"Meet Me In Montauk..."

"The lights went out
and darkness filled the house
on a tiring night under a Long Island sky."
- Bayside, Montauk

Seiche has once again proven to be an inspiration to me. When I read his post about Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I knew that I had to write something about this wonderful, quirky movie. I have been a huge fan of this film since it was released and have championed its merits to anyone who would listen. I'm proud to have introduced a number of people to the ranks of Eternal Sunshine fans over the past few years. This quickly became my favorite movie as soon as I saw it. I also love the soundtrack to this movie, as well as Bayside's tribute song, Montauk. I've even seen Gondry's disappointing, but intriguing follow-up, The Science of Sleep.

For those of you who are not familiar with Eternal Sunshine, it was released in 2004 and based on a screenplay by Charlie Kaufman, whose other films include Being John Malkovich and Adaptation. Director Michel Gondry, best known for his work on several groundbreaking music videos, worked with a great cast, including Jim Carrey, Kate Winslett, Mark Ruffalo, Kirsten Dunst and Elijah Wood. It was shot using two hand-held cameras without rehearsal. Available lighting and authentic locations were used whenever possible. These techniques add to the film’s unique character.

"Blessed are the forgetful, for they get the better even of their blunders." - Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil

The plot revolves around a couple, the shy and reserved Joel and the free-spirited Clementine, who meet who meet on a nearly deserted beach on Valentine’s Day, unaware that they have a history together. The majority of the action occurs in Joel's mind, as he recalls the memories of his relationship with Clementine while they are being erased by Dr. Howard Mierzwiak and the incompetent technicians of the nebulous Lacuna, Inc.

The title is taken from the poem "Eloisa To Abelard" by Alexander Pope. This poem is the story of Peter Abailard (1079-1142), a famous scholar, who at age 38 became the tutor of the 18 year old niece of the canon of Paris. The two became involved in a passionate secret love affair, which resulted in Eloisa's pregnancy and eventual confinement to a convent, while her uncle hired men to attack and castrate Abailard.

"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

Eternal Sunshine is a twist on the standard “boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy and girl are reunited and live happily ever after” formula. It is a love story with elements of science fiction and has several deep philosophical questions that the film not only raises, but also seeks to answer. If we could erase painful memories from our lives, should we? Can we escape our fate, our character, or ourselves by running from our past? Is love worth holding onto, despite the pain which comes along with it? Are some people or things in our lives "meant to be" no matter how much we try to deny them? These and other questions are central to the meaning of the film. The film tells us that all of our experiences have shaped us and made us into the people that we have become. It tells us that our memories, good and bad, are a part of ourselves. Fate is a part of our character and running from ourselves is futile. We are the sum of our experiences. Also, if we erase our painful experiences, then we are living a lie. Our pain teaches us. Consider a child who puts his finger on the hot burner of a stove top. He learns from the pain not to burn his finger anymore. Erasing the pain from our memories could doom us to endlessly relive the mistakes of our past, because it would remove valuable lessons from our lives. Memories, especially painful ones, help us to refine ourselves.

"I'm becoming more and more myself with time. I guess that's what grace is. The refinement of your soul through time." – Jewel

In Kaufman’s script, Clementine has a line that was cut from the movie.

“You love someone – that’s it. Forever. You choose to do something with your life – that’s it, that’s what you do. It’s a sign of maturity to stick with that and see things through. And my feeling is that’s how you die, because you stop listening to what is true, and what is true is constantly changing.” - Clementine, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (shooting script)

If we pay attention to our constantly changing truth, we can overcome our past tendencies and mistakes. We have to resist the urge to make life follow some predetermined pattern based on how we think we will handle situations. Life is constantly changing and we have to change with it to survive.

"Change your heart,
Look around you.
Change your heart,
It will astound you."
- Beck, Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometimes

If you haven't seen this fine movie, I highly recommend it. Carrey gives an excellent performance as Joel, and the rest of the cast turn in fine performances in their respective roles as well. Since most of the action takes place in Joel's mind, Gondry was faced with the task of giving the film the surreal quality of distant memories, seen through the lens of a single person's perceptions of the events as they took place, then altered and filtered through the passage of time and subsequent events. He accomplishes this with stunning effectiveness.

"I wish I'd stayed, too. Now I wish I'd stayed. I wish I'd done a lot of things. I wish I'd... I wish I'd stayed... I do." - Joel, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Today I heard from the band captain's mother again. She said that she had a group of parents that were willing to band together to petition for my return to my former job. I respectfully declined this offer, explaining once again that my resignation was voluntary and necessary for my health. She told me that the rumor mill was now in full force with people saying that I had been fired or forced to resign, that I had inappropriate relationships with children or stole money. It disgusts me that I gave my life for these people's children for the past 8 year and these rumors are out there. I know it's human nature and I have resolved not to look back, but it makes me, quite literally, sick to my stomach to hear these things. I also know that any organized attempt to refute these rumors or stand up for my innocence could also be seen as an admission of guilt. I hate human nature sometimes. I can't wait to put as much distance as possible between myself and these people. Yes, there are some that I will miss, but there are some that tempt me to physical violence. I am not a violent person by any stretch of the imagination, but they make me consider it a sane option sometimes, especially now. I am most definitely glad that I did NOT stay.

“Never look back unless you are planning to go that way." - Henry David Thoreau

It is now time to share the wealth of some of the awards I have been honored to have received recently. First up is the Thinking Blogger Award:


1. If, and only if, you get the Thinking Blogger Award, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think, or have schmoozed you into submission (depending on which award you receive).
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn’t fit your blog).

Ladies and gentlemen, the envelope please. Our five nominees for the Thinking Blogger Award are:

1. Ingrid at Boricua In Texas
2. CCC of Leaving Corporate
3. Bobby Revell of Revellian
4. Andrew from 4th Avenue Blues
5. Lilly at Whirling Open

Next up is the Creative Blogger Award:



The rules are:
1) If you have received an award simply choose either the dark or light background image and save it to your files, then post it proudly on your blog!
2) Pass the award on to five other people, you can choose any of the awards from the series, you do not have to pass out the exact award you received. Choose whichever of the awards below that you'd like to give out. You can give out one of each or five of the same one, whatever you prefer.
3) You can change the size and color of awards to suit your blog, that's up to you, it's your blog, just leave the titles the same.
4) Please link back to this post so that people can read these rules and so that the meanings of the awards will not be lost.

And the winners are:

1. Nick at Anything Goes
2. Contrary Woman
3. Bop of Extras In My Ordinary Life
4. David the FoulBastard
5. ...Why Paisley???

More awards...? Yes, Seiche has given me the great honor of a Thoughtful Blogger Award, which I will pass along tomorrow. Congratulations to the winners! If you want to know why they qualified to win these awards, just visit their page and look around. You'll see immediately why I chose them for the award they received.

"I don't deserve this award, but I have arthritis and I don't deserve that either." - Jack Benny