I really enjoyed this movie because its plot line was original and it was told in a different way than what I am used to. It was also a shocking movie. Someone mentioned in class that perhaps Leonard lied to himself to give himself a purpose for existence. I agree with that, but I also think there was more to it. I think that if he was that one who killed his wife he was trying to relieve himself from the guilt by hunting down the one who could have done it. It was mentioned in the film that Leonard’s wife did survive and that he was the one who tried to kill her. We also saw that for a second his own memory became conflicted with the idea that he was half merging the truth and a constructed lie.
Then his actions became an endless cycle of hunting down those with a John G name. Also, the film eliminates linear time, so Leonard is forever stuck in that cycle. We do know that it had been a year since he killed the most probable killer, but there is no other clue as to where Leonard stands on time. We don’t know how long it was since his wife died or how many John Gs he killed.
I think that Leonard had an idea as to what he was doing and maybe subconsciously he knew that if the hunt ended he would have to come to terms with the reality. This constant hunting and killing is the reality that he chooses for himself because he makes the decision of eventually killing Teddy. He could have done it then when he made the decision, but he let it become a hunt because he wrote down clues that would eventually point to Teddy as the killer.
“Memento” ends at the beginning of Teddy’s hunt. It was Teddy who had Leonard running around hunting down John Gs after the first one. Maybe Natalie would feed him with another hunt, since we know she used him for her benefit.
Overall, this was a good movie to end the class with because it wraps up the idea of lies being more comforting than the truth, and how the truth is harder to face than the reality we have created with our lies. At least that’s how I felt.
Good job on the post! I had never thought about the absence of time in the plot as a metaphor for this endless circle and chain of events that he seems to be stuck in (if thats what you were suggesting). I find it interesting, and do agree with the idea, that Leonard does make a subconscious decision to continue the cycle of hunting in order to subdue his conscious. Its interesting to think that he makes this decision that he knows is going to effect his life in a way that he will not be able to, not be able to realize later. I this decision more moral or less moral then if it were made by a human can remember past ten minutes. One side of me wants to feel sympathy for the fact that he has to make life changing choices in very short window time and thus is more susceptible to emotions effecting him. Then again you think that he of all people should hold back his emotions, but this isn't the case.
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