Finding Nemo: Movie Analysis

The movie Finding Nemo features an overprotective clownfish, Marlin, and a blue tang fish, Dory, who claims to suffer from “short-term memory loss.” Together they embark on a journey to find Marlin’s only son, Nemo, who was abducted by a scuba diver. Dory’s memory problems lead them into some interesting and sometimes dangerous situations, including a group of recovering fish-addicted sharks, surfing sea turtles, and a maze of jellyfish. While Marlin and Dory swim across the ocean, Nemo is put in a fish tank where he and his new friends attempt to escape captivity and return to the ocean. Despite the conflicts that arise from Marlin’s impatience with Dory’s memory problems, Dory is able to remember the one piece of information that ultimately
reunites Marlin with his son. Dory’s memory problems are mostly consistent with those of anterograde amnesia, which is defined as the loss of the ability to retain new information (Goldstein, 2011, p. 149). Individuals with anterograde amnesia usually have trouble remembering things that happened more than 30 seconds ago because their brains are unable to transfer information from short-term memory (STM) to long-term memory (LTM). Amnesiacs typically show impairment in the two types of explicit memory, semantic and episodic, while implicit memory remains intact (Shrager & Squire, 2008). Most of the difficulties Dory experiences are consistent with those of someone with anterograde amnesia; however, there are some things that don’t quite fit.
The writers got a lot of things right about anterograde amnesia.
Throughout the film are instances where it is apparent that Dory’s semantic memory and episodic memory are compromised, yet her implicit memory is functional. Within a minute of meeting Marlin, Dory forgets who he is and why he is following her. When Marlin tells the sharks how his son was taken from him by some divers, Dory responds empathetically, as if she didn’t know that already. When they find the mask at the bottom of the ocean, Dory exclaims “Hey look, a mask!” as if she has never seen it before. Marlin asks Dory to read it and she does, which demonstrates that her procedural memory is still intact. The fact that Dory can swim also proves that her procedural memory is not affected by her amnesia. Dory uses her implicit memory when she and Marlin encounter a scary looking trench, which she was told to swim through, not over, by some fish. She tells Marlin that she has a feeling they should swim through it, not over it, but doesn’t know why she feels that way. The following are some more ways Dory’s explicit memory is shown to be defective. When Marlin is telling the baby sea turtles about his and Dory’s adventure, Dory acts like this is the first time she’s heard the story. Throughout the movie, Marlin has to remind Dory what his son’s name is because she gets it wrong nearly every time, calling him things like Chico, Fabio, Bingo, and
Elmo.
The fact that Dory is able to recognize she has a memory problem conflicts with the typical presentation of anterograde amnesia.
While it’s possible that over the years she has developed some sort of subconscious knowledge of her condition (like Clive Wearing) it’s highly unlikely that someone with this type of amnesia would ever be able to explicitly remember that they have trouble remembering things. A short while after having to abandon the mask they found at the bottom of the ocean, Marlin asks Dory what it said. Dory recites, “P. Sherman 42 Wallaby Way Sydney,” and gasps at her own ability to remember it. This retention of a semantic memory is inconsistent with anterograde amnesia. Another major inaccuracy is Dory’s assertion that her “short-term memory loss” runs in the family. Anterograde amnesia is not hereditary; it can only be caused by some kind of brain trauma. For most of the film after their introduction, Dory seems familiar with Marlin and doesn’t forget who he is. Someone with anterograde amnesia would not be able to remember anyone or anything new for longer than about 30 seconds (the span of short-term memory). Remembering a series of events when presented with a certain retrieval cue would not be possible either, like it is suggested when Dory remembers her journey with Marlin after reading the word “Sydney” on a water treatment pipe. Towards the end Dory states that she remembers things better when she is with Marlin. While social support has
been shown to contribute to the wellbeing of individuals with amnesia, such a direct correlation between the presence of a certain person and the amnesiac’s memory is not likely (Brinckman, 2013).
While Finding Nemo shows some inconsistencies in Dory’s condition (not to mention an inaccurate labeling of her condition), it sheds some light on the topic of memory loss in a way that is fun and entertaining.