Memento Themes
Memento is a psychological thriller that discusses one of the most popular themes in Hollywood, which is a short-term memory. It is written and directed by Christopher Nolan in 2000. The main character, Leonard, suffers from a short-term memory loss as a result of his injury while trying to stop men from raping and killing his wife in their home. With his condition, finding revenge and justice from his wife was almost impossible. He needs to use Polaroid photos, notes, and tattoos to help him organize and track the facts of who he was and his true purpose. Through the duration of his investigation, he met two characters in the film: Teddy, a cop who pretends to be his friend for the sake of gaining money, and Natalie, a barmaid, who is also
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This can be difficult in Leonard’s condition because he can only remember who he is before the incident, and the 15 minutes spent in the present. In this way, he can’t remember if his identity changes over time in the present, and if he is still the same person as he was before. These thoughts are presented in the car scene in which Teddy says to Leonard, “You don’t even know who you are… You do not know you are, what you’ve become since – the incident.” Locke also explained in his Essay concerning Human Understanding that one must also be able to reconstruct the story of one’s life. Thus, the person must have the ability to construct a continuous story about his experiences from yesterday to today. In this sense, one must remember who they were before to accurately explain their individuality. This explains Leonard’s hunger for revenge of his wife’s death, which is seen at the diner scene with Teddy. This type of thinking will hinder him in moving on from the past and making plans for the future. Locke’s Theory of Personal Identity also explained that as long as someone retains the consciousness of some past action, the one who is remembering in the present, and the one in his memory are one and the same person. Thus, Leonard has his own identity in which can only change through the decisions and the actions that he will
This can be difficult in Leonard’s condition because he can only remember who he is before the incident, and the 15 minutes spent in the present. In this way, he can’t remember if his identity changes over time in the present, and if he is still the same person as he was before. These thoughts are presented in the car scene in which Teddy says to Leonard, “You don’t even know who you are… You do not know you are, what you’ve become since – the incident.” Locke also explained in his Essay concerning Human Understanding that one must also be able to reconstruct the story of one’s life. Thus, the person must have the ability to construct a continuous story about his experiences from yesterday to today. In this sense, one must remember who they were before to accurately explain their individuality. This explains Leonard’s hunger for revenge of his wife’s death, which is seen at the diner scene with Teddy. This type of thinking will hinder him in moving on from the past and making plans for the future. Locke’s Theory of Personal Identity also explained that as long as someone retains the consciousness of some past action, the one who is remembering in the present, and the one in his memory are one and the same person. Thus, Leonard has his own identity in which can only change through the decisions and the actions that he will