Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind (part 2)

Welcome back to my Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind series! If you haven’t read part one, I highly suggest that you do or this will not make any sense. Also please leave me a few suggestions for what to write my next blog about. Alright I’m going to get straight into it; hopefully this blog won’t be as long as the last one. 🙂

I left off where he wakes up to find his car wrecked, empty spaces all over his apartment, and a feeling of something missing. 

He gets in his car and drives to the train station. This day just so happens to be no other than Valentine’s Day. We see him stand in a crowd, waiting for his train to arrive. While we see this, we hear his thoughts. He is complaining about how Valentines is just a holiday made by mass producers and card companies. As he is standing there, he begins to look around uneasily. In the blink of an eye, he begins running to the train heading for Montauk. Yes, you read right, Montauk. 

He slides through the closing train doors and admits he doesn’t even know why he did it. “I don’t know why. I’m not an impulsive person. I guess I just woke up in a funk this morning. I gotta get my car fixed.” When he arrives to Montauk, he uses a payphone to call his work, claiming he has food poisoning and that’s why he’s not there. 

The screen cuts to him walking the beach. We see in the distance Clemintine doing the same. He then has the thought of “getting back out there.” He says, “If only I could meet someone new. I guess my chances of that happening are somewhat diminished, since I’m incapable of making eye contact with a woman I don’t know. Maybe I should get back together with Naomi. She was nice. Nice is good. She loved me. … Why do I fall in love with every woman I see who shows me the least bit of attention?” 

As soon as he finishes this thought, Clem pops up from the seat Infront of him. They have a small yet awkward conversation about Clem’s hair, and the word nice.  He ends the conversation by asking her to move because he has some writing to do. When they get off the train, it is nighttime.  Clem is walking in the cold, so Joel asks her if she wants a ride home. 

Clemintine invites him in for a drink, and he abides. She mentions how he is kind of quiet to which he responds, “I’m sorry. You know, my life isn’t that interesting. I go to work, I come home. I don’t know what to say. You should read my journal. I mean, it’s just blank.”

At the end of the night, Clementine is fully intrigued by him, even saying “I’m gonna marry you. I know it.” They have another small chat about the Charles (the frozen lake.) Joel tells her he needs to go because it’s getting late. They exchange numbers, and he heads home. They end up going to The Charles on a date, and he takes her home. While she runs into her apartment to grab a toothbrush Patrick (Clems new boyfriend) sees Joel outside and immediately knows what happened. 

She grabs her mail, and heads outside to Joels car. She opens her mail to see a package from the company that erased their minds. She puts in the cassette tape, and it begins playing.  “To all patients of Dr. Howard Mierzwiak. My name is Mary Svevo. We’ve met, but you don’t remember me. I worked for a company you hired to have part of your memory erased. I’ve since decided that this is a horrible… To correct this, I’m sending everyone’s file back to them.” Her voice begins to speak through the radio. “My name is Clementine Kruczynski. I’m here to erase Joel Barish.” They get into an altercation about this, and Clementine rushes out the car and past Patrick. She later decides to go to Joels house. 

When she walks in Joel is playing his version of the tape. He reveals that he found a painting he did of Clementine. She listens to what Joel says about her over the recording and decides to leave. Joel walks out the door and says “Wait.”

 

CLEMENTINE: What?

JOEL: I don’t know.  Just wait. Just wait.

CLEMENTINE: What do you want, Joel?

JOEL: I don’t know. I want you to wait for… just a while.

CLEMENTINE: Okay.

JOEL: Really?

CLEMENTINE: I’m not a concept, Joel. I’m just a f—ed-up girl who’s looking for my own peace of mind. I’m not perfect.

JOEL: I can’t see anything that I don’t like about you.

CLEMENTINE: But you will!

JOEL: Right now I can’t.

CLEMENTINE: But you will! You know, you will think of things, and I’ll get bored with you and feel trapped… because that’s what happens with me.

JOEL: Okay.

CLEMENTINE: [pauses] Okay. Okay.

JOEL: Okay.

Just like that, the screen fades out and “Everybody’s Got to Learn Sometime” by Beck begins playing. 

Just like that, the movie is over and we are left with MANY questions. Will they work out? Will it be a cycle? Does Patrick ever find out? While yes, this movie is superficial it makes me wonder, if I could forget someone, would I? If we had the option to wipe someone completely from our life, would we? The human brain remembers approximately 5000+ faces over a lifetime. If you could get rid of just one, would you? 

Thanks for reading todays blog; please leave your thoughts on this movie and concept in the comments. Love you guys, goodbye!