Joel and Clementine's romance in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is full of ups and downs like every real relationship, but their timeline plays out of order in the movie. It's a story of breakup and love reborn, set in a world where people can undergo a procedure to erase the memories of past relationships. After learning his ex-girlfriend Clementine erased him, Joel decides to do the same. As he watches their memory together dissipate, Joel engages in an exhaustive fight against his own mind when he realizes he still loves Clementine.
The narrative unravels in non-chronological order, and the audience can only tell what's present and what's past by the color of Clementine's hair. Other parallel stories add up to the main storyline by showing the universality of love, with each different person falling victim to the same mistakes. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is considered Charlie Kaufman's best movie, successfully showcasing the screenwriter's talent for representing the simplicity of life through a series of absurdities. One way to better appreciate the genius narrative structure of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is to look at Joel and Clementine's timeline in chronological order.
Joel & Clementine Meet At A Beach Party
Joel and Clementine first meet on a sunny and cold afternoon at a beach party. Joel finds himself drawn to a girl he makes out in the distance wearing a distinctive orange sweatshirt. It comes as a surprise to him when the same girl, which turns out to be Clementine, approaches him and suddenly takes a piece of his chicken. The two immediately hit it off by relating to each other's social awkwardness, hanging out around the beach house.
"Scared like a little kid," as he points out, Joel walks out the door and runs away from Clementine, half-humiliated, half-infatuated. In one detail that foreshadows the movie's ending, Clementine whispers, "Meet me in Montauk," as the memory of their first meeting fades away, foreshadowing a post-Erasure event.
Joel Visits Clementine At Work
To Clementine's surprise, Joel feels the urge to see her and shows up at her work to ask her out. She gives him a speech about how she's a high-maintenance kind of girl, the type who doesn't want to be a concept but rather seen for what she really is. Joel, as a good listener, is carried away, and despite Clementine's best efforts to warn him or scare him off one last time, he thinks she is going to save his life.
Joel & Clementine Begin Dating
Joel and Clementine understand they complete each other, engaging in a serious relationship after going out a few times. Joel's mix of nostalgia and melancholy as he goes through the happiest moments of his relationships is what makes him one of Jim Carrey's most acclaimed dramatic roles.
In a pivotal moment, the couple goes to a remote frozen lake, and they lie side by side in the vastness of ice and nature around them, overwhelmed by happiness and the starry sky above. Most of the happiest moments of their relationship are interrupted by Joel's exhaustive attempts to break off the memory-erasing procedure, so it's difficult to tell what's real and what's not from the exciting start of Joel and Clementine's relationship.
Joel & Clementine's Relationship Begins To Fall Apart
At this stage, what Joel and Clementine loved so much about each other becomes the target of countless arguments. For instance, Joel complains that Clementine talks too much, while Clementine insists that people need to share things. Joel was never much of a talkative person, which implies this is now something that bothers Clementine. This is the moment Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind becomes a realistic and essential breakup movie. Joel and Clementine begin to lose touch, and their intimacy lacks substance. They begin to argue about a series of trivial things, from hairy soap to the way people perceive them as a couple.
An argument about having children seems to be the last straw. The last time Joel sees Clementine, she gets home extremely drunk and claims to have dented Joel's car. The argument that follows is painful, and the two say horrible things to each other. Clem storms out, and that's the end of their relationship.
Clementine Erases Joel
Joel wants to make up with Clementine, but she changes her number and acts like she doesn't recognize him. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is the perfect movie to watch after a breakup because it understands all the stages of the end of a relationship. Clementine's hair is noticeably blue, representing a melancholy that Clementine herself fails to recognize because the memories of her turbulent breakup have been taken away from her. In the face of Joel's despair, Joel's friend Rob hands him a card explaining that Clementine has erased him from her memory and that their relationship should never be mentioned again.
Joel is a character who finds it extremely hard to express emotions. It's difficult not to feel sorry for him as he tries to come to with his feelings, consumed by a mix of guilt and regret for having lost someone he truly cared for. Joel's pre-procedure moments are just as disorienting as they are heartbreaking because he doesn't understand why Clementine fails to recognize him.
Joel Erases Clementine
Most of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind takes place inside Joel's mind as he undergoes the memory-erasing procedure, which means everything he witnesses only feels real to him. Even as Joel goes through the worst moments of his relationship with Clementine, he realizes he still loves her and tries to outrun his memories to stop the procedure. To do that, he tries to bring the Clementine that lives inside his head to a place she doesn't belong: a memory lost in his mind. By bringing Clementine to his childhood memories, Joel succeeds in stopping the erasure for a moment. However, the machine ultimately wins, and the procedure gets completed.
Joel & Clementine Meet In Montauk
While Joel and Clementine's chance encounter in Montauk is the first event presented in the movie, it's actually the end of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and the second time the two meet for the "first time." Both Joel and Clementine feel a puzzling urge to travel to Montauk, where they walk around the beach alone. On the train back, Clementine strikes up a conversation with Joel and, once again, the two immediately hit it off.
Everything seems to flow at ease with plenty of coincidences going on, including the two getting off the train at the same station. Joel offers Clementine a ride, and she invites him in for a drink. In a moment that definitely grows stronger on a rewatch, the two go to the same frozen river from before, again lying side by side and watching the stars.
Joel & Clementine Find Out The Truth
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind explores the "right person, wrong time" trope in a creative way, offering an unexpected second chance to its characters. Joel and Clementine receive the tape recordings from the start of their respective procedures, in which they exposed the very worst of each other. Joel thinks it's all a joke, but when Clementine listens to Joel's tapes, the truth becomes crystal clear.
Clementine tries to run off just like Joel did when they first met, but this time he doesn't let her go. Finally, the two understand that committing to someone isn't sticking only to what's convenient. The tapes offer them an opportunity to stop looking for the versions they project in each other and accept what truly makes them unique together. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind reminds viewers that there are no perfect couples, and everyone loves in their own way. Sometimes, a simple and mutual "okay" is the sign of a beautiful fresh start.
