Memories
have always fascinated me. I remember in 10th grade a famous rapper
(whose name I would know if I knew that kind of thing) came and spoke/ rapped
at our school for our annual Martin Luther King Day assembly. One of his
smaller points, but one that especially stuck with me, was the difficulty but
importance of remembering truthfully. Leonard makes the same point, emphasizing
the difference between memory and fact. When I look back at a good class versus a bad class, a close
friend versus someone who got on my nerves, even a year I was happy versus a
year I less so, I always build up the good and overlook the bad. Sometimes a
calming exercise when I’m stressed is to remember that during the best parts of
my life I have been stressed. We always have days which, as my friend calls
them, are just “funks”, and sometimes not letting them overwhelm us is the
hardest part.
Leonard
claims that even if he doesn’t remember getting revenge for his wife, it still
holds significance. I think that question is similar to the question of if we do
something to help another and they never find out, is there still a point? And,
quite obviously to me, there is. This is one of the true forms of being
selfless.
Honestly,
this movie scared me more than anything else. I had never thought about how vital
our memories are, not just to our quality of life, but also to surviving.
People always say to “live in the moment” but our moment is so affected by our
sure past and our inklings about the future. In fact, living completely in the
moment is hardly possible. But after watching the first part of Momento, I realized this is actually a
blessing. We have talked in this class about how our realities are shaped by
our past experiences. Leonard still has a very real reality, but this reality
is stuck at the time of the incident. Overall this movie just made me feel so lucky to have a
memory. Good memories save us in hard times; bad memories protect us in the
future, and all memories are part of who we are.
I never thought about how important our memories are for surviving either. Leonard's case might be extreme, but our memories shape our decisions. I like your point that "our moments are affected by our past and our future." I think that our past and our ambitions affect every aspect of our lives. If we weren't able to remember our past, and only able to focus on our ambitions, like Leonard, then our lives would be drastically different, most likely for the worse.
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