How accurate is ‘eternal sunshine of the spotless mind’?
The 2004 Jim Carrie starrer ‘eternal sunshine of the spotless mind’ is a sci-fi movie that won the hearts of millions of viewers for its unique story of romance. But the so-called ‘nerds’ had another reason to love the movie; its twisted storyline and futuristic elements. Don’t get me wrong, the film in itself is a fantastic watch. By the way, it is the only Jim Carrie movie that I would recommend to a person I am not angry with. But, if you really get to know the subtle underlying psychological aspects of this wonderful movie, you will see it in a very different light. The way it was portrayed and the various symbolic additions to the script are all responsible for making it a world-renowned movie experience. But here is why some psychologists hate this movie like hell and why some others adore it to the core?
If you aren’t familiar with the storyline (and if you don’t mind the movie being spoilt for you), here is the general gist; a company by the name of Lacuna offers to help people forget their ex-lovers and our protagonist decides to go forth with this option. Before judging the scientific accuracy of the content in the movie, do remember that the film came out in the year 2004. To put things into perspective, it was in the year 2013, almost a decade later that we figured out how memory was encoded in brain. This 2013 study conducted by the southern California University opened doors to countless experiments and studies related to memory. So, after all the knowledge we have acquired over time, can we really forget our memories?
If you are an average high school student, you know that it is not only possible but also quite easy to forget. But what I mean is whether we are capable of selectively targeting a particular memory and eradicating it. Well, it is possible that we might come up with a solution to at least partially achieve this futuristic feat. But if you are a heartbroken lover, sorry to disappoint, this miraculous drug might not do any good for you, not anytime soon that is.
Researchers have studied how memories are formed in real-time in the brains of mice and zebrafish. They created a protein that sticks to a receptor where the part of a neuron that absorbs the neurotransmitters that are released when memories are formed and they added fluorescence from jellyfish and observed the proteins as they collected around the receptors. To put terms into the words of laymen, contrary to the popular belief that memories are encoded at a specific region in the brain, it is not. Actually memories are neural connections. And the more connections there are associated with a particular memory, the more readily it can be recalled or retrieved. Around the same time, some researches actually showed the potential to replicate the type of memory degradation showcase in the movie. Obviously, we can’t completely wipe out the memory. As a matter of fact, this process leaves the memory intact. All the details of the memory will remain as it is. What changes is our emotional attachment with that memory. Numerous studies have been conducted on this novel procedure, mostly in mice. And researchers have adopted two different methods for the same; either the drug by the name of propanolol, which weakens the norepinephrine reaction to that memory or the gene- Tet1, which is responsible in accessing the more recent and relevant memory while slowly disregarding the previous ones. It is possible that scientists will come up with a drug or capsule to help with PTSD or trauma by dampening the emotional reaction associated with the memory.
However, cooking up a drug to wipe out every memory of a particular person is a more complicated idea. And if you ask me, it is better to leave those hurtful memories intact. Those memories are lessons learned so that we don’t repeat our mistakes.
“How happy is the blameless vestal’s lot!
The world forgetting by the world forgot
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind
Each prayer accepted, and each wish resigned”
This is a line that no drug can erase from my memory…
