Empathizing with Joel Barish in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Film exists in layers of physical existence and reality. You have the layer the audience views of the film’s world - setting, characters, and plot - and then you have the layer the film production workers view of the film’s world - actors, the set, and the story. Like photography, film is able to establish a physical existence. However, unlike photography, film uses two very unique and different techniques in order to establish its physical existence. According to Siegfried Kracauer, film establishes its physical existence through representation of reality as it evolves through time and with the help of techniques and devices exclusive to cinema cameras (Kracauer 187). All the world is a stage for film, however Kracauer lists specific techniques of film he refers to as cinematic due to how these techniques are read on the cinematic medium. Although Kracauer wrote his theory on Establishment of Physical Existence in 1960, the 2015 movie Tangerine contains a fair amount of content that can be serviced as examples in order to support Kracauer’s theory. Using the 2010’s movie Tangerine directed by Sean S. Baker, modern cinema examples from various scenes of the film can be provided for examples on Siegfried Kracauer’s theory of Establishment of Physical Existence through cinema’s recording functions of nascent motion, cinema’s revealing function of transients, and cinema’s revealing function of blind spots of the

This happens due to the high imaginative activity while empathizing to fiction. Thus, after reading and analyzing all three parts of this paper it becomes clear that Neill does not research the issue of the empathetic relation to fiction in order to prove the empathy being prior to sympathy; however he wants to show us the veritable value of empathetic responses to the film fiction, which is our emotional education.

My initial reaction to the film was of utter shock at the brutally raw reality of the film. Upon reflection and commentary from other sources, the film’s simple yet vastly effective filmmaking techniques of developing the explicit and implicit meaning of the film. The explicit meaning, as

To support this idea, Bordwell illustrates how art cinema motivates its narratives differently, through two principles: realism and authorial expressivity. Firstly he proposes the notion that art films reflect realism in their characters, space, and time. Psychologically complex characters are present in real worlds dealing with true-to-life situations. Art cinema is concerned with the characters ‘reaction’ to these situations, rather than their ‘action’. Thus it bares an element of psychological subjectivity as the characters survey the world they are in, which aids the realisation of the distress of

In which way is sympathy measured? Do we consciously decide who we evoke pity for? Or is it subconscious in which once emphasizes with another being. “Be Careful. Later on you’ll have to decide what sympathy they deserve” (1). Barbara Kingsolver begins the novel “The Poisonwood Bible” by warning the reader to be weary of the sympathy the Price family warrants. The opening of a novel is a handshake, the author’s first impression on us as a reader, and in the opening lines of Poisonwood Bible Kingsolver is quick to grasp the reader's attention. The first interaction is loaded with foreshadowing, symbolism and a dark, brooding tone. Quite similarly the ending of a novel is the author’s goodbye, and provides the reader closure, or lack thereof within a novel. Kingsolver escorts the reader out of the life of the Price family with closure and reassuring. Ruth May echo’s Orleanna in the beginning to leave the reader with erie closure.

shows that authors use multiple techniques to help the reader relate and further empathize with the characters. Empathy helps us better connect to the world and people around us, and often times sparks the need for change within people. The most effective of these tactics is the use of appeals. These examples further prove the argument that authors use appeals such as ethos, logos, and pathos to evoke empathy in their

Tragedy shakes the audience by tapping into their own private fears. An undeniable connection drawn by empathy links every audience member to the plight of the character, because the itch of indignation is universal among all humanity. As long as someone has a sense of self, they have a sense of dignity. The character in a tragedy has been wronged by some “flaw”, and there is a fear of never correcting that wrong. Every audience member experiences that fear, and so is shaken by the tragedy.

In this essay I shall discuss how the film, 'The Matrix' (1999), engages in a form of cinematic philosophy. Specifically, I will discuss how the film can be seen as making an objection to the position held by Sidgwick (1907), who asserts that, positive states of consciousness, or, pleasure, is ultimately the only thing inherently valuable, which in turn becomes the basis of his utilitarian ethics. In doing so, I consider The Matrix to be a cinematic adaptation of Robert Nozick's (1974) 'experience machine' thought experiment, which the film-makers bring to life, developing it into a narrative that pulls heavily on our moral emotions. However, although the film-makers skilfully elicit the appropriate emotional responses from viewers, ensuring

In the words of one critic, superior works of literature should invoke a healthy confusion of pleasure and disquietude. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines ‘pleasure’ as “joyful amusement”, while 'disquietude’ is defined as “anxiety”. Although these words seem to oppose each other, they both occur in frequently and simultaneously in every person’s life. Emotions caused by people and circumstances in one’s life allow these feelings of pleasure and disquietude to overlap. Similarly, an inclusion of both elements in a literary work result in this feeling of “healthy confusion” for the reader. A lot of novels entertain the reader with

Dr. Alistair Brown’s article discusses humanity’s amazing ability to make violence entertaining. Dr. Brown suspect’s laughter is a defense mechanism activated when a moment is too horrific. He also believes how and why the death of a character occurs will determine the audiences emotional response. What’s most uncomfortable about Titus Andronicus is the really terrifying, brutal, and monstrous deeds done happen in real life. Dr. Brown addresses Lavinia’s rape, Chiron and Demetrius’ violent acts, Aaron’s sly self-loyalty, racism, and clashing beliefs against Taymor’s ancient/modern Rome, and believes this is a metaphor for violence and its lack of respect for time. Our responsibility as the audience is to figure out whether or not the acts

‘There are…two kinds of film makers: one invents an imaginary reality; the other confronts an existing reality and attempts to understand it, criticise it…and finally, translate it into film’

In service of this argument, the essay unfolds in three parts. The first section sketches an appropriate framework for understanding how cinema marshals and moves viewers by engaging them in a fully embodied experience.4 The second section offers a brief overview of the film's plot before turning to an analysis of its triptych narrative and affective development. The third and final section considers the methodological, critical, and theoretical implications suggested by the preceding analysis.

Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind possess a sense of hyperconsciousness in the way that it presents a postmodern text in the debts of a science fiction drama. There are undertones in the writing, directing and editing that establish the postmodernism in the film.

According to film theorist Thomas Schatz, “a genre approach (to film) provides the most effective means for understanding, analyzing, and appreciating the Hollywood cinema (Schatz vii).” His approach to film is strongly supported by theorist Edward Branigan’s and the narrative representation of character interaction (Branigan), and André Bazin’s arguments that the objective reality pressed against audience interpretation.

The great taxonomer, Aristotle, defines Humans in his exquisite work, “Poetics”. He uses dramatic theories to explain why we as humans are different from animals. A monumental difference in humans is that they have the capacity to relate to other humans. Humans contain the ability to feel empathy for another because they have been through a similar experience as them. Feeling pity for another stirs extremely powerful emotions within us, moving us to tears, or whatever emotion it is that we show. Truly great tragedies are the ones in which the audience is exhausted afterwards. The real play during a tragedy is happening not on stage, but in the audience. The more moving the actors and actresses, the more the audience will be moved, and the greater and more memorable the tragedy is. Aristotle demonstrates that tragedies can be a catharsis for many. The Cokeville Miracle is a powerful example of catharsis and a movie in which the audience can be stirred in ways other movies cannot stir them.