Eternal sunshine of the spotless cycle

Abstract

[first paragraph] MEMORIES DISTORT THE PAST. To take a fitting example, a friend of mine remembered the ending of Eternal Sunshine as a rather depressing condemnation of the possibility of love. In her memory, the film ended with Joel and Clementine going their separate ways after discovering that they had once been together and had come to hate each other. In fact, the film ends with Joel and Clementine apparently ready to try again. I showed my friend the end of the film again, and she was stunned by the finale. She then recalled that she was going through a painful break-up herself the first time she watched the film and that this must have colored what she remembered about it.