Leonard Shelby has used deductive reasoning throughout his life. As an insurance fraud investigator, he could easily tell need from fraud, fact from fiction, truth from lies. He explains to his constant acquaintance Teddy, “Facts, not memories. That's how you investigate. I know; it's what I used to do." Even with his handicap, Leonard remains unabashed that he will avenge his wife through his thorough investigation.
But could he?
How accurate is Leonard Shelby's investigation? Or even his recollection prior to his accident?
Leonard sneers in his defense of his methods, “Memory can change the shape of a room; it can change the color of a car. And memories can be distorted. They're just an interpretation, they're not a record, and they're irrelevant if you have the facts.” But what does Leonard have before his accident? Even the details behind his wife's death, truths so unwavering that they are tattooed across Leonard's chest, are ambiguous. Leonard contends from the beginning that a man raped and strangled his wife. However, as the story progresses, we find that Leonard's wife possibly died due to an overdose of insulin possibly administered by Leonard himself. The story of Sammy Jankis also deems problematic and unclear. Leonard portrays a tale of a poor, utterly befuddled man with anterograde amnesia, who accidentally kills his wife. This varies from Teddy's portrayal of a con man who tried to pull an insurance scam.
But then again, how do you know Teddy is telling the truth?
“You don't want the truth. You make up your own truth,” Teddy cries out in frustration to Leonard. But Teddy is not a reliable source either. Teddy is supposedly a corrupt cop with intentions to kill a drug dealer, though he has no way of proving this. After all, it was Teddy who manipulated Leonard into killing Jimmy; Leonard even makes a note of Teddy's deceit on his Polaroid. How are we to believe a word he says?
The most honest fact you can acquire from this movie is that the characters are a crew of liars who do not know themselves what the truth actually is. Memento is ingenious and thought provoking, fueling large levels of adrenaline throughout me and testing my allegiance to the truth. I can now classify it as one of my favorite movies. I feel overtime I will still continue to ponder and search for answers that are never there. Just as Leonard did, I feel after awhile, I'll stop investigating and just make up my own truth.
I think you accurately portrayed the confusing task of finding the truth in this movie, particularly the fate of Lenny's wife. At first, I thought that the wife lived but just could not handle Lenny's mental handicap. But after reading your comparison of Lenny and Sammy, I see a new possibility. Perhaps the parts of his memory that Lenny could not face were projected onto Sammy, like the insulin overdose. This would make a fascinating case of denial—that of a man with short-term memory loss choosing, if subconsciously, to forget.
ReplyDeleteI doubt that Teddy was lying in this instance, because I do not see any motive for him to lie here. More to the point, I think the only bit of untruth he said at the climax was that he "wanted to see Lenny smile again." Truly what he wanted was to use Lenny to remove criminals from the streets. Great post!
I like how in your first paragraph you state that Lenny was the type of person who new fact from fiction, truth from lies, etc. Bringing that statement into mind after watching the movie makes it almost ironic that the lives he lived pre-and post-accident are complete opposites. He started out as a person who could read others and know what is being told to him as a fact or fabrication. And now, as a result of an accident, he can't even remember what happened a few minutes ago. As Lenny said in the movie, he can remember the past, but the "present is trivia, which [he] scribbles down as ... notes." It brings an understanding to Teddy's constant quote to Lenny - "You don't know who you are anymore....Maybe it's time you started investigating yourself." I just find a blissful irony in the juxtaposition of the two lives that Lenny has lived.
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