Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Externally Enhanced Denial
The convention of this film is that it takes place at a time when the technology exists to help people erase pesky memories, maybe other thoughts too. Just go in, put on a Devo hat, and one of their highly trained professionals will muck around in your mind looking for distasteful thoughts and delete them. Sounds pretty plausible to me. After all, if this service were actually possible, I'm sure it would be a huge success. Just ask the alcohol & drug companies, or entertainment companies, or psychologists.... better yet, go ask your best friend what the connection is between their family of origin and their current life.
If denial were a fungible commodity, it would be the world's biggest selling entity. Most people are ten times better at denial than incorporating and dealing with their many, often confusing, often painful, thoughts and feelings. I'm no exeption, my denial about my childhood lasted till I was 38. And, I like to see stuff, I welcome awareness, and that is unusual. Most folks seem to think it's quite pesky, gets in the way of all the important stuff they want to do. For me, I need the awareness first, in order to determine what I want to do. I think for many others, it works the opposite way. They start from what they think they need to do; thoughts that fit, stay, thoughts that don't...go. We all have some control over what we think. Problem is, it's not total control. And, that's where the helpers come in... drugs, distraction, denial. All of it can work, for a while, to a degree.
Alright, you know the drill... what's the next question? What is the cost? According to the movie, it's based on the classic quote by George Satayana, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it". Which is exactly what happens to the principals. Although the movie offers the possibility that the second, unaware do-over, will work out better. The cost...not fucking learning from your own life. Now, for some reason I will never understand, that does not seem to bother many people. It bothers the living shit out of me, even to see it in others, because, to me, life is for learning and loving, that's it. Why? That gets me to the quote that really came to mind, that frequently comes to mind. It's one of my favorites and Nicholson delivered it beautifully in Easy Rider.
I mean, it's real hard to be free when you're bought and sold in the marketplace. Course, don't ever tell anybody that they're not free, cause they're gonna get real busy killin' and maimin' to prove to you that they are. Oh yeah, they're gonna talk to you and talk to you about individual freedom - but, they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em.
There is nothing we cherish in this country more than freedom. But, I look around at these highly educated people, some of whom have very little quality of life. For all the gloss, they do not seem happy, and they certainly don't seem free. Maybe we don't go in for Devo hats, but something is messing with the minds of these people. Otherwise, they would demand more out of life. So, as CSN&Y said, "Find the cost of freedom". What is the cost? Your denial. That's what you need to cough up, in order to get free. It may not sound like a high price, but it is. Even still, self-induced amnesia is still quite attractive, because you can't always get what you want. It's hard though, when you're flipping through your RS 500 - Collector's Issue and see the face you're trying to forget, again staring.
Anyway, I highly recommend seeing this great film, which should get an Oscar nod, on DVD. It includes a chat between Jim Carrey & Michel Gondry, the gifted director. They talk about the night the elephants were being brought through NYC for the circus and how they spontaneously mobilized to get footage, and how one night Jim ended up driving a bed around Jersey freeways for hours. I think back to my earlier post and how he once tried to squelch all that with Prozac. His life stands in such stark contrast to that. He lives out everyone's fantasy. He gets paid $25M to ride around on a bed, and chase elephants with Kate Winslet... can't beat that. You can see why he'd be so attracted to the role, a guy willing, literally, to pay for brain damage, in order to turn off the pain. It stands for exactly what Carrey is so proud to have avoided.
If denial were a fungible commodity, it would be the world's biggest selling entity. Most people are ten times better at denial than incorporating and dealing with their many, often confusing, often painful, thoughts and feelings. I'm no exeption, my denial about my childhood lasted till I was 38. And, I like to see stuff, I welcome awareness, and that is unusual. Most folks seem to think it's quite pesky, gets in the way of all the important stuff they want to do. For me, I need the awareness first, in order to determine what I want to do. I think for many others, it works the opposite way. They start from what they think they need to do; thoughts that fit, stay, thoughts that don't...go. We all have some control over what we think. Problem is, it's not total control. And, that's where the helpers come in... drugs, distraction, denial. All of it can work, for a while, to a degree.
Alright, you know the drill... what's the next question? What is the cost? According to the movie, it's based on the classic quote by George Satayana, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it". Which is exactly what happens to the principals. Although the movie offers the possibility that the second, unaware do-over, will work out better. The cost...not fucking learning from your own life. Now, for some reason I will never understand, that does not seem to bother many people. It bothers the living shit out of me, even to see it in others, because, to me, life is for learning and loving, that's it. Why? That gets me to the quote that really came to mind, that frequently comes to mind. It's one of my favorites and Nicholson delivered it beautifully in Easy Rider.
I mean, it's real hard to be free when you're bought and sold in the marketplace. Course, don't ever tell anybody that they're not free, cause they're gonna get real busy killin' and maimin' to prove to you that they are. Oh yeah, they're gonna talk to you and talk to you about individual freedom - but, they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em.
There is nothing we cherish in this country more than freedom. But, I look around at these highly educated people, some of whom have very little quality of life. For all the gloss, they do not seem happy, and they certainly don't seem free. Maybe we don't go in for Devo hats, but something is messing with the minds of these people. Otherwise, they would demand more out of life. So, as CSN&Y said, "Find the cost of freedom". What is the cost? Your denial. That's what you need to cough up, in order to get free. It may not sound like a high price, but it is. Even still, self-induced amnesia is still quite attractive, because you can't always get what you want. It's hard though, when you're flipping through your RS 500 - Collector's Issue and see the face you're trying to forget, again staring.
Anyway, I highly recommend seeing this great film, which should get an Oscar nod, on DVD. It includes a chat between Jim Carrey & Michel Gondry, the gifted director. They talk about the night the elephants were being brought through NYC for the circus and how they spontaneously mobilized to get footage, and how one night Jim ended up driving a bed around Jersey freeways for hours. I think back to my earlier post and how he once tried to squelch all that with Prozac. His life stands in such stark contrast to that. He lives out everyone's fantasy. He gets paid $25M to ride around on a bed, and chase elephants with Kate Winslet... can't beat that. You can see why he'd be so attracted to the role, a guy willing, literally, to pay for brain damage, in order to turn off the pain. It stands for exactly what Carrey is so proud to have avoided.
posted by Intervision at 7:14 AM
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