Michel Gondry’s “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” continues its legacy of love within memory as the Manship Theatre screens the picture in the name of education.
The Manship Theatre is set to play “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” on its silver screen on April 8 after an introduction given by an LSU professor of psychology. With the help of Science on Screen, Manship is able to deliver a scientifically entertaining film experience that makes educational programming accessible to Baton Rouge residents.
Kelly Swift, the Manship Theatre’s film programming director and social media curator, explained how Science on Screen is a grant that she applied for on behalf of Manship. She described how overjoyed she was at the news that Manship was awarded the grant, and she said that the series encourages institutions to bring the sciences and arts together.
Manship fulfills the series’ mission by pairing film screenings with introductions given by guest speakers, and Swift said her own desire was to highlight diversity in STEM fields. For the theater’s first SOS screening of “Hidden Figures” on Feb. 11, NASA Chief Engineer Renee Horton spoke beforehand.
“‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ was the film that introduced me to the power of cinema at an early age. When we got the grant, I knew we had to program ‘Eternal Sunshine,’” Swift said. “Not only for its cultural impact as a sci-fi movie that stands the test of time, but for the incredible psychological introduction that could come before the screening with Dr. Emily Elliot.”
Swift’s responsibilities within Manship involve managing all of the theater’s film screenings, organizing film programs and coordinating social media outreach.
Swift highlighted how Manship showcases many variations of local and global entertainment. As an alumna of the LSU screen arts program, she encourages filmmakers who are looking to screen a short or feature film to reach out to the theater.
“My personal goal as Manship’s film programming director is to serve Baton Rouge’s film community, [which] is larger and more connected than people realize,” Swift said.
LSU professor of psychology Emily Elliott’s expertise with memory pushed her and assistant professor Jason Scimeca to accept the theater’s invitation to speak on behalf of the LSU Department of Psychology. Through the discussion, Elliot aims to clarify common misconceptions around memory as it is shown in movies in an intriguing manner .
Elliott said that it is her department’s culture to give back to the community as much as possible and educate others.
“We will be describing some of the myths behind how people believe memory works, versus how memory works in our day-to-day lives,” Elliott said. “One take-home message is that memory is an important core component of all people. It defines the basis of who you are as a person.”
Elliott explained how her specialty area’s emphasis is on working memory. She described it as a type of memory that is used in an immediate moment to get tasks done.
Her research focus is on the analysis of memory development and memory and attention interacting together in children. With a method of studying the relationship through sound, it helps Elliott measure various severities of the subject, from student studying practices to overall reading comprehension.
Elliott underlined how the significance of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” to her field rests within the movie’s depiction of the close relationship between memory and emotion.
“It also shows us how all of our life experiences can work together to create the people we are, and that includes both the good times and the bad times,” Elliott said.
Still, Elliott stressed how there are definitive exaggerations and inaccuracies within cinema’s overall portrayal of memory. While filmmakers make these creative decisions in order to make a plot more digestible, it is not to be said that memory is an easy structure to play back exactly as it was over and over again.
Because human experiences occur continuously and the brain needs to store such things somewhere, it would make the most sense that a memory would need to be rebuilt again and again. This reconstruction is slowly altered by every new emotion humans feel and what they encounter.
“In general, memory is an important and fascinating topic. While the scientists who are studying memory know a great deal more than we did in the past, many mysteries remain,” Elliott said.
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