Term Paper on "Jungian Analysis of Eternal Sunshine"

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Jungian Analysis of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a film that explores love, love at first sight, and the reasons why people choose their partner, even if the choice seems completely irrational. The film shows that there is something greater than logic that draws two people to each other. It also shows that there is something more than shared experiences that results in two people falling in love. To consider the forces that draw two people together, it is necessary to look at Carl Jung's personality theory. His personality theory explains why two people fall in love, what links these two people together, and the unconscious nature of love that no individual can escape from. A consideration of the two main characters in the film and what they experience will show how the film shows Carl Jung's personality theory in action.

Before considering how the film links to Jung's personality theory, it is necessary to provide a brief overview of the characters and the plot of the film. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind tells the story of Clementine and Joel and their relationship. Clementine and Joel have met and are in love. However, the relationship slowly begins to decline. This leads to a point where Clementine decides she wants to move on and undergoes a procedure where her entire memory of Joel is erased. After Joel finds out what she has done, he decides to also have the memory of Clementine erased. As the memory erasing process begins, he works backwards through his relationship with Clementine. As this continues, he decides that he does not want to lose Clementine and his love for her. His subconscious mind tries to save the memory of her and prevent Clementine from being erased. However, his attempts are not effective and he wakes up without any memory of her. The day after the procedure, he is suddenly drawn to Montauk, which is the place where they originally met. He has no understanding of his sudden need to go to Montauk, but follows his desire and travels there anyway. In doing so, he meets Clementine again and they begin to fall in love again. A twist occurs when both Joel and Clementine are informed about the procedure they have undergone. They both remain unable to remember each other, but they do listen to tapes of themselves complaining about the other person and describing their relationship. The climax of the film occurs when Clementine tells Joel that the tapes describe how the relationship will eventually fail because she will do the things that have been described on the tape. Even though Joel accepts that this is true, he is drawn to Clementine, accepts this truth, and they begin a relationship. Overall, the film is about two people who are meant to be together and who will be together, regardless of how illogical it seems to choose each other. The question that Jung can answer is why these two are so drawn to each other. This will now be explored by considering Jung's personality theory.

Jung's personality theory includes the idea that there exists a personal unconscious and a collective unconscious. The personal unconscious refers to a person's personal memories, both those that can be remembered and those that have been repressed. The collective unconscious is described as "a universal set of ideas" (Seamon & Kenrick 423). This refers to the assumption that since individuals share evolution, they will also have shared ideas. Jung argues that the collective unconscious is not known to individuals consciously, but still influences behavior. Importantly, it differs from memories because memories are internal and therefore, are part of an individual and can be recalled by the conscious mind. The collective unconscious is different and remains out of reach because it is external. This means that the collective unconscious can never be actually known by a person, it can only be observed by the way it influences an individual or the impact it has. Jung uses several examples of how the collective unconscious influences people. One of the most significant is the existence of love at first sight. According to Jung, there is a female aspect in the collective unconscious for males, and a male aspect in the collective unconscious for females. These are known as anima and animus, respectively (Stevens 207). Litt explains how love links to the anima and the animus saying that "love results from identifying the 'ideal' woman with his own underlying anima, while for a woman, love may be generated by seeing a man as the personification of her anima." This explains how love at first sight occurs. Since the individuals have no conscious awareness of their anima and animus, they cannot see any logical reasons to consider the other person as their other half. However, subconsciously the individuals know that they have found their other half. This explains why they fall in love instantly, even if there is no apparent reason why they love the other person. In Eternal Sunshine and the Spotless Mind, this love at first sight occurs twice. The first time is when they meet initially. The second time is when they meet after having the memory of each other erased. It is noted that on the day that Joel meets Clementine again he is originally on his way to work. For no reason that he consciously understands, he chooses to miss work and go to Montauk again. He goes to the same beach where he originally met Clementine, even though he has no memory of her and no understanding of why he is drawn to the beach that day. During the process, they meet and fall in love again. This illustrates that there is something deeper than memory or experience that links Joel and Clementine together. This point is also made via the way that Patrick develops an attraction for Clementine during her memory erasing process. Patrick then tries to gain Clementine's interest by reenacting the experiences she had with Joel. Patrick logically believes that if he and Clementine share the same experiences as she and Joel shared then she will fall in love with him just as she did with Joel. It is seen though, that despite their similar interactions, Clementine does not develop any love for Patrick. This illustrates that the love that occurs is not based on the experience they shared, but on the deeper unconscious connection they have.

In the Portable Jung, Jung argues that if the unconscious mind guided people there would be no problem. As he states, "it is the growth of consciousness which we must thank for the existence of problems" (Jung 4). Jung (4) goes on to say that "problems draw us into an orphaned and isolated state where we are abandoned by nature and are driven to consciousness." The impact of the conscious mind is observed by the actions of both Clementine and Joel. As described earlier, the film shows that there is some unconscious reason that brings Joel and Clementine together. They are meant for each other, whether or not they can observe this consciously or understand it logically. The problem first occurs for Clementine when she consciously observes problems in the relationship. In the tape played where she describes why she wants to erase Joel from her memories, there are no clear memories given. Instead, she gives a collage of issues about him that irritate her. This illustrates that faced with a weak point in the relationship where the initial interest is lacking, her real desire is not necessarily to leave Joel. Instead, she is just looking for a new relationship that will deliver the initial spark again. In short, she becomes bored with Joel and is looking for someone new and exciting. It is important that Clementine has no real reason for leaving Joel because it establishes that her decision to leave does not reflect a real issue between them. Instead, Clementine is just lacking interest in her life and she attaches the blame to Joel. It is also important that Clementine has to resort to erasing the memory of Joel from her life to leave him. If there was a real conscious reason to leave him, she would simply leave him with the conscious and rational reason being valid enough to allow her to do so. As it is, she does not have a valid reason and so she must have him medically erased to move on. Her decision to do so represents her conscious mind identifying a problem and taking action to solve. In making this decision though, she is going against her unconscious needs. This is the process that Jung is describing when he refers to people being driven to making conscious decisions by problems. Clementine's unconscious needs have drawn her to Joel. However, when problems occur in the relationship and she is not gaining what she wants from the relationship, she makes a conscious decision to… READ MORE

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