By Rwiti Bhattacharya
The phrase that “opposites attract” perhaps couldn’t ring truer for a movie the way it does for ‘Eternal sunshine of the Spotless Mind’. Essentially, it is a story about two strangers - Joel and Clementine - who fall in love, break up, erase their memories of each other and then revisit their relationship with virtually no trace of their former selves in the relationship. What makes their dynamic interesting is that they serve as mirror images of each other - Joel is shy, introverted, lonely, while Clementine is loud, eccentric, impuslive and free-spirited (Gondry, 2004). However, their contrasting personalities mutually reinforce each other while also sometimes getting in their way. This essay will aim to delineate the traits of both characters that might be indicative of latent personality disorders they had and also help to understand some of the issues that cropped up in their relationship.
That both of these characters potentially have personality disorders of a certain magnitude is evident from the fact that they have rigid and unhealthy patterns of thinking, behaving and unstable interpersonal relationships (“Personality disorders”, 2016). They claim so themselves, when Clementine says to Joel in their first meeting at a friend’s party, that “it’s good to have someone normal who doesn’t know how to interact at these things either.” (Gondry, 2004) “Normalising” one’s own irrational thoughts and behaviour in this way is another characteristic of a personality disorder (“Personality disorders”, 2016).
Between the two of them however, Clementine seems to have more maladaptive patterns as she very frequently puts herself in perilous positions, or takes actions without thinking of their consequences. “I apply my personality in a paste”, she says, when trying to explain her frequent changes of hair colour and how they reflect her temporary state of being - which are aptly summarised by the names of the colours : ‘blue ruin, ‘red menace’, ‘yellow fever’. This arguable neuroticism, in addition to her unpredictable thinking and behaviour, amounts to a diagnosis of a cluster B Personality Disorder, more specifically, Borderline Personality Disorder.
Clementine displays several symptoms of BPD as prescribed by the DSM-V, which defines BPD as a “pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image and affects, and marked impulsivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts” (APA, 2013).
The impulsivity is very evident in several parts, where Clementine takes seemingly “adventurous” or “bold” decisions but ends up putting herself in “at least 2 areas that are potentially self-damaging” (APA, 2013). Substance abuse is clearly something she struggles with, as she stays out getting drunk till late at night, breaks into a closed bar, and even wrecks Joel’s car in her drunken state. She even uses her impulsivity to justify her actions to Joel by saying to him “you know me, I’m impulsive”. Perhaps as a result of her alcohol dependence, she sometimes reacts with “inappropriate, intense anger, frequent displays of temper, and recurrent physical fights”, which is another identifying symptom of BPD.
Clementine reveals her insecure attachment patterns in her relationship with Joel. The source of such attachment is not clear since we are not told much about her family history or childhood, but two more symptoms of BPD are manifested in her romantic encounters with Joel : 1) she makes “frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment” (APA, 2013), by either clinging onto him even when he makes it clear that he physically doesn’t want to be so close to her, or by self-sabotaging so that Joel won’t develop feelings for her, and hence questions of abandonment won’t arise. She describes herself as a “f***ed up girl who’s looking for her own peace of mind” and clearly states that she doesn’t want to have to take care of another person. 2) Clementine follows a “pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation” (APA, 2013) with Joel. While this might be considered in pop culture as giving “mixed signals” and an efficient flirting tactic, the situation is more debilitating in their case as Clementine rapidly shifts from feeling “bored and trapped” with Joel (Gondry, 2004) to begging him to stay with her and “meet (her) again in Montauk”, where they had first fallen in love. Her behaviour towards him is also highly volatile as she sometimes wants his love and affection but at other times almost turns violent towards him. She is not able to make her mind up about Joel and yet keeps going back to him, perhaps to seek validation and gratification. No matter what she does to him though, Joel wants to stick with Clementine, through all her indecisiveness. This in turn leads Clementine to believe that her actions and behaviour aren’t erratic or irresponsible and she refuses to change them. The relationship thus turns progressively toxic as both people feed into each other’s abnormal behaviour patterns out of a desperate need to stay together.
Some symptoms exhibited by Cleemntine have also led to speculations around her having a possible history of Histrionic Personality Disorder, especially because of her lack of empathy in certain situations and her quick, shallow, emotional shifts (Brown, 2021). However, I disagree with this diagnosis as she doesn’t display any of the major sysmptoms of HPD and the few that overlap with other personality disorders can be more accurately attributed to BPD.
Joel, on the other hand, provides the perfect balance to Clementine’s chronic instability. He is calm, reserved, and overthinks every action and behaviour before acting on them. Some of the traits displayed by him are mildly indicative of Cluster C Personality Disorders - which are mainly characterised by anxious or fearful behaviours which might lead a person to either excessively avoid or cling to people, depending on the disorder (“What are Cluster C Personality Disorders”, 2021). Joel seems to personify the former, as he self-admittedly doesn’t like to interact with people, be at social gatherings, and shows “restrained behavior in close relationships because he is afraid of being shamed or ridiculed” (APA, 2013). He is almost melancholic to the extent that he wallows in self-pity after having his memories of Clementine erased, by exclaiming “what a loss to spend that much time with someone, only to find out she's a stranger". Such a statement is an clearly an exaggeration but he feels more devastated by this revelation than what any other person normally would.
Joel also displays clear signs of “shyness and withdrawn behavior in new situations out of fear of not meeting others’ expectations or not being good enough” (APA, 2013) as he avoids other people at the party at the beach where he first meets Clementine, and at many other points later. While he tries to avoid social interactions, he also derives validation and self-realisation through other people’s evaluation of him, as he asks himself, “Why do I fall in love with everyone I see who shows me the littlest bit of attention?” (Gondry, 2004).
This constant tussle between his inner need to feel loved and wanted and his outward actions of isolation and pushing people away, create a conflict within him that he is not able to resolve entirely. Whether this is a consequence of or a contributing factor to his potential disorder, cannot be discerned clearly. What is important, however, is how the characters and the movie treat each otherdespite their faults and failings and the effect it has on mainstream culture. The simultaneous normalisation and highlighting of the debilitating effects of personality disorders is succinctly brought out through the film, even though no clinical diagnosis is ever made.
My commentary on the film, therefore, is also suggestive and by no means prescriptive. But it is encouraging to see responsible media portrayals of such conditions as at least a starting point for conversations surrounding mental health issues, if nothing else.
References :
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. American Psychiatric Association.
Brown, A. (2021, 10 augustus). Pop Culture & PD: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Nysa Therapy. Geraadpleegd op 12 april 2022, van https://www.nysatherapy.com/2021/08/10/eternal-sunshine/#:%7E:text=Eternal%20Sunshine%20of%20the%20Spotless%20Mind%20beautifully%20reveals%20the%20chaos,who%20has%20borderline%20personality%20disorder.
What Are Cluster C Personality Disorders? (2021, 21 mei). WebMD. Geraadpleegd op 12 april 2022, van https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/what-are-cluster-c-personality-disorders
Gondry, M. (Director). (2004). Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. [Film]. Universal Pictures.
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