Ashley Menardo: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is about the bizarre relationship between Joel and Clementine and everything surrounding it. The movie starts off on February 14th on Valentine's Day, where Joel wakes up to go through his normal routine. All of a sudden he has the urge to ditch work and call in sick; take a train trip to a beach in Montauk. He comes across this girl at the beach, the diner, and his train car, which we all would soon know as Clementine. She quickly introduces herself after the third encounter of the day and they hit it off. She invites him over for drinks, gives her his phone number, then meet by the frozen lake later that night. Joel the next morning then drives Clementine back to her house and while he is waiting for her, what seems to be a random man walks next to his car and asks him why he is here. Joel's confused. Then it cuts off to the next scene.

In this scene, Joel is crying in his car. He throws a cassette out of the window and soon after arrives at his friend's house. He explains how he wanted to give a Valentine's day gift to Clementine, but when he arrived to her job it was as if she never knew him and that she was accompanied by another man. His friend hands oner a note to Joel that explains how this memory erasing company named Lacuna Inc. erased Joel from Clementine's memory because she wanted to forget about him.

Joel goes to the Lacuna Inc. to figure out what is going on. The doctor, Dr. Howard Mierzwaik, then tells him that what he found out about Clementine was true. This resulted in Joel wanting to remove her from his memory as well. The doctor advised Joel and said that if he wanted to live a normal life, then he would have to get rid of anything that had to do with Clementine to begin the process. He threw all of the belongings that he had of her. But when the procedure happens and he becomes unconscious, he realizes that he doesn't want to erase Clementine.

Throughout the movie Joel's memory of Clementine is erasing and he is fighting to keep her in his memory as these people are trying to erase hit from his mind. You see many of Joel's thoughts, his past, his different encounters with Clementine. But also what is going on outside of Joel's head, is one of the men trying to erase Joel's memory, Patrick, develops and interest with Clementine and uses the resources in Lacuna Inc. to seduce Clementine while they are erasing his brain. Some who also works at Lacuna Inc., Mary has an affair with Dr. Mierzwaik and had her memory erased. She finds out what happens closer to the end of the movie. In result to that, she steals Lacuna Inc.'s records and sends them to all the clients theyve ever had.

Clementine and Joel receive the records and listen to their feelings for each other face to face. Clementine was upset at what she heard and started walking away. In the end, they realize that even through all of the differences, hardships, and flaws they still may be able to work things out. Everything isn't perfect.

lost, determined, imperfect, loved, enduring


This movie is about how one man's attempt in getting his memory erased results in him getting lost in his mind just to realize that he is determined to find the imperfect relationship he once had with the woman he once loved and is okay with enduring the hardships that happen through relationships like theirs.