Tickling or Whatever-Verb-is-Appropriate That Hopeless Romantic In Me

There lies somewhere deep within us a hopeless romantic that deserves to be tickled or whatever-verb-is-appropriate once in a while for it not to vanish/die/disappear because we have to admit we need this hopeless romantic at least once (or twice?) in our lives.

I don't remember having tickled or whatever-verb-is-appropriate my hopeless romantic nature this 2009 and since it is about to end barring any global-warming-induced hitches, I was faced with the question, Which movie to tickle it or whatever-verb-is-appropriate with? Since 2008 left me exhausted when I chose to tickle it or whatever-verb-is-appropriate my hopeless romantic nature on someone, this year I figured... watching a movie would be a less taxing endeavor. 

So, (500) Days of Summer or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Both movies have long titles, and I've heard both are good ones. But since I believe that oldies are always better--in movies, music, arts, and even science, research, politics. Basically, you name it, chances are our predecessors are better at it--I watched Eternal Sunshine.

Again, as a testament, to my liking of the film, I quote here a random line said by Joel Barish (played by Jim Carrey) which stuck to my mind for some reason...

Sand is overrated. It's just tiny, little rocks.

Thanks (or maybe no thanks) to Jecy A. and Google for informing me how great the movie is. So, I was going into the movie, thinking... This has got to rock. This has got to knock my socks off.... Despite watching the movie "pre-briefed" (and in Dr. Sheldon Cooper's of The Big Bang Theory words: Once my mind is pre-bombed, it can never be re-bombed.), I still liked it. This decision sure ranks as one of the better decisions I've made this year--despite its seemingly shallow nature.

Like The Beach, Eternal Sunshine made me think--which is what I love about movies, they make me think of all things philosophical (and otherwise) that wouldn't come to mind if not for the movie itself--about the possibility of erasing someone or something from one's mind without affecting other unrelated memories? And can the mind, as what happened with Joel's, develop a resistance to the erasing process once it has started? Is the mind that powerful?

In the end, what the Eternal Sunshine leaves in its viewers' minds is not the possibility and conveniablity (yes, I know that's not a legal word but it sort of means, for me, the state of being convenient) of having memories erased once these memories hurt us but the consequences and the emptiness it leaves. That no matter how bad/painful/[insert negative adjective here] these thoughts, these memories, these people make/made us feel, they still define who we are as a person.

That, everyone, is the moral "lesson"--if you may--of the movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.