The Memento Dilemma

After nearly a full semester of this class, I have learned how to critically evaluative work as it pertains to truth, lies, and perception. Although I have seen Memento in the past, re-watching the film with my "Truth, Lies & Literature" lenses has shed light on some issues that I otherwise would have passed over. Although this film has not so far encountered any grave truth/lies perplexities, it directly correlates to what we have studied in class (and purposefully); Memento and "Truth, Lies & Literature" have shared frameworks and overall themes.

Leonard Shelby, Guy Pierce's character and the protagonist of the story, has an interesting take on memory given his anterograde amnesia: "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."

(Yes, it's the same quote that mostly everyone on this blog has commented on, but bear with me I have a different analysis!)

Leonard goes on to talk about how the Police use their notes to solve cases and not just what they see to justifying his method of functioning. This point is something that at first I never thought nothing of and accepted as truth, but now I am obliged to comment on: Leonard is wrong because "records" and "facts" can be distorted as well.

To prove my point, look at Leonard's system. Leonard experiences something over a short period of time and "records" the event with a couple of words. The problem arises in the way that humans read--we all interpret and perceptive text in different ways, just as we do with memory. There is no one way to read a book or one overall meaning of a text. The same exact sentence for can produce a different meaning for two separate people. Our classroom discussions over the books we read this semester proves this point. The "records" and "facts" that Leonard counts on are just as unreliable as memories.

Leonard's system is broken. Say Leonard writes down a sentences to portray a certain sentiment towards a person he meets; when Leonard forgets, his system fails if the few words that he documents does not bring to light the exact same feelings in the past. It's unlikely that these sentences achieve its goal because of the difficulty of evoking these same feelings. Leonard is at fault for interpreting his own writing differently than he had originally intended.

Leonard has false pride in his system, but after being in "Truth, Lies & Literature," I am convinced that he could do no better. The only fact that we know for sure is that there are no facts--a seeming paradox. However, whether its memory, text, videotaping, or audio recording, we based our decisions of off things that are subject to change through perception and interpretation.