A Jungian Analysis

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes the plot of Gondry's film, while detailing the relationship and romance between the main characters of Clementine and Joel. The writer of this paper focuses on Carl Jung's personality theory, which explains how and why people fall in love and what links two people together. Jung's personality theory includes the idea that there exists a personal unconscious and a collective unconscious, which has the power to influence others. The writer of this paper contends and explains how the two characters in the film and what they experience, proves Jung's personality theory in action. In the film, Clementine's unconscious needs have drawn her to Joel, yet when things begin to turn sour, she makes a conscious decision to leave him. The events of the film show that despite having Joel consciously removed from Clementine's mind, the unconscious need for him remains. This is the process that Jung describes when he refers to people being driven to making unconscious decisions, beyond their control.

From the Paper:

"Jung uses several examples of how the collective unconscious influences people. One of the most significant is the existence of love at first sight. According to Jung, there is a female aspect in the collective unconscious for males, and a male aspect in the collective unconscious for females. These are known as anima and animus, respectively. Litt explains how love links to the anima and the animus saying that "love results from identifying the 'ideal' woman with his own underlying anima, while for a woman, love may be generated by seeing a man as the personification of her anima." This explains how love at first sight occurs. Since the individuals have no conscious awareness of their anima and animus, they cannot see any logical reasons to consider the other person as their other half."

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