Eternal Sunshine and Postmodernism: Finding Humanity in Chaos

Our World Today

The postmodern era (our current times) is considered a bleak, even nihilistic period where commercialism and the constant search for spectacle overrules any deeper truths or objective reality. While modernism, the era prior, is associated with the positive aspects of capitalism, in the postmodern, the focus has shifted to its more cynical counterpart, late-stage capitalism (What Does “Late Capitalism” Really Mean). In postmodernist films, one will find elements of paranoia, mental instability, fragmented narratives, dystopian settings and cynical social commentary, which are not the most optimistic combinations.

Yet even with all the negativity associated with the era, postmodernist films are not inherently pessimistic. Postmodernist films acknowledge the chaos and meaninglessness of the era, while highlighting that rediscovering genuine, human connections is still worthwhile and can shape one’s destiny for the better. I will be dissecting the postmodernist film, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for this discussion.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) directed by Michel Gondry, tells the story of how Joel and Clementine meet, fall in love, fight, have their memories of each other erased, and meet again. In true postmodern fashion, this film uses non-linear storytelling, voiceover narration, forced perspectives, creative editing, and unsynchronized sound to create a distinctive and surreal visual/audio style. The film is part romance, part science fiction, and part psychological thriller. I highly recommend watching this film if you have not already.

Pastiche and Schizophrenia

Fredric Jameson states that postmodernism “expresses the inner truth of that newly emergent social order of late capitalism” with two significant features: pastiche and schizophrenia (Jameson 113). For pastiche elements, Eternal Sunshine was inspired by and borrows from the 1968 French New Wave film, Je T’aime, Je T’aime, from director Alain Resnais (Rosenbaum). Both films delve into the heartache of lost love from a man’s perspective and his desire to hold onto his memories of her, even as he wishes to forget the pain associated with those memories.

High and lowbrow elements are mixed in postmodernism. In Eternal Sunshine, we have highbrow references to Alexander Pope (initially mis-attributed as Pope Alexander for a little lowbrow moment) where the film title is explained; and the Freudian or psychoanalytic exploration of Joel’s mind (highbrow), occurring while the lowbrow technicians are literally stealing and fornicating around the sleeping patient during his procedure.

For schizophrenic elements, there’s the non-linear storytelling, as well as the visual surrealism and forced perspectives that are especially strong when revisiting Joel’s memories. There are moments when the audience cannot know whether a scene is a revisited memory of Joel’s or Clementine’s, or if it is even a revisited memory at all, as Joel attempts to actively rewrite several of his memories while in his dream-state. I especially loved the music video editing style of the film with beautiful visuals (the bed appearing on the beach for example) and fast cuts between scenes.

How happy is the blameless vestal’s lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray’r accepted, and each wish resign’d…
Alexander Pope, Eloise to Abelard

The Inner Truth

The question remains: what is the “inner truth” that Jameson referred to for this film? Is it the hopelessness of a world where people would rather erase their memories than endure the agony of broken relationships? No. The inner truth of this film is recognizing that heartbreak and imperfections are all part of human experience, and we must boldly and with integrity embrace the negatives along with the positives. Life is worth living only with the entire package.

Imitations of Reality

Jean Baudrillard argues that postmodern society has become reliant on the imitations of meaningful reality (simulacra) over reality itself (Doughty, Ruth and Christine Etherington-Wright 148). At first glance, Eternal Sunshine characters do seem to embrace and desire false memories (simulacra) over real memories. Yet if we look closer, we can see the hopelessness and desperation the characters feel (not only the main characters but side characters) as they participate with the procedure. Choosing the procedure is an analogy for self-harm. It is not something anyone wants; it simply feels like the only option for dealing with extreme pain and loss. The film lets our postmodern society know that we don’t need to embrace the simulacra in our lives. We can choose, as Joel and Clementine ultimately did after meeting again, to accept each other and ourselves as we are and still move forward, for better or worse, until death do us part (threw a little postmodernism reference in there for ya!)

Conclusion

While the postmodern era and late-stage capitalism may seem like a depressing time to live in, postmodernist films are sending us a hopeful message: there is a way out. We can, in fact, exercise our ability to think critically by not accepting everything that is presented to us as true or simple; we can question authority and be cautious of universal-truth statements; and lastly, we can enjoy the beautiful, chaotic, complexity that is our world today.

Works Cited

Doughty, Ruth and Christine Etherington-Wright. Understanding Film Theory. 2nd ed., Bloomsbury Academic, 2022.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Directed by Michael Gondry. Focus Features, 2004.

Jameson, Fredric. “Postmodernism and Consumer Society.” The Cultural Turn: Selected Writings on the Postmodern, Verso, London, 1998.

Rosenbaum, Jonathan. “A Stylist Hits His Stride (ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND).” Jonathan Rosenbaum, 19 Mar. 2004, web.archive.org/web/20150402044311/www.jonathanrosenbaum.net/2004/03/a-stylist-hits-his-stride/.

What Does “Late Capitalism” Really Mean?, The Atlantic YouTube Channel, www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7zZPqar34w. Accessed 20 Sept. 2025.