PHL355 and the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

This past Friday evening I caught Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (@IMDB or @rottentomatoes) before it ended its theatrical run. Highly recommended, especially to all those with me in Philosophy of History this term.

The plot centres around a broken relationship. The question the film asks and answers is whether sorrowful memories caused by such a failed relationship are worth keeping. Nietzsche would answer in the negative, of which the film is aware. A character quotes a line from Beyond Good and Evil: "Blessed are the forgetful, for they get the better even of their blunders." Eternal Sunshine is a highly entertainig refutation of Nietzsche. See it.

I'll leave you with the source of the films (great) title:

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;
Labour and rest, that equal periods keep;
"Obedient slumbers that can wake and weep;"
Desires compos'd, affections ever ev'n,
Tears that delight, and sighs that waft to Heav'n.
-- Alexander Pope, "Eloisa to Abelard" (1717)