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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of Study
Memory is very crucial to human mind because human learn from their experiences in the past and they eventually form the character. Having these memories, we acknowledge the things we have already known and decided. Our memories contain things we have learned as human and if we lose it, we will lose our identity, both socially and cognitively. Without having any memory, we will not grow as a person because we have no knowledge of what we have been doing and who we are. It might as well affect our current situation since we cannot figure reasons why we are in our current location and what we are supposed to do.
This topic is interesting because memory is a part of our life. We cannot think as a complete person without having the memories we have had. We develop ourselves by remembering what we have gone through in our life. Our memories are also a factor that triggers our perception and actions to anything from looking to our previous experience. As an example, we try to not repeat what might be a wrong thing to do. We stop going to a restaurant because we experienced the bad food and services. We respect our parents more when we remember the mistakes we did to them. We do not trust a person who has failed to keep our secrets. In conclusion, we learn from what we remember. As stated by Myers (2007) we are what we remember, without our memories, we would not have recollections of the moments in the past. We could only feel what we know in the present and every moment would be something new. Things like language, activities,
and people would be a riddle for us. Even we could be a stranger to our selves due to the lack of continuous sense of self which expands from our past to the current momentary time. (p.349)
Our memories affect feelings too. If we remember sad events, our emotion at the current moment will be sad recalling those sad moments. If a terrible thing happens to us and it frightens us so bad then it may cause a trauma that we do not want it to be a part of our memory anymore. In some cases, things that scare us may cause a phobia. For instance, an attack from animal terrifies us too much so the next time we see that animal we will be afraid because we remember the scary thing it did to us and think it might happen again. All in all, not everything in life that occurs to us is a good thing but it is sure that our experiences can all remain in our memory.
In addition, there are memories we want to forget but we cannot. These memories are usually the ones that are emotionally involved, whether it is just an embarrassing moment when we fall in front of a lot of people, a break up with a partner, or an accident that causes us to suffer just by a flashback at the moments. The film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind shows the possibility of erasing memories. It also shows happy memories and sad memories can influence a person in changing his/her emotion and making decision. Therefore, memories can sometimes be difficult to handle because it affects our feeling but every memories can also be a lesson to learn.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a science fiction movie directed by Michel Gondry and scripted by Charlie Kaufman. Michel Gondry is a French filmmaker who, besides directing movies such as The Green Hornet and The Science of Sleep, also
each other again. As soon as they love again, they have to deal with the fact they have erased their memories because of their own mistakes in the past, knowing that they have been together before but failed in their relationship.
The movie gained various critics because of the theme and twisted plot. It won some awards for its screenplay such as; Oscar, BAFTA, and Literary Award. It also received Movie of the Year from AFI Award back in 2005. A previous research that analyzes this movie is an article titled Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and the Morality of Memory by Grau (2006). He argues if such process like memory erasing is morally right with human values. One of it is to gain happiness by removing the memories that cause a pain or sadness. Considering the relation of memory to the value that we humans have, this thesis tries to see why by looking through the memory can change the character’s decision in order to forget the pain. This study will analyze how memory can influence a character to change by analyzing it with psychoanalytic elements such as, ego defense mechanisms, provinces of the mind, and the levels of mental life.
1.2 Problem Formulation
The problem formulations in this research are:
- How do the movie’s plot and setting portray the process of memory erasing?
- How does memory influence the character’s emotion?
- How does the main character cope with the memory erasing?
1.3 Scope and Limitation
The scope of this research revolves around Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind movie by Michel Gondry (2004). The limitation is focused on Joel character with his memories of his girlfriend Clementine.
1.4 Goals of Research
The goals of the research are:
- To find out how memory erasing is portrayed in the movie through setting and plot.
- To figure out the effects of memory erasing to the character’s emotion.
- To see the main character’s response towards the erasing with defense mechanisms.
1.5 Research Method
The methods in doing the research are explained here. It includes describing the media source that supports this research and the instruments to help analyzing the topic. The time this thesis starts and the place in which the research with its properties are taken, are also included here. Then the process of collecting the data compilation and data analysis is discussed afterwards. It also contains the expected result coming from this research.
This research starts from February 2012. A selection of novels and movies were chosen carefully from which has the most interesting theme. The movie Eternal
using the theory of psychoanalysis. The id, ego, and superego of the character will be sorted out and the writer will find out which defense mechanisms the character uses.
The expected result from this research is this research can show how memory works and to find out if memory has an impact to our life as well as influence the emotion or vice versa. Moreover, this research wants to show that any memories of our experience can be something to learn for future events.
Graphic 1: Research Method Flowchart
