Postmodernism Analysis of “Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind” (2004)

Steffi Yosephine
7 min readNov 12, 2020

In the cinema, postmodernism is manifested in the mixing of high and low cultures. Meanings stare produced through mixtures, transitions, and coalitions between dialogues, scenes, and narratives that are present through the interpretation of each audience. More specifically, Denzin in Image of Postmodern Society: Social Theory and Contemporary Cinema (1991) notes seven points to identify postmodern films: (1) there is a tendency to obscure the past and present, (2) show past scenes as the signs of the destruction in process, (3) presenting elements associated with the future, (4) showing things that iwere previously deemed inappropriate to wbe portrayed in films, (5) postmodern films using wild and violent fantasies of sexuality, (6) the presence of characters women only in two binaries, good and evil (femme fatale), (7) put society’s greatest fear in the narrative of everyday life.

Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind is a Michel Gondry-directed film released in 2004. The film has received numerous awards for its script, plot and cast acting. Tells the story of Clementine (Kate Winslet) who underwent a memory erasure procedure, a service offered by the Lacuna company after experiencing a breakup with Joel (Jim Carrey). After learning that Clementine is working hard to forget her, Joel decides to undergo the same procedure. However, in the middle of the process, he realizes that there are many happy memories with Clementine that he does not want to forget.

Postmodernism is loud and clear here. Narrated by Joel, the film starts with a scene where Joel impulsively decides to skip work and takes the train route to Montauk, in which he met Clementine during the trip. The audience will think this is the first meeting. The plot twist at the end reveals that the rendezvous took place after they both went through the memory erasure procedure. Clementine once said that Montauk is her favorite place and somehow, it sticks in their subconscious even though they do not know each other anymore.

Throughout the film, there are no apparent signs of the film’s tone, scene transitions, or even the background music that distils the three main time divisions: the period before memory erasure, the process of deletion of memory, and the period after memory erasure. With scenes changing rapidly and overlapping each other, this ‘traps’ the audience and creates confusion over time, place, or past and present. The presence of Lacuna, a company that offers these services, is following Denzin’s point which states that the emergence of things that are associated with the future, presents something that is considered in our present reality impossible to be possible.

This film depicts a society that considers erasing memories to be commonplace. People have access to decide what memories they want to keep and throw away, showing that they want to live in pleasant memories, ignoring the fact that even bad experiences played a role in shaping their identity. This premise reflects Strinati’s point in Introduction to Theories of Popular Culture (1995) regarding postmodernism markers in cinema: style over substance and culture and society, which discusses the distortions of reality.

In the film, the audience is brought through Joel’s point of view. It was as if we were invited into Joel’s head during the erasure process. Therefore, the overlapping memories emerged and confused, both Joel and the audience. This follows up the next sign according to Strinati: confusion over time and place. Especially when Joel realized he did not want to erase Clementine’s memories and started running around looking for a way to stop him. Even though he knows that the experience and interactions only occur in his imagination, in reality, he is fast asleep.

John Hill in Film and Postmodernism discusses this by saying some elements can be used to identify postmodern films, one of which is the text that shows a picture of postmodern society (Harvey, 1989). One of the main theme is the character is connected to a typical postmodern idea; ​​losing hope of progress or a male character who is described as experiencing a crisis of self-confidence (Kuhn, 1990; Modleski, 1991).

Scenes purely based on the whims of postmodernism emerge in Joel’s attempt to bring Clementine back to memory. From the rain in the living room, flashbacks to Joel’s childhood home, the bathed baby Joel, to his bed as a teenager are stacked with memories of the beach in Montauk. All of these (also according to Strinati) are a rejection of meta-narrative because they are unrealistic. This film also lays down the human fear of memory loss which leads to panic and self-forgetfulness as experienced by Clementine in the narrative. Following Denzin’s seventh point.

Another characteristic of postmodern films, according to Connor (1989), is that they cannot be categorized into one genre. The central premise of the process of memory loss (sci-fi) alongside the conflict between Joel and Clementine (romance) is a fresh breeze among other romance films. The theoretician of the film feminism, Smelik, said,

“Men and women are differentially positioned by cinema: men as subjects identifying with agents who drive the film’s narrative forward, women as objects for masculine desire and fetishistic gazing.” (1999).

This film also has a female character who challenges the representation of women in the media in general. It is no secret that the representation of women in media, mostly within the context of the male gaze. Female characters commonly put as complimentary.

The film critic, Nathan Rabin, quoted from Jamie Watson’s (2014) essay defines the character Clementine with the terminology, “bubbly, shallow cinematic creature that exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures”. His commentary highlights Clementine’s role, who initially seems to balance out Joel’s quiet and shy character. The narrative is known as the manic pixie dream girl (MPDG).

MPDG characters are usually portrayed as women who are impulsive, strange, unpredictable, lead their lives freely and play a role in pushing the male protagonists out of their comfort zone. This narrative can also be found in Claire Colburn (Kristen Dunst) in Elizabethtown, Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel) in 500 Days of Summer, Penny Lane (Kate Hudson) in Almost Famous, Margo Roth Spiegelman (Cara Delevigne) in Papertowns and many other. But the most interesting part happened when Clementine actually acknowledged this popular cinema misogynism in her dialogue,

Too many guys think I’m a concept, or I complete them, or I’m gonna make them alive. But I’m just a fucked-up girl who’s looking for my own peace of mind. Don’t assign me yours. “

The phrase “I’m not a concept” is a rejection of a label. Clementine’s character understands her identity well and insists on refusing to be identified by other characters is a breakthrough for the stereotype of women in films. It is also fascinating to analyze Eternal Sunshine and The Spotless Mind from the point of view of narrative theory. There are countless variations within the text narrative.

It is also fascinating to analyze Eternal Sunshine and The Spotless Mind from the point of view of narrative theory. There are countless variations within the text narrative, keeping the audience on the edge of their seat at all times. Even when there are not many dialogues, this film can give a disorienting effect without making the audience feel ‘lost’, but still driving the audience on the track. This film, with its surrealist universe, is able to maintain its emotional side. The jumps from reality and the world of Joel’s imagination are being kept intact through his narrative, helping the audience to interpret the scenes.

Connor (1989) continued that the essential point about postmodernism contained in the film is the breaking of the boundaries between the low and high classes. Eternal Sunshine and The Spotless Mind does have an extraordinary cinematographic complexity and screenplay, as well as a promising material for researchers to dismantle its elements. But at the same time, even though to the common crowd it is often reviewed as ‘complicated’ film, at the end of the day Eternal Sunshine and The Spotless Mind can be comfortably enjoyed as entertainment.

Connor, Steven. 1989. Postmodernist Culture : An Introduction to Theories of the Contemporary. New Jersey: Blackwell Publishing

Denzin, K.Norman. 1991. Image of Postmodern Society: Social Theory and Contemporary Cinema. London: Sage Publication.

Harvey, David. 1989. The Condition of Postmodernity. Oxford: Blacwell.

Hill, John. Film and Postmodernism.

Kuhn, Annette. 1990. Alien Zone: Cultural Theory and Cotemporary Science Fiction Cinema. New York: St Martin’s Press.

Modleski, Tania. 1991. Feminism Without Women: Culture and Criticism in A Postfeminist Age. London: Routledge.

Smelik, Anneke. 1999. Feminist Film Theory dalam The Cinema Book. London: British Film Institute.

Strinati, Dominic. 2004. An Introduction to Theories of Popular Culture. New York: Routledge.

Watson, Jamie. 2014. Mary Wollstonecraft as Anti-Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Sexuality, Melancholia, and the Death Sequence in Godwin’s Memoirs. [online] Accessed July 6th 2017. http://uncw.edu/csurf/explorations/documents/volume%209%202014/watson. pdf.

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Steffi Yosephine

Digital strategist by day. Illustrator, songwriter, poet, and fandom culture enthusiast by night.