Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind presents a unique argument synonymous with early 2004 psychological movies, is the pain of existing in a world tinted with memories of the past a world in which we’d like to live? Hailed as one of the movies too painful to rewatch, the subreddit dedicated to movie lovers across the globe r/movies opened up about their presumed saddest part of the film.
1. Father Erasing His Son
Films like Eternal Sunshine leave a lot up to the viewer's interpretation. One viewer, ParfaitSignificant38, says the saddest part of Eternal Sunshine happened so quickly that you’d miss it.
“Sitting in the waiting room to get the memory erasing procedure done, people hold boxes of belongings from the person/memories they want erased. There's a few, but one is a middle-aged man who's trying not to cry. His box contains a sports trophy.
It's most likely the man is there to erase the memory of his own SON, who obviously passed away. We all know that losing a child is the most emotionally painful thing a human being can go through. Could you imagine being in that much pain that you would ERASE EVERY SINGLE MEMORY OF YOUR BELOVED CHILD? You would give up the memory and love of the greatest thing in your entire life and your most precious memories because that is the level of grief he is in.”
Another person responded to the theory, saying the man was there to erase memories of his dog, while another film appreciator replied that the man was there to erase a memory of his bowling career.
2. You are Not Unique
The premise of Eternal Sunshine allows every person who wants to erase a memory the ability to do so. However, who has a unique life if everyone resorts to erasing a memory? How will you remember the good if you don’t remember the bad?
Reddit user Tejmujin writes:
“What also made me sad when I thought about it was that Joel's experience wouldn't be unique. The memories were erased newest to oldest, so the trauma that led to wanting the memory erased would be gone, and you'd be left fighting for your fond memories now that you can't remember the stupid fight that led to the relationship ending or the betrayal or the accident, the illness, whatever.”
3. Joel Forgets Huckleberry Hound
We all have a favorite cartoon reminding us of childhood innocence, the memories popping up when we hear Dora the Explorer or the Looney Tunes theme song. When Joel said he wanted to erase all of his memories of Clementine, that included everything mentioning Clementine.
“When he first meets Clementine, he says he loved Huckleberry Hound. Due to the song ‘oh my darling Clementine, ’ Huckleberry Hound was erased from his memory. Serious collateral damage,” an Eternal Sunshine fan claimed.
4. The Repetition of Unhappiness
The surgery erases memories, but it doesn’t stop the same thing from happening again. So, really, the process isn't a cure; it's a bandaid over a memory bullethole.
“I think the ending is pretty bleak too,” writes AngryMustachio. “Lots of people I've talked to about it think it's a happy ending. They got back together. But they were both unhappy when they had the procedure done. They'll eventually come to a similar situation in the future. They'll both be miserable with each other again.”
5. The Cards
After each procedure, a nurse or doctor sends out cards to the family and friends of those getting the surgery.
“For me, the saddest was the cards the agency sends you after the procedure was done,
U/RobotIcHead shares. “They send them to everyone they knew, saying person x erased y, please never mention y again to them. All of them remember the pain and problems x went through, and they will never be able to help x with it.”
This article was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.