funny how we choose to project our own experience on something else. second watch, and i can finally understand what the title implies. different take on the ending as well. projections maybe. jim carrey gave one of his most notable performance in his entire career here. a shy, introverted bloke who are intrigued by this flaming-red hair lady, clementine. he was still living with his soon-to-be-ex girlfriend naomi when he first met her, but we don't know yet. i really want to explore the dynamics between joel and naomi here, something that is almost non-existent with just a few hints laying here and there. sparse, but just enough for me to view joe on a different light. he's just as impulsive as clementine, jumping to erase her as soon as he gets wounded. funny how we rushed to fill the void in our heart with human connections, seeking something deep but mostly ends up as superficial. in here they purposefully devoid themselves of their shared memories, joel then regrets it, a lot, running away from his mind to retain them. in joel's memory with clementine we've seen most of the recent ones are them falling apart, spewing toxic insults, widening the gap between them. and then the sweeter memories come in, we see how lovely a couple they both once are, those are the memories that also defines their relationship, and joel realises that, only he's asleep and he can only struggle in his own mind. it was very agonizing for him to realise that. but how much did he want to clung on, the painful ones as well? this is one of the best charlie kaufman's work, one that understood what human souls entailed, perfectly captured the reality but also encapsulates his brilliant understanding of our intricate mind and the tangled nets. the concept of erasing memory here, a technique that can potentially wipes out one unique individual away from their own world. the tape recording perfectly encapsulates the problem between them, god wonders how many times they will have to go through this, only they won't receive their own tapes anymore.