Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

I have often thought about erasing memories and how that would effect a person and their lives so I found this movie fascinating to watch. I had no idea what the movie was about before I watched it, but I heard from several people who watched it that it was bizarre, and indeed it was. On the Wikepedia website, it says that although human memories cannot be erased, scientists have been successful at erasing selective memories on lab mice. I am sure that in the future they will be able to erase memories from human beings because technology is continually expanding and it's only a matter of time.
There was a sense of Adam's Rib in this movie. The audience got to see how Joel and Clementine acted around each other all the time through Joel's memories, similar to seeing Amanda and Adam in their home together. The audience saw Joel and Clementine doing routine things together, such as going out to eat and eating take-out in their bed while watching television. We saw them having fun together in the snow and on the ice. We also saw them arguing. Their lives seemed realistic to me. I also noticed that Clementine had complained to Joel saying, "I tell you everything...you don't trust me". She was upset that he did not tell her things, but he showed her memories of his past when he was in the middle of the procedure, which he might not have done if he had not undergone the procedure.
As opposed to the earlier Comedies of Remarriage, this movie portrayed that children were ignored and this was a negative thing, whereas in the earlier movies, the children were a nusance. While Joel is having his procedure, the audience sees him as a child in his old house and his mother is ignoring him. She does not care what he is doing and she keeps asking where he is, but she does not bother looking for him. Clementine says, "How lonely it is to be a kid...like they don't matter". Mary also says, "Adults are a mess of sadness and phobia". Clementine also says that she wants a child in the film, but Joel says they are not ready to have one. Even though this movie explores children's needs, the two characters are not ready to have a child yet.
This movie also brings up Valentine's Day, which is a holiday that is made up by the card companies, according to Joel. This aspect of buying something for someone on Valentine's Day reminds me of the conversation with Sister Mara Faulkner. Joel had orginally bought a necklace for Clementine for Valentine's Day, which Patrick gave to her instead. He probably felt that he was obligated to give her something otherwise he would not be considered a "good" boyfriend, which I find ironic because we were just talking in class about how giving someone flowers does not mean anything. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was a unique movie and I am sure when I watch it again, there will be many things I did not pick up on the first time I watched it. That is the sign of a good movie.