Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a movie released in 2004 and directed by Michael Gondry. It is a 21-century example of the genre called “comedy of remarriage,” which is a subgenre of American comedy films of the 1930s and 1940s. Comedies of remarriage usually display a characteristic view of the reconciliation of troubled relationships. The plot of the movie revolves around the idea of erasing selected memories from people’s minds. In the film, the two main characters – Joel and Clementine – with the aid of Dr. Mierzwiak and his peculiar technology, decide to undergo a process by which they have the memories of each other erased. The idea of altering memories is controversial and it has led to many doubts and questions about morality and possible consequences of such procedures. First, there is the ethical aspect of erasing someone’s memories. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind raises the question: are there ethical reasons to try to stick to certain memories? Analyzing the movie, we can conclude that the answer is “yes.” Accodring to Professor of Philosophy Avishai Margalit, human relations are divided into thick and thin ones. The idea is that memory serves to connect us to others, and is necessary for thick relations. Trying to hold on to these thick relations and certain memories is one basic requirement of human flourishing. Although the movie justifies the decision to erase memories, as its aim is to lessen the pain those memories cause, the act of deliberate forgetting leads to rejection of intimate relations and therefore, impoverishment of one’s life. Secondly, the film shows that erasure of memories makes it impossible to forgive and it prevents reconciliation. As Joel begins to have his memory erased, alongside with bad memories, he loses as well many good memories. When the technicians are about to delete the memory of an especially intimate moment with Clementine, the viewers can observe that Joel changes his mind. He says: “Please let me keep this memory; just this one.” Analyzing this scene, it is obvious that the new beginning resulting from losing memory leads to yet deeper loss of the awareness that Joel did love Clementine. So we can clearly see that forgetting the bad times goes along with forgetting the good ones. And if you come to forget the bad times, you cannot remember enough to be able to forgive. Another important concept connected with the idea of erasing memories is utilitarianism. According to it, utility is always on the first place. All actions of human beings should bring overall happiness to the society. And as happiness is equal to the avoidance of pain, people’s aim is to live their lives in such a way as to minimize all sort of suffering. In Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind this idea is expressed with the presence of the technology which, in theory, allows people to increase their happiness by erasing these memories that cause their suffering. However, taking the stories of Joel, Clementine and Mary as an example, we can see that the procedure of deleting memories increases the suffering instead of reducing it. So, the film calls in question the utility of the technology whose ultimate aim is to increase the overall happiness, because, as it turns out, this technology fails. In conclusion, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a controversial movie, as its idea of erasing memories leads to many questions of ethical nature. The movie shows that although there may be some justified reasons for getting rid of certain memories, like a desire to eliminate suffering from one’s life, eventually it does more harm than good. People should always try to hold on to the memories that may seem harmful, because forgetting may impoverish their lives. Bad memories are important, because if we get rid of them, the pleasant ones are also gone, and what is more, with these unpleasant memories we are able to forgive. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind shows that the utilitarian idea of bringing overall happiness at all costs is not always the case. We should try to forgive the bad times, not forget them, as not to lose the memories that once made us happy.