Clementine: Joel, I'm not a concept. Too many guys think I'm a concept or I complete them
or I'm gonna make them alive, but I'm just a fucked up girl who's looking for her own peace
of mind. Don't assign me yours.
Joel: I remember that speech really well.
Clementine: I had you pegged, didn't I?
Joel: You had the whole world pegged.
Clementine: Probably.
Joel: I still thought you were going to save me. Even after that.
oftentimes, movies are nothing more than a two-hour escape from the rigors of our daily grind. we watch, and then, we forget. but once in a while, there are those special ones that turn out to be a kind of pleasant surprise. those are the movies that stir something inside you, the kind that speaks with a devastating honesty that you find your innermost thoughts unfolding before your very eyes. and as your tale is told, it leaves you weeping silently in the darkness.
such was Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - a film that celebrates the complexities of love, and does so without sugarcoating the word. it depicts the realities two people confront inside a relationship - the tender beginnings, the excitement of the first kiss, the petty arguments, the big fights, and the determined struggle to hold on. daring to take chances, Charlie Kaufman's latest screenplay succeeds at being smart, funny, and endlessly thought-provoking.
it probes deep into the pains of separation and how best to overcome it. here we have the two lead characters opting to erase each other from their memory, quite literally in the film. and the wisdom of their decision comes under close scrutiny as they gradually realize the consequences of their actions. charmingly poignant and intensely heartbreaking, the movie is a work of no less than a spotlessly brilliant mind. Mister Kaufman, you are a genius.
the whole family was gathered in the living room the other night, as it has been a habit of ours to watch the evening news together. when the entertainment segment came, the topic of Kris Aquino came about. the abomination also known as my older brother began shaking his head and muttered, "nakakahiya sya. STD. yuck."
now i could care less about showbusiness, but i just could not let that comment pass. "eh di ba mas nakakahiya si joey? sya kaya yung nanghawa."
"kahit na, si kris yung BABAE. bakit sya nagpahawa? kadiri. inamin nya pa sa mga tao. hindi na nahiya."
apparently, in the world according to HIM, standing up for one's self and telling the truth are values exclusive only to men, and they become despicable acts when committed by women. what. a. brute. he ought to go back to wherever cave he came from and spare us from his narrow chauvinist mind. how in god's name did this person become my brother? HOW?!
the same blood runs through our veins. i am deeply shamed.
it has been exactly a month since she left me.
they say loss has five stages: denial, bargaining, anger, despair, and finally, acceptance. i must have gone through each and every one, and now i've come to terms with reality. she is no longer mine, and i am no longer hers.
but sometimes, i still find myself closing my eyes and reaching out to touch her face in the void. i still long to caress the smoothness of her cheeks, and place a most tender kiss on her lips. whenever i find something beautiful, it is still second nature for me to want to run and share it with her.
there are moments, i admit, when her absence hits me like a blow to the chest. but the pain grows less and less, as i realize... that it is not a pointless thing to love because it may fall apart, just as it is not a pointless thing to be alive because of imminent death. you live for the journey, and you love for the moments, like when you would hold her hands and catch her looking at you with loving eyes, that your heart is filled with an inexplicable sort of bliss.
the fact that it ended does not alter the truth that it happened.
she came by... and i am happy.
