Comparative Analysis of Two Films

Inception and Eternal Sunshine

The films Inception and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind are both characterized by unique perspectives on the human condition and on the human mind. Neither of these stories is told in a traditional manner. Each utilizes unique visuals and interesting plots in order to tell deeper stories about the mysteries of the human mind. By comparing these two films along with the philosophical discussions of humanity by Michel Foucault and Frederich Nietzsche, it can be determined that although the philosophers were writing in a different era, filmmakers show how the idea of authority and the speculation of an authoritative supervisor can influence art in the modern moment.

In Michel Foucault's "Panopticisim" from his book Discipline and Punish, he discusses the nature of the human condition. The reasons that people behave certain ways are not because we believe in a moral right or wrong, but rather what behavior is correct or incorrect is determined by societal demands. Everywhere around us, people are watching our behavior and judging us against the standards of normalcy. "Inspection functions ceaselessly. The gaze is alert everywhere" (2). Even when there is no physical presence keeping tabs on us, the dictums of societal morality are so ingrained in the human psyche that we cannot allow ourselves to behave outside those norms. There is a fear on a subconscious level that someone, somewhere is watching and judging. "Panopticism" discusses in detail a procedure for organizing chaos during the time of the Black Plague and correlates that to a prison system wherein all the inmates were placed in direct view of a central guard tower. The prisoners knew that someone was watching from that hub, but they were unable to watch their supervisors. "Each individual, in his place, is securely confined to a cell from which he is seen from the front by the supervisor; but the side walls prevent him from coming into contact with his companions. He is seen, but he does not see" (Foucault 10). Subsequently, even upon occasions where there was no guard actually occupying the watch post, the prisoners would still feel the authority of that presence. This authority by invisible force is evident in both films.

The opposite of the Panopticon is Frederich Nietzsche's philosophy as presented in his work "On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense." Like Foucoult, Nietzsche believed that everyone was pressured by society to believe that they were forever watched by an anonymous other. However, Foucoult believed that this eternal observation was what forced people to behave properly according to societal norms. Nietzsche felt that everyone desired this kind of an audience in that it made them feel like they were the center of the universe and thus the most important person in it. "And just as every porter wants to have an admirer, so even the proudest of men, the philosopher, supposes that he sees on all sides the eyes of the universe telescopically focused upon his action and thought" (1). He believed that the human mind was designed to create deception, that the labyrinthine nature of that entity would not allow humanity to acknowledge or to understand truth. Nietzsche wrote:

Deception, flattering, lying, deluding, talking behind the back, putting up a false front, living in borrowed splendor, wearing a mask, hiding behind convention, playing a role for others and for oneself - in short, a continuous fluttering around the solitary flame of vanity -- is so much the rule and the law among men that there is almost nothing which is less comprehensible than how an honest and pure drive for truth could have arisen among them. They are deeply immersed in illusions and in dream images; their eyes merely glide over the surface of things and sees 'forms' (Nietzsche 1).

It is with the words of the philosophers in mind that the discussions of the films Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Inception are slanted.

The story of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is about a man named Joel (Jim Carrey) who purchases a treatment wherein all his memories of ex-girlfriend Clementine (Kate Winslet) will be eradicated. One of the reasons he has chosen to have this procedure done is because Clementine has already had her own memories erased. While the company Lacuna systematically enters Joel's mind and erases each individual recollection of Clementine, he realizes how important those memories are and attempts to cling to them. Towards the end of the film, Joel has hidden in all his old memories, even those where he had to unnaturally include Clem in order to shield her from Lacuna, to no avail. In Nietzsche's words, no one can really hide from their memories, nor can they be completely eradicated. "Does nature not conceal most things from him -- even concerning his own body -- in order to confine and lock him within a proud, deceptive consciousness, aloof from the coils of the bowels, the rapid flow of the blood stream, and the intricate quivering of the fibers!" (Nietzsche 1-2). The woman he loved has been removed piece by piece from his memories and the last flutter of Clementine's existence within Joel's person is when she whispers to him "Meet me in Montauk." Montauk was where the couple met for the first time and it is also where he re-meets Clementine after they have removed one another from their memories. Something stronger than the actual knowledge of one another has drawn Joel and Clementine together again, proving the film's thesis which is that the human mind is so complex that even a systematic removal of our memories cannot prevent us from recalling the things that are truly important to us.

In the film Inception, there is an important scene early on when characters Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Mr. Saito (Ken Watanabe) are discussing a job wherein Cobb will perform an act of the inception. This is when someone enters the dream of another person and embeds unnatural thoughts in their minds. Mr. Saito desires for Cobb to go to the son of a corporate enemy and plant thoughts into the young man's dreams. On the basis of Nietzsche's philosophy, the process of altering a dream should be relatively easy. "Man permits himself to be deceived in his dreams every night of his life" (Nietzsche 1). Entering the man's dream is no easy task. Going into a dream is as complex as the labyrinth of the human mind. The physical presentation of the landscape is shown by director Christopher Nolan to parallel the workings of the mind. In order to enter the mind, which is the most unnatural thing a person can do to another human being, the team Cobb hires must create a dream world through the use of modern technology.