Memento and the Problem of Memory

The moral case for realizing what your memory can do to you.

We all wish we could remember things some times.

Despite what we might want, we can't remember everything that ever happened all the time. So we end up forgetting things. Usually, we remember the big things in our lives like our first kiss or our first job and our wedding day. These moments are so important that it's almost impossible to forget them. Especially because they have such a powerful impact on our future lives. However, because these things are so big, they can often crowd out other things in our lives. Things like what we had for dinner a few weeks ago or that we met someone at a party for the first time. Enough that if we were to meet that person later, you won't remember who they are or where you met them. It usually takes a few different meetings before we finally remember them, or for something very important to happen with them around.

If something really important happens, it can cause things to be blocked out. Sadly, not all of the big moments will be positive ones. Many of them will be terrible ones like being stolen from or violated in some way. Maybe the worst thing which can happen is the death of a loved one. This can completely block out anything and anyone who isn't directly connected to your family member or friend dying. Even then, sometimes you can block out any new people you might meet or why they might be important to you. Some of the worst things are when your traumatic event is the cause of your memory going away. We call this problem amnesia because it's so painful that you have to forget almost everything or close to it.

You can forget so much that it's like you're an entirely different person. The kind of person that whoever you were before wouldn't recognize you in the mirror if they were looking at you. In a lot of ways you're not. Especially if the things you do remember are the bad ones and you become obsessed with the idea of getting revenge on whoever did it to you or the one you love. Some people prefer not to remember things the way they were. They choose to have amnesia about certain things but not others. This can get to the point that even those who do remember can't convince you that your memory isn't correct. You'd rather remember things the way you think they should be.

Memento is at its core about what happens to people who lose their memory. Leonard Shelby, as played brilliantly by Guy Pearce, is someone who doesn't really have a memory. At least not enough to really know what he's doing. He's lost his memory because of a trauma he's been through with his wife who died in the process. There's only so much that he can remember about what happened and so he goes around trying to piece together what he can that gives him what he needs to continue his quest for revenge. But because of his ability to forget, sometimes he doesn't know certain things he probably should. Or has chosen to remember them in a way that makes him feel better.

It's a fascinating thing to explore, so explore the problem of memory by checking out Memento as soon as you can.

Memento is available on Amazon and Netflix in some places.

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