Saturday, December 28, 2013

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind




“How happy is the blameless vestal’s lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray’r accepted, and each wish resign’d”

― Alexander Pope, Eloisa to Abelard

In simple words, this quote means that virgins/nuns (vestals) forget about the world and the world forgets about them as well. In this scenario (spotless mind), when they speak to the lord, all their wishes and desires are fulfilled and they receive eternal happiness (sunshine). Although, in the context of the poem vestal means virgin, in the context of the movie it could mean a clear head.

So I saw this movie yesterday (a tad too late I guess) and it has now become one of my favourite movies ever. The thought behind it aside, the narration of this love story is so unique and beautiful that it totally blew me away.

ESoaSM is a story of two individuals who fall in love and then separate due to circumstances. They then decide to undergo a procedure which helps them erase that phase of their life. But even though they forget each other, their feeling towards each other reunites them in another mysterious way. When they find out the  nasty things they said to each other before separating earlier, they feel that they will yet again face similar problems and decide to go different ways. But it’s not easy... is it?

When the movie began, we thought that this procedure was the best thing in the world. It would make heartbreaks and deaths so easy. It would make ‘a fresh new start’ a reality. However, as the story went ahead, I realised how important memories were. Even if you try to kill them, your feelings don't change. Sometimes you need to learn from mistakes. At other times, you need memories to feel the warmth a million times over. 

The movie made me realise that a spotless mind may not be the happiest. You need to let go of certain things and live in the moment. You need to love and learn from your past to get eternal sunshine for NO life is beautiful without the experiences you’ve had, the memories you are making and the things you will remember for the rest of your life.

2 comments:

  1. I have believed that you cannot forget a memory. No matter what. Come on, it was worthy enough to be a memory right. How can you just forget it?

    Having said that, the only way to let it go is to overlap it with new memories and new people. Make new memories so that you do not have to go back to the old ones :)

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  2. Erasing the past abruptly is easily said than done.The good lingers for ever and the bad leaves a scar.A memory-free life is no life at all.

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Your sweetness makes my day. Gentle criticism will be taken in the right spirit too :)