Body Manipulation

Memento made me think about body manipulation. The main character, Leonard, manipulates his own body to serve as his memory. Since he cannot remember anything since his wife’s death, he tattoos himself to remember certain details about his wife’s murderer. In this instance, Leonard manipulates his own body as guidance, but it made me think of the way that women manipulate their bodies to fit an ideal. Women are manipulated by the media into thinking that their bodies are not good enough and need to be manipulated in order to be beautiful. Women wear makeup, manipulate their hair, get plastic surgery, and starve themselves to look like the “ideal woman.” These manipulations can be harmful to women and their health, yet this ongoing cycle never stops because the ideal is unattainable. Manipulation is so prevalent in our lives and while many forms can be harmless, body manipulation and the media manipulation that motives women to manipulate their bodies, can be quite harmful. Though Memento is not about female body image, Leonard seems to believe that he has no other option than to manipulate his body so he can find his wife’s murderer. Women in our society also seem to believe that they have no other option but to submit to this manipulation and manipulate their bodies.