Earls 1 Brett Earls Amber Lemiere English 101 Fall 2013 The Memory Battle The human mind.

A delicate place o !no"ledge and po"er. The mo#ie $Eternal %unshine o the %potless Mind& portrays the human mind as po"er ul yet acilely damaged. The ilmma!ers promote that our memories run our li e. 'ur past e(periences mold our minds and teach us a lot about "ho "e are as an indi#idual. )ithout memories* "e might as "ell ha#e been born yesterday. By deleting the memories o each other +oel and ,lementine are missing are part o their li e. +oel reali-es this part "ay through the memory elimination process* and attempts to hide his memories o ,lementine* because he reali-ed no matter ho" much it hurt to remember* he needed those memories to learn and mo#e or"ard. E#en though sometimes "e "ould rather orget the negati#e components o our li e* it is important or us to learn rom our past e(periences to achie#e the greatness "e "ant in our uture. )hile "atching $Eternal %unshine o the %potless Mind& +oel meets ,lementine. )hat they don.t reali-e is that they ha#e met be ore. +oel and ,lementine "ished to erase all memory o each other out o their minds. /art "ay through the process* +oel reali-es he needed those memories. 0e can.t hide himsel rom his past* he needed those memories to learn and mo#e on. But he made his decision to late. )ithout those memories to stop him* he goes on later and meets ,lementine again* but he does not remember* and "ill go on to repeat a pre#ious course o action. )ithout memories "e can not learn rom our past. 1 "e didn.t ha#e memories "e "ould 2ust continue to ma!e the same mista!es

Earls 2 li!e +oel and ,lementine did. This idea is rein orced by t"o other characters in the mo#ie. Mary and the 3octor both add to the idea that e#en a ter the memory o the doctor "as erased rom Mary.s mind* she still ended up alling in lo#e "ith the doctor a second time. 1 she couldn.t remember that it didn.t "or! out one time* then she "ould 2ust repeat the pre#ious mista!e. 1nstead o erasing her memories* Alma* rom the short story $Memory )all& records all her memories on tapes. %he preser#es her memories* so she can reli#e any moment at any time. The ultimate po"er o !no"ledge "as in her hands. E#en though Alma had amnesia and couldn.t ma!e anything o her memories* Lu#o "as able to access those memories. A ter brea!ing into her house night a ter night searching through her memories* Lu#o ound the tape he had been loo!ing or and unco#ered a lost ossil* "hich made him rich. 0e didn.t ma!e the same mista!es as Alma.s husband* "ho died shortly a ter disco#ering the ossil. Lu#o "as prepared because he had those memories. 1 Lu#o hadn.t had Alma.s memories* he might ha#e met his demise searching or that ossil. 'ur brain uses our memories to protect rom uture dangers* and to help us build a better uture. The day a ter +oel erases his memory* he gets a sudden urge to s!ip "or!* go do"n to the beach* then ends up meeting ,lementine again. This "as +oel.s brain trying to retrie#e its lost thoughts* because he needed those memories. 1 +oel had the ad#antage o remembering his past* he "ouldn.t ma!e the mista!e o alling or ,lementine again. )hen the ilmma!ers are trying to spread a message about our memory and ho" important it is* they ha#e to con#ince the audience to belie#e them. They used t"o main tactics in this process4 the irst being a term called Ethos. They used credible actors. /eople that #ie"ers ha#e seen all around and ha#e gro"n to lo#e and loo! up to. +im ,arey played The Mas!e* 5ate )inslet played the lead role in Titanic. Eli2ah )oods played Frodo in Lot6. And 5irsten 3unst rom %piderman. The second tactic is not as easy to achie#e. That "ould be /athos. The ilmma!ers made an emotional connection "ith the

Earls 3 audience. The characters "ere depressed* angry* heartbro!en and mourn ul. Their negati#e attitudes increased as more memories "ere erased. But as memories "ere reborn* and remembered the attitudes o characters seemed to shine brighter* or become more positi#e in a "ay. 7sing ethos and pathos together allo"ed or a more po"er ul e ect on the audience. 7sing e(tremely credible actors to relay #ery negati#e emotions to"ards the sub2ect* is the ilmma!ers "ay o e(pressing that our memories are important and "e need to cherish e#en our dar!est recollections* to pre#ent history rom repeating itsel . 1 "e "ant to achie#e a better and greater uture or oursel#es "e must hold onto e#en our most daunting memories. 8o matter ho" bad "e "ant to orget those thoughts. 1 "e push our memories out o our minds and orce oursel#es to orget* the only thing "e "ill accomplish is repeating the past. 1magine i America didn.t teach history in our schools* and then or e(ample4 e#erybody orgot ho" de#astating the Atomic bomb in "as in 0iroshima* +apan. 1 nobody remembered that tragedy* unnecessary damage could be caused. 1magine all the terrible things that could be repeated. That.s "hy "e ha#e our memories4 to remember our past* to teach our past* and to plan or our uture. The mind is a po"er ul machine* and "ithout our memories there is nothing to protect us rom hurting oursel#es o#er and o#er again. This is the memory battle.

Earls 9 )or!s ,ited Eternal %unshine o the %potless Mind. Michel :ondry. 2009. 3oerr* Anthony. Memory Wall.