Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Liminality - 9/26/2025

In class a couple weeks ago, Dr. Redick brought up the film Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind in his discussion of Thoreau and liminality. Specifically he mentioned a scene in which both characters, having had their memories of eachother erased but discovering a tape conveying the hatred they had for one another in the course of their relationship, are caught in a state of aporia and run through the hallway. Finally, Clementine repeats an earlier line from the film emphasizing her desire of independence by saying "you can't make me what you want," and thereafter the two decide to try to have a relationship despite of the past failure to make it work.

I think that an especially interesting element of the film with regard to the concept of liminality is the central conceit of technology with the capacity to erase one's bad memories. The decision to take away the memories of experiences one had, especially in the impulsive and profit-driven manner that is portrayed within the film, strikes me as intrinsically problematic. Of course, there are hypothetical edge cases where trauma can mean that medically it could be a good solution to revert a person's mind to the state it was in before when had the experience. However, a painful breakup doesn't seem to meet that standard for me, because the experience of passion is not something that should be surgically removed. This is articulated by Deleuze and Guttari in Anti Oedipus; desire or passion is not characterized by a destructive absence but a creative presence which drives the pursuit of positive relationships and experiences. I would argue that desire definitely requires a lack, but nonetheless fuels this positive creation described by Deleuze. Besides, by erasing your mistakes you also erase the potential for lessons to be learned from them. This relates to liminality in that passion is a qualitatively liminal experience; a passionate person is in a state of dynamism, lacking steady ground to stand on, which both causes pain and provides the capacity to go outside of your comfort zone.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Collective Unconscious and the Importance of Ego (Serial Experiments: Lain) - Carter Jobe

I just finished watching the short series Serial Experiments: Lain and was inspired to write this blog about the many spiritual inuendos that touched me throughout this experience, along with elements I found relevant to this class. There is an underlying element of the Jungian collective unconscious throughout the show, and it is represented by the Wired, a mix between the internet, a higher reality like a heaven, and a connection between all people and the world around them. The antagonist, "God", aims to deplete everyone's ego and superego along with their bodies, diminishing everyone into a digitized version of the collective unconscious. Humanity would become one, and there would be no sin or differences. Certain characters throughout the show commit themselves to this idea and rid themselves of their burdens to become a part of the wired.  Lain herself is compelled to do the same at one point. In the climax of the show, Lain claims that we don't need our bodies,...
Read more

Kip Redick Example Post

  Page 4 Michael Taussig would suggest Juan's understanding of the meaning of a place emerges out of the process of an imitation of all the “differences” that we discern there. We mimic (in language and action) the full range of sounds, movements, and other sensory perceptions that come to us from the more than human world.” It’s hard to put a place that strikes us as sublime into mere words; we can try to describe it as a feeling and try to put language to that feeling, but sometimes the feeling of the beauty of nature or the power of a sacred space is too big to try to translate or make sense of. Would every place and experience be subjective, and would the discourse be the same? Would the mountain top make me feel the same as another? Or does my personal experience with the natural world and divine keep it intimate/ unique, or would my experience be relatable enough? The author uses the messiness, ambiguity, and mystery of people's deeply personal experienc...
Read more

Dante's Inferno, a pilgrimage through hell

 Dante Alighieri was a prolific author of the 13th century. He wrote many pieces, but one that he is most well known for is his book Inferno. This book follows Dante as he travels through the seven rings of hell, he is guided by his now dead mentor Virgil. This book was the first piece of media from this time period to really explore the idea of what hell would entail. Each ring is split into level of sin, it starts with purgatory, an eternal waiting room for people who are between heaven and hell. The first ring is the tamest, with the least appalling of the eternal punishments. The last ring is for only the most atrocious of sinners and hold the worst punishments.     Dante travels through hell as a living man, so he has no fear of being tortured  as he journeys deeper into the pit of mans greatest threats. Dante begins cautious but excited, he has been given an opportunity of a life time, to document such a prolific place that is so deeply rooted in the core of so...
Read more