The Holy Connection An Alternative Exploration of Existence
“Psychedelia is wandering”- THC Baba
1) “I’m not a concept Joel”: The movie changed my idea of love. I used to think that there would be a set of criteria, a checklist if you might, which will need to have a required number of ticks and this part of life would be resolved. It was a rude jolt to be on the receiving end of such treatment. After all, so much lies in the undefined areas that such a checklist is bound to leave. Could you continue feeling the same way for a person if they did not turn out to be what you thought, rather hoped, they were?
I am sure all of that sounded corny, but the struggle between Joel and Clementine (keeping aside their ultimate reunion) made me question and ponder. At that age, these were the biggest questions I was grappling with (yeah, yeah you can laugh!).
2) ‘Lacuna Inc.’: The idea of ‘memories’ having an embodiment as a tangible part of the brain, and therefore, being susceptible/amenable to control by physical alteration was revolutionary for me. The initial ‘success’ of the surgery and its repercussions felt like something from a parallel universe. Talk about some next level cold turkey!
3) “Baby, what’s wrong?”: The ‘grand checklist’ theory (refer point 1), is disproved again when Clementine becomes bewildered by Patricks words and deeds, despite him using Joel’s personal diary and other memorabilia from their relationship as a template to model his behavior to woo Clementine. So despite erasing memories, there is a place deeper covered with imprints of what was.
4) “Blessed are the forgetful, for they get the better even of their blunders.”: Lacuna Inc. might play with memories, located in the cortex; but emotions lie much deeper in the limbic system. Therefore, erasing of memories might clear the slate to a great extent, but leaves behind some important traces that might be reconnected, and introduce you to places you have been to already.
