characters end up together, and you’re not quite sure whether they should be. They certainly can’t solve each other’s problems–in the end, they know that they will be nothing but who they are. Clementine will get bored because “that’s what she does.” Eternal Sunshine is jarring because it forces us to look at the absolute best and worst of our own relationships and really question if it all is worth it–which is, I think, why it brings on the waterworks for me, and I seriously NEVER cry at movies. In the end, Clementine and Joel seem to decide that the good is worth all of the bad they’ve been through, but I’m not sure the audience is supposed to support their decision. I think we’re definitely supposed to feel uneasy about it, at least.

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