The document provides a summary and analysis of the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It discusses how the film shows that technology can be deceiving by giving people options that seem good at first but later result in regret, as shown through Joel and Clementine's decision to undergo a memory-erasing procedure. It also argues that the film demonstrates people will sacrifice anything for new technology, even risking brain damage like Joel does. Overall, the writer agrees with the film's portrayal of technology as something that can trick people into decisions they later regret.

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Michelle Morris
February 20, 2012
ENG 101
Bolton
Technology, the Deceiver and the Trickster
The film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a movie that shows how technology can
sometimes be a bad answer to problems, and how people are very dependent on it. The movie
focuses on a couple that undergo a procedure to erase the memories of each other and their
relationship. Clementine (Kate Winslet), the girlfriend of Joel(Jim Carrey), is the first to have the
procedure done. Joel doesn’t find out that she has the procedure done until he has an odd
encounter with her at the store. He sees Clementine at the store and he begins to talk to her, but
she acts as if she has no clue as to who he is, or have any kind of recollection of their relationship.
Joel doesn’t understand why Clementine acts as if she doesn’t know who he is, and they use to be
a couple. Dismayed and confused, he then consults with two mutual friends of theirs and explains
to them what had happened. After listening to what had happened to Joel, one of the mutual
friends begins to explain to him that Clementine had a procedure done to erase all memories of
him and their relationship. Joel is completely thrown off guard at first, but then he finds himself
going to that same doctor to see if he can get some information about Clementine and the
procedure. After learning how it works, Joel makes the decision to have the procedure done also.
Unfortunately, half way through the procedure Joel realizes that he still loves Clementine and does
not want to erase memories of her. The technicians are erasing his memories of Clementine one
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by one, while he is in a dream-like state which is altering between reality, the past, and the future.

2. In the end Clementine and Joel meet again, and both listen to the tapes they received in the mail
which contained their confessions about each other before the procedure. Neither Joel nor
Clementine understand why the other person was talking so badly about the other person. Despite
the fact that they know the relationship could end up badly again they decide to give it another try.
The film demonstrates how technology can be deceiving and give people options in the beginning
that look good, but in the end only leave them to regret their decision later. The film also
demonstrates that people will sacrifice anything for a new piece of technology. I agree with the
films argument that technology can be tricky and give people options that look good at the time, but
only make them regret their decisions later. I also agree that people are willing to sacrifice anything
for a piece of technology.
First and foremost, I would have to agree that technology can be deceiving and give
people options in the beginning that look good, but in the end only leave them to regret their
decisions. In the film Joel and Clementine demonstrated this by using technology to help them stop
thinking about each other, after their relationship had ended. Joel states in the film “I loved you on
that day. I love this memory“, and this was the point where he realizes that he still loves her and
doesn’t want to continue the procedure to erase the memories of her. In the beginning, the mind
erasing procedure looked like it could be the perfect answer to his problems, but this was not the
case, due to the fact that he realized the procedure is not what he really wanted. In the event that
this was a real procedure available to people, I believe many people would jump at the idea of it.
The procedure would make it possible for people to forget completely about painful relationships,
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possible deaths of loved ones and tragic events. The procedure could be good in these ways, but it
could have some downfalls also as demonstrated in the film. In the real world, if someone was to
have the mind erasing procedure done and they end up changing their mind like Joel did,

3. unfortunately there is still no turning back. Although the procedure would help you forget bad
things, it also would not allow people to remember good times either. Sometimes it’s hard to forget
or stop thinking about bad memories, but thinking about the good memories can sometimes be all
someone needs to feel better. One final example of how technology can be deceiving, includes
things like cosmetic or plastic surgeries. People go through cosmetic and plastic surgeries because
it is an option if they do not like something about themselves. Although this is an option that looks
like a quick way to solve physical problems, there are times when things have gone wrong with
cosmetic and plastic surgeries that caused people to regret it. There are times when people
develop cancer after the procedure, there are times when people never fully heal, and there are
times when people even die from the plastic surgery procedures. The main point is that these
things looks like the easy way out and a easy way to happiness, but so many things could go
wrong and make that great decision turn into a regretted one.
Furthermore, I also agree with the film that technology is only advancing and people are
willing to sacrifice almost anything for it. The part of the film that demonstrates this is where the Dr.
and Joel have the conversation about the procedure before it’s actually done on him. He explains
to Joel that the procedure works by actually causing brain damage. Despite the fact that Joel knew
that he was taking a chance of anything happening because he is messing around with his brain
function, he proceeded with the procedure anyways. A real life example of this could be when
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people use steroids to help their performance in sports or for body building purposes. Using
steroids can have all kinds of different effects on the body, and much of the users are aware of
this, but they still use it and sacrifice their health anyways. People are willing to risk their health for
all kinds of things that are unnecessary so if they would jeopardize health to look good then many
people would probably risk brain damage to feel good. People will sacrifice so much to have

4. technology make us worry free, to make them beautiful or look a certain way and to try and
become what they feel is perfect, but in reality, sometimes technology will only make things worse.
Overall, Eternal Sunshine in the Spotless Mind was a good film. The film showed us how
technology can look like it is the best answer for us at the moment and later it can just cause us to
regret a decision. The film also shows how people are willing to sacrifice anything for a new piece
of technology. It also was a very interesting film to watch, despite the sometimes confusing scenes
that switch between realities, what’s happening during the procedure and the future. It also is more
interesting because it makes the brain work to put the pieces together due to the movies twist of
being played in reverse chronological order. I would definitely watch it again though.
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Dir. Michel Gondry. Perf. Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, and Tom Wilkinson. Universal Pictures. 2004.
Film