Well before I make an attempt at the character archetypes, I want to try a bit with the characterization. I found that Kaufman really developed Joel and Clem’s contrasting personalities very early on in the script, mainly through their dialogue. There was also some VO (from Joel) early on, which I don’t think was actually really necessary (telling when Kaufman was already doing a fine job of showing - but I suppose he was just trying to prepare us for the VO that is more necessary later on when we go more inside his brain and need to hear his thoughts) - e.g. p2 Joel VO tells us “Constitutionally incapable of making eye-contact with a woman I don’t know.” We are seeing that. But I think the dialogue on the train (p4-12) is brilliant in showing is their contrasting personalities. He doesn’t talk much, when he does it is mumbly and he uses vague words like “nice.” Whereas she is bubbly, aggressive (at least in making the moves to make the conversation happen at all) as well as moody and flighty - being friendly, getting pissed off, becoming apologetic, all in a matter of moments. This long scene really shows us what they are to one another - on one hand how incompatible they are, but on the other how they balance one another out. As I mentioned before, I thought Stan's entrance (the "boo!" in the office) was brilliant. Nailed him to us in an instant: goofy, not very professional, very casual (or possibly more) with Mary. OK, as far as the archetypes. I find these archetypes difficult to apply in this film. Protagonist: Is Joel. Even though Clem is important, Joel is the one whose story we are really following. Attractor: And Clem is clearly his attractor - very clearly a key to his emotional development. Nemesis: This is tough. In some ways, Joel is his own nemesis - he is not open or spontaneous, and he ends up becoming pissed off with those aspects of Clem’s personality on their first try at the relationship, rejecting her when really he needs her in his life. But in some ways Clem also becomes his nemesis, being very cruel to him as the relationship deteriorates. Patrick is a nemesis to Joel on the subplot level, but I don’t think so much on the main plot level. Mentor: Again, tough. But I think the closest to that is Mary. At least by the definition here, being ties to his wisdom, head - because she is the one who delivers the information that both of them need in order to make sense of what happened and what is happening. (She also was in something of a carer role even before hand, as the receptionist who is helping them in their early goals of erasing their memories). Trickster: I don’t see a character who really fits the Trickster role. And then the other principal characters seem to be orbiting around Joel’s life. Mierzwiack is just doing his job - fast-tracks Joel for the appointment (so tries to help him) because of the error his company made. But I don’t see him as either a Mentor or a Trickster. Same for Stan - even though he is on the controls for Joel’s erasure, he really has no interest in Joel, he is just doing his job (and barely, at that). Rob and Carrie have only a brief appearance - they try to be supportive helpful friends to Joel, but I wouldn’t call them Mentors to him. I am curious as to what others have to say here. I don’t think most of the characters in this film really fit in with these archetypes very well.

I do agree that a lot of the characters represent weak versions of the archetypes for Joel. Patrick is a Nemesis, Naomi is an Attractor, maybe the doctor is a mentor of sorts (helping him work through the relationship), and Mary and maybe Stan are tricksters. But they're not great fits, as Jacqueline is saying. Perhaps that's on purpose. I started to see Clem as embodying all of these roles, depending on the moment, making her this full-of-life, complex character who introduces much needed color to Joel's gray world. If everyone else is sort of a half character, it makes her shine brighter. I think of her as a tornado - of emotions, thoughts, colors - and I guess that's because as a character, she really is so many things. If too the two stories are equally important, as Teddy was saying the last post, maybe characters' roles are defined by where they fall. Stan, Mary, and Dr. M have weird roles in Joel's story but in their own love triangle, with Mary as the protagonist, Stan is perhaps a trickster and Dr. M is an Attractor, Mentor, and Trickster, which would mimic Clem's role.

This story is not a normal narrative, so I think we have to add at least one more character to the list: Memory Clem. When Clementine in his memory becomes self aware (in a way), she becomes the mentor character. She is trying to help him figure out how to not forget real Clem (Attractor). I think Real Clem is also the trickster. She is constantly testing him (with good and bad) and switching sides. The nemeses is a bit tricky. I think it is actually the Procedure itself, represented in part by all of the other characters. Joel chose it. The Doctor came in and found him when he started running. The assistants ran the program. Patrick used the opportunity to steal Clem away from him.

All the characters in this script are very three dimensional and they are very beautifully woven together from the beginning to end. Here is what I perceive are all characters which fits the different roles in the story. Protagonist: It is Joel's perspective we are watching the story from, his relationships, his childhood, the first time he killed a bird or even jerking off, yes Joel is the protagonist. The first time we see Joel on train station we connect with his right away when he communicates his inability to connect with another human being, he find it hard, awkward and feels defeated. Which also triggers him the thought of going back to Naomi, it is very life like. Nemesis: Patrick, I mean he is kind of Jerk, but real nemesis is Joel himself mainly because of his insecurity he does what he does, and makes his life miserable. Attractor:Since, he and his ex has very conflicting personalities I think Clementine is the actual attractor here. It is her who is trying to get rid of from his life but he keep coming back to her. Mentor: Clementine is the mentor, she is very spontaneous which is really conflicting because he is trying to get rid of her, however, all Joel's action follows Clementine's deeds, in his mind Clementine is someone who he is not but want to be like her hence he idolizes her and it is very evident from dream sequence that he is listening to her all along even when he is trying to get rid of her. Trickster: Mary of course, because she changes the allegiance, she is the one who introduces the patients to the Dr, but then she is the one who sends the tapes to the patients. All the other characters are foil character but they all work. Feel free to correct me if you think , I might have missed something. Cheers Mragendra

Ryan, this is a really good point - separating the "Memory Clem" from the real one. And yes, I totally agree with you that the Memory Clem is a Mentor. Good call!