According to Nietzsche, what ever is done out of love always occurs beyond good and evil. As long as an act has the feeling of true love behind it, then the act does not need to be justified. Some may question this statement by saying that if you think like this, then you still need to be ethically correct. Nietzsche would disagree with this and say that actions influenced by love for someone or something does not need to be explained. As long as everything is done out of love, there is no remorse.

You can see this train of thought throughout the movie ‘Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind’. The first example I will look at is when Patrick uses Joel’s items that remind him of Clementine to basically steal his identity and to be with Clementine. When an average person would look at this situation, they most likely would say that this is definitely, ethically wrong. But with Nietzsche’s idea, Patrick is merely acting out of love and therefore, there is nothing wrong with what he is doing.

After Joel finds out that Clementine erased her memory of him, he becomes enraged and decides it is best to do the same with his memories of her. Is he justified in his thought process? Or is he being selfish and shying away from something that everyone faces in their lives and not only himself? Pain and suffering are apart of life and Nietzsche says that we should embrace these feelings, not flee from them. On the other hand, Joel is doing this procedure based on the love for someone. Nietzsche would then say that this would be ok, but is he contradicting himself? Is it possible not to flee from pain, and at the same time, do something about it? Isn’t acting on the situation, technically the same as fleeing the problem?

Going along with the previous questions, the last example that I will look at is towards the end of the movie when Joel and Clementine each hear the hurtful things the other said about them. Because they love each other, they keep small, annoying traits about the other person to themselves. This would not sit well with Nietzsche. By keeping these feelings inside, you are not embracing the pain that you would inflict on someone. Unfortunately for Nietzsche, this is what society has transformed into. When you are in a relationship with someone, you do not want to tell them things that you do not like about them because nobody is perfect. Everyone has flaws and accepting them is just something that needs to be done.