From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

Quietly, Blair watched the big screen intently, not wanting to miss a single detail.

She was curious and eager to see how the story would end.

However, there was nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

No lengthy speeches, no flowery language, no self-help platitudes, no words of wisdom, not even a tug-of-war; nothing at all.

He said, "Okay."

She also said, "Okay."

The matter was that simple.

Love was love, and not loving… was not loving. Why make things so complicated?

Perhaps they would repeat the same mistakes, step into the same river again, and ultimately end up hurting each other, with no lesson learned from past experiences.

Perhaps they would fall into the same cycle again and again, like hamsters trapped in a cage, running frantically but still going nowhere.

So what?

Rejecting a beginning for fear of being hurt, refusing to face reality for fear of admitting it—

Isn't that precisely what Joel was most ashamed of and regretted the most? Isn't that precisely the secret Joel had been burying and hiding in the villa?

However, this time, Joel didn't let go.

Although he didn't know the reason, nor did he understand why, he simply didn't want Clementine to leave. Even though the story of the villa in his memory had been completely erased, when the familiar scene replayed before his eyes, Joel finally began to take steps to change.

Everything seemed unchanged, exactly the same; but in fact, the details were quietly shifting.

Inside the big screen, Joel and Clementine were unaware of what had happened to their memories, and the smiles on their faces lightly turned upwards.

Outside the big screen, the audience clearly knew what had happened, and at that moment, they couldn't control their tears and their mouths also turned upwards.

The scene changed, and Joel and Clementine were running and chasing each other on the snowy Montauk beach. They frolicked in the ankle-deep snow, playing in a carefree snowball fight like children who had never grown up, as if this was the happiest and most joyful thing in the world, their smiles completely blooming.

The melody began to play.

Melodious and melancholic, although without the heart-wrenching heaviness, one could still feel the sad atmosphere in the vicissitudes and bitterness of the humming; the whole world was immersed in a sorrowful blue; this made their laughter and playfulness seem even more out of place, and the biting cold of the snowy world penetrated the screen, gradually seeping into the blood along the skin.

The noisy and chaotic thoughts slowly settled down.

The movie ended.

Just like its abrupt beginning, it came to a close when the audience was completely unprepared, drawing the final period to the film.

But after calming down and thinking carefully, the story had been told, so there was no need to continue dragging on, right?

However, the scene at the Angelica Film Center remained silent.

No movement, no sound; the entire audience sat quietly in their seats, letting their thoughts wander; even the audience standing or sitting on the floor around the seats did not move, all remained as they were, obediently watching the credits appear, and only at this time did they finally have time to think.

Charlie Kaufman, always like this.

Not only imaginative and wildly creative, but also filled with a huge amount of information, giving the audience no time to breathe, stuffing wave after wave into the audience's minds—

Finally, detonating.

Is the movie really that simple?

Does the movie only tell a love story? Just the love story of Joel and Clementine?

A "student" who admires authority; this student may be a girl like Mary, or occasionally a young and ignorant boy, looking up to those authoritative existences; their knowledge, power, status, profession, etc. far exceed the attraction brought by superficial conditions such as money and appearance.

Thus, students like Mary burn themselves again and again like moths flying into a flame.

And Dr. Howard seems to refuse, but always half-heartedly welcomes, wanting both; beneath their seemingly authoritative exterior, they are actually immature children—this can be seen from the doctor's reaction when he doesn't know how to explain himself in front of Stan; they are just trying to draw the energy they need from those admiring and admiring gazes.

Does Dr. Howard really "love" Mary?

Not necessarily.

Rather than love, it is better to say that he enjoys Mary's undivided attention, enjoys Mary's complete admiration and even worship of himself; his pride and self-esteem are unprecedentedly satisfied in such gazes.

Then, he craves more and more, because this is what he lacks at home and in his own life.

Undoubtedly, this love affair is a side line that is depicted with the most ink in the movie, forming an intertext with Joel and Clementine, because Mary deletes her memory but still steps into the same river, repeating the same mistakes, not only embarrassing herself again, but also breaking her heart again, and finally running away in a mess.

Most importantly, Charlie Kaufman completes the theme through the relationship between Mary and Dr. Howard.

In Joel's apartment, after Stan left, Mary kept trying to impress Dr. Howard, showing herself off endlessly.

Among them, there is a poem by Alexander Pope.

"How happy is the blameless vestal's lot! The world forgetting, by the world forgot. Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd."

Simply put, it's the theme.

Charlie Kaufman did not choose Joel and Clementine, but chose to express his views through Mary's mouth, which is undoubtedly another surprise:

People always yearn for perfection, perfection symbolizes eternity, perfection represents indestructibility, perfection represents wish fulfillment; however, reality is often not the case.

Mistakes, regrets, injuries, imperfections, these are the norms of life.

People can choose to escape, people can choose to forget, but people still repeat the same mistakes again and again, falling into the quagmire of their own character flaws.

To some extent, the ending of Mary and Dr. Howard is the reality that Charlie Kaufman believes in.

In the movie, Charlie Kaufman only uses a few strokes to outline the whole picture of a relationship, and echoes Joel and Clementine, this control and layout of the pen is worthy of the title of genius.