Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a 2004 American romantic fantasy film scripted by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Michel Gondry. The film uses elements of science fiction, nonlinear narration and neosurrealism to explore the nature of memory and romantic love.^[1] It opened in North America on March 19, 2004 and grossed over US$70 million worldwide.^[2]

Kaufman and Gondry worked on the story with Pierre Bismuth, a French performance artist. The film stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet and features Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Wilkinson, Elijah Wood, Jane Adams, and David Cross.

The title is taken from the poem Eloisa to Abelard by Alexander Pope, the story of a tragic love affair, where forgetfulness became the heroine's only comfort.

The film was a critical and commercial success, developing a strong cult following and receiving myriad accolades, winning the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. The film was lauded by critics as one of the best and most thought-provoking^[3] films of 2004, and, in recent lists, has been acclaimed as one of the best films of the decade.

In chapter 3, Two Blue Ruins, Clementine & Joel discuss the fleeting nature that is life & the unintended dread that accompanies a life that seems wasted.  Joel attempts to measure his life, but can only muster meaningless dribble about going to work only to return to home later.  Thank God for Him & His very intentional purposes that bring ultimate meaning to our lives and being.

1 Peter 3:8-9 (The Message)

 ^8-12Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that's your job, to bless. You'll be a blessing and also get a blessing.

   Whoever wants to embrace life
      and see the day fill up with good,
   Here's what you do:
      Say nothing evil or hurtful;
   Snub evil and cultivate good;
      run after peace for all you're worth.
   God looks on all this with approval,
      listening and responding well to what he's asked;
   But he turns his back
      on those who do evil things.

In chapter 10, Blessed are the Forgetful, Mary quotes Nietzsche and speaks to how adults are, 'like, this mess of sadness...and phobias.'  She, like all those seeking the services of Lacuna, Inc. are longing for a sense of renewal...rebirth.  Only through Christ are we able to break the bondage that humanity can often present & allow us to share in Christ's victory of our own mess of sadness & fear.    

2 Corinthians 5:15-17 (The Message)

 ^14-15Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own. ^16-20Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you.

In chapter 15, The Blameless Vestal's Lot, Mary is left w/Howard as they continue to work to eradicate Clementine from Joel's memory.  Her dialogue continues to be peppered w/quotes unbeknown st to herself that share a common theme...the blessedness of forgetfulness when unable to seek, find or grant forgiveness.
How indescribably wonderful is our God that not only forgives, but 'forgets' our sin in how He deals w/us, showing just how unbelievably different He is from us in those attributes.

Isaiah 43:25 (The Message)

 ²⁵"But I, yes I, am the one
   who takes care of your sins—that's what I do.
   I don't keep a list of your sins.