Is it really ok to lie to one’s self? What if one couldn’t actually remember certain life events, is it better to lie and make everything better or actually take the truth no matter what condition one end up left in? Memento is a film shot and written very differently from movies of the same genre. Not only was it very confusing, but it was a film that required a great amount of focus as well as deep analysis from the audience’s part. In the beginning, the audience is introduced to a character named Leonard Shelby who is on a mission to find his wife’s murderer and rapist to get his rightful revenge. Right away, his disability of forming new memories is introduced. The film incorporates different colors and different events that in the end, The tattoo of Sammy Jankis becomes very significant to Leonard because it reminds him of how his life is more disciplined in a way considering how he keeps track of his memories by recording them. Sammy seems to be some sort of figment in Leonard’s imagination and towards the end, it becomes questionable if they are the same person. Leonard really does believe that Sammy really exists, this of course, confuses the audience and forces them to come up with their own ideas about this “Sammy” figure. In the second to last scene of the film, Teddy is shown explaining to Leonard how he and Sammy are actually the same person. Sammy further mentions how Leonard created this alternative world of “Sammy” so he does not have to face the fact that he killed his wife. The black and white scenes show Sammy’s story as Leonard tells it. Leonard even says: “Sammy had no drive, no reason to make it work”, he then goes further to say: “Me? Yeah, I got a reason”. Of course, Leonard’s reason to live is to get revenge for the death of his wife. How can one trust that Leonard’s wife’s death actually occurred the way it was stated when Leonard is shown to be a manipulative liar to
I think the movie does accurately depict how we view people with memory loss such amnesia or Alzheimer’s. In important ways, Memento depicts amnesia more accurately than most major films. The disorder is marked by an inability to create memories of facts and events. Forgetting things like what happened to you yesterday, the name of someone you met on the street, the town you just arrived in the previous day. In the movie to make up for his loss of declarative memory, Leonard has facts essential to his investigation tattooed on his chest and snaps numerous Polaroid photos of important places he's been, people he has met, and things he has seen. Amnesia is mostly used to set up a mystery and draw the viewer and is essentially a plot device. However, the films does use amnesia in an interesting and realistic ways to tell a compelling and complex story. The film gives a more dramatized version of the life of people with short-term memory or amnesia but it an impactful story that makes you question you're on humanity and if what you believe is real is the truth. Memento is a high point in the history of amnesia in media for the simple reason that it shows so dramatically the devastating effect of losing one's ability to remember even the most mundane events of daily life. Memento is a movie which brings to the forefront the subject, amnesia, or in this case more specifically, short-term memory loss. The movie is both quite fascinating as well as confusing as it puts the viewer in the shoes of someone with memory loss. The confusing nature of the movie is what makes it so relevant. During that time and even today society had a limited understanding of people with amnesia. Neuroscience is still one of the most limited science in terms of information as new things are being found out all the time. This move shows a main character and people
Lenny states “I know who I am. I just can't form new memories” (Memento, 2001). Amnesia is not about identity but memory. However, Memento does present some notable errors. There are potential misconceptions such as Shelby acquired his condition through an accidental brain injury. This does happen but is more common for people to develop this through strokes, chronic epilepsy and viral encephalitis. Another plot point in Memento that lacks truth is his vivid memory of the physical attack causing his injury. People with anterograde amnesia often cannot remember events just before the attack and the trauma itself.
Another powerful video, Including Samuel, ignited my insight in this week’s class. As I heard in the video, “inclusion is an easy thing to do poorly.” The movie chronicles the life of a young boy, Samuel, and his family. With the shock of learning about their son’s disability, it caused his parents, Dan and Betsy, to experience the unexpected. Nevertheless, they did everything to include their son and help him live a normal life focused on his capabilities, rather than his incapabilities. I even admired how his friends knew so much about him, his likes and dislikes, his strengths and his weaknesses.
The author of "How the Other Half Lives", Jacob Riis, inscribes on the deplorable living conditions of the Progressive Era from a first-person perspective. Riis, an immigrant, police reporter, photojournalist and most importantly: a pioneer and social reformer, tells a very captivating yet appalling experience of the lower class life in New York City beginning in the 19th century. Migration and the standardization of establishments are the attributing factors to overpopulation distribution and overcrowding of living arrangements in the city.
Director Christopher Nolan′s film Memento (2000), is loosely based from the concept of a short story named Memento Mori written by his brother Jonathan. This story is about a man named Leonard Shelby who is suffering from anterograde amnesia, which is a loss of ability to create new memories after the event that caused the amnesia, leading to a partial or complete inability to recall the recent past, while long term memories from before the event remain intact. Leonard was hit over the head during an attack which resulted in his wife being raped and murdered. With the help of contact named Teddy and a bartender named Natalie, Leonard set out for revenge. Since the attack Leonard has set out to exact revenge on the man who has caused him suffering. He helps himself by writing notes, taking photographs, and tattooing himself with important notes and facts. An analysis of the film Memento reveals the use of film techniques such as editing, non-linear storytelling, symbolism, director's style, musical score, color, and cinematography that creates an intellectual stimulant that has the viewer deciphering a puzzle in a reversed chronological order.
This conclusion was found when Leonard realizes that his wife survived the attack and that it was his wife who had diabetes, not Sammy’s. Leonard lead himself into believing that there were two men who were attacking his wife, when in reality there was only one – who he killed. By making himself believe that there was another man, he dedicated his life to killing “that man” even though there really wasn’t another one. Leonard made himself remember himself as Sammy Jankis so that he wouldn’t have to remember him indirectly killing his
Many people enjoy a good film and at the end, they have the potential to judge the film by the content and delivery it had provided. In some films, the screenwriter chooses to portray one of the many psychological disorders. The audience of the film will try to focus on how well the disorder was portrayed and how well the movie played out. Whether the intention of the film maker was trying to expose the public about such psychological disorder or choosing to make a film based on the disorder, some viewers will argue if the film has portrayed the disorder accurately and whether the public has taken notice to the disorder. Screenwriter, Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan, portrayed the psychological disorder, Anterograde Amnesia, in their film “Memento.”
Memory is a cognitive function of the brain that is often taken for granted. Memory may have many purposes, but most importantly it is essentially a record of an entire life span. From this perspective memory is the most important aspect of consciousness. Unfortunately, through formal experimentation it has been shown that memory is fairly inaccurate, inconsistent, and often influenced by our own experiences as well as the bias of others. Memory is not only affected during an observed event, but there are instances where memory can be influenced after an event as well. There are also instances where memory can be affected retroactively due to personal experiences and biases. Incorrectly recalling the memories of one’s life is usually not detrimental, but the flawed nature of long-term and short-term memory functions becomes a serious matter in regards to criminal eyewitness testimony. In the justice system eyewitness reports are legitimate and can be crucial in the judging process. The justice system was constructed to rely on testimony that is often inaccurate and inconstant in many ways.
When watching Including Samuel, I felt like a soft spot for Samuel, his family, and the other people with disabilities in the film. I thought only of the negative effects that disabilities inflict onto people. For example, I think of the expenses and disturbance that people with disabilities face. I think of the high costs of medication and inconveniences, such as dropping everything you’re doing in order to hospitalize someone with a severe disability, being a burden on parents or caregivers. However, watching the film made me think of the positive effects and outcomes of having a family member or knowing someone who has a disability. Though Including Samuel did mention the hardships of the medications and hospitalizations Samuel had went
If an individual loses his past self, would he still be the same individual? According to the personal identity memory theory by John Locke, as long as a person is the same self, the personal identity of that person is the same. But for Leonard Shelby who is the main character if the Memento film, this does not apply after he suffered a condition that hinders him from creating new memories. This paper addresses the topic of the truth of John Locke’s perception of personal identity which follows that Leonard does not have a personal identity. The paper reviews the Memento film which is a psychological thriller which presents two different personal identities of Leonard Shelby after suffering from a memory condition. The paper
The movie Sicko evaluates the medical services and shows the U.S. government 's role in policing the medical profession. Before I watched this movie, I thought that living in America was living the American dream. However, this American dream is only a façade or an illusion that takes my mind away from some of America 's flaws. In this documentary, the director and writer Michael Moore exposes the dysfunctional health care system in the United States, which sacrifice essential health services in order to maximize profits and insurance companies, which pay bonuses to employees who are successful in denying coverage and claims. They are in the business of finding reasons not to spend money. Health insurance does not protect you from not paying.
Do not believe something when you know it is not correct. Even though people may have good intentions most of the time there are those are out to harm you. Take this story of a man named Edward Daniels (also known as Teddy). In the movie Shutter Island, directed by Marin Scorsese in 2010. Teddy is a Us Marshal with a lost soul and a daunting past. Teddy is a World War I vet, who has a lot of flash backs, and nightmares about his past. Teddy meets up with his new partner, Chuck Aula, on the ferry ride to the island. This was the first time Teddy had met Chuck. Right in the beginning you can tell there is something off about the whole situation. Why would Teddy Barely meet his new partner on the ferry, I would think they would have met at the
The Life of Pi by Yann Martel was a fascinating and exciting narrative that described the journey of a young boys life starting with the formation of his beliefs moving all the way through an adventure that changed his life forever. I found it extremely engaging on both a philosophical level and a psychological level as I saw Pi, a young boy, curious about life, discover both religion and go through an extremely traumatic experience. I found Pi's devotion to God to be an uplifting example that many people throughout the world should see. Although I do believe that Pi was confused about how to best love God, I admire his efforts and believe that his dedication is sincere. I also found the psychological aspect of Pi to be almost as fascinating as religion. I could see from the beginning that Pi was quite thoughtful and always tried to think before he acted. However, what I found even more fascinating than his pre-planning cognitive abilities was how he thought when he was under great stress. Perhaps the best example of how he coped with stress was towards the end of the book when he tells what may be the true story, and we can see that he may have represented everyone as an animal in order to deal with the situation. This provides valuable insight into Pi's mind and opens a whole new area of possibilities when considering how Pi thinks. This ending leaves how Pi thinks open to interpreting which adds a intriguing aspect to the book. Beyond the religious and theoretical aspects of the book, the adventure seen kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end. Every time it seemed Pi was about to die or give up hope, an astounding miracle would suddenly save him. I found the effect of these suspenseful moments to cause me to want to...
The hit television show Criminal Minds (2005), created by Jeff Davis, appears to be a fictional crime drama to many. In my opinion, Jeff Davis understood the importance of history being able to predict and explain the future in the criminal justice system, and what type of people are needed to figure it out. I created a simple equation that explains my perception of this crime drama, and it is the perfect storm plus history equals the future. What exactly does that mean? The perfect storm in Criminal Minds are the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Agents that investigates a vast diversity of crimes that requires profiling and capturing of Unknown Subjects (UnSubs). I also believe that Jeff Davis understood the importance of a cohesive,
Spirited Away is a Japanese anime movie by Hayao Miyazaki and produced under Studio Ghibli. The film was first released in July of 2001, and became the most successful film in Japanese history, grossing over $274 million dollars worldwide. The film was so successful, it even overtook Titanic (top grossing film at the time) and because the highest-grossing film in Japanese history with a total of $229,607,878. (Johnson, G. A.)