Analysis Of The Movie Memento

Superior Essays
Throughout our lives we watch and find enjoyment through many different films and cinemas. A lot of the time we find ourselves critiquing the movie based on many different factors such as the quality of writing, acting or actors, the film quality, or the way we are entertained by it. In many movies are disabilities and disorders we can see in psychology that are portrayed in different ways, and it is important we call attention to these movies and critique them through a scientific lens. In many cases a psychological disorder will be portrayed in such a negative and wrong way that it will change the public’s idea on it. This is why it is important to take a step back and look at the movie through a different view and critique it in a way that helps give others a better understanding of what the disability is and how it really is rather than what is portrayed in a movie. This paper compares the movie “Memento” (2000), and its portrayal of Anterograde amnesia to what the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders defines amnesia as which is, “The predominant disturbance is one or more episodes of inability to recall important personal information, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature, that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness.” As we can see, in a basic analysis amnesia is the loss of memory …show more content…
Natalie is upset and storms into the room causing Leonard to ask what is happening, she then proceeds to mentally and physically abuse him taking advantage of his disability. In specific she states in explicit words “ You know what one of the causes of short term memory loss is? Venereal disease. Maybe your cunt of a wife sucked one too many diseased cocks and turned you into a retard.” Although this is said very explicitly it also correctly displays how exactly anterograde amnesia can happen in a

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Christopher Nolan’s Memento is organized in a way that the story and character development is presented to the audience backwards and with the same amnesia as the character. We experience scenes out of order and backwards. In the film Leonard talks with the motel manager about his memory condition (Memento 8:00). However, this has happened before, we the viewers are just know seeing the exchange between the characters for the first time.…

    • 1926 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Rhetorical Analysis “Disability and the Media: Prescriptions for Change” In the media, there is a controversy on how the media portrays a person with a disability. Charles A. Riley II, article has a pointed view on how the media acts, and how they need to change their ways on viewing the world of disability. Riley writes this article to get his point across to the world that the media needs to be changed.…

    • 1320 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Looking deeper, the depiction of people with physical disabilities has improved over time while the perspective on people with mental illness has gotten worse. Despite the similarities and differences of these two writings, it is clear to see that the media is misleading our society with inaccurate views of people with disabilities. With mental and physical disabilities playing such a large role around us, our society should keep in mind the thoughts shown by Mairs and Anaya. We must realize that the actions and thoughts we have toward others truly…

    • 1253 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Memory represents a person’s perception of self and identity. Reflecting on past memories and experiences allows a person to recognize who he or she is and where he or she came from. In the novel, Brain on Fire, by Susannah Cahalan, a disease known as anti-NMDA receptor autoimmune encephalitis inflames Cahalan’s brain, inducing cognitive deficiencies such as hallucinations, paranoia, and slurred speech. Cahalan refers to her hospital stay as her “month of madness” because these symptoms destroy her memory and alter her identity.…

    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Price’s purpose for writing this article is to inform her audience about the different definitions of disability and also to rework the definition itself. Her main argument is that there are many words one can use to describe “impairments of the mind”, but there is not one correct word to use to describe them (298). One must acknowledge the different definitions and decipher which one fits to the situation at hand. However, the definition that a person chooses must be more inclusive and expressive of individuality. She gives the readers about seven words to choose from when defining mental disability and gives examples as to how those words can be used.…

    • 1363 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    All these people have disabilities. They don’t choose to be this way. It’s just how they end up. In the novel, “Of Mice and Men," the author addresses the human rights issue of mental illnesses and this problem is an issue in the US and in other countries. It could be the cause of an accident or it could be a birth defect or just something that happens gradually over time.…

    • 1175 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In addition to everything the film also slightly discusses the financial strain that comes with taking care of someone with a disability. All in all, this film successfully discusses and shows some of the struggles of a life with a disability, and is therefore persuasive in explaining the problems with interaction between people with disabilities, and the rest of the world. The film was very effective illustrating the problem of how people with disabilities are being segregated and forgotten about. The film gives examples and shows how this is happening too.…

    • 906 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Cinematography In Memento

    • 437 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Memento, by Christopher Nolan, is an all encompassing film that takes a deeper look at time, memory, morals, vengeance, through the story of Leonard Shelby, a man who suffers from retrograde amnesia that is on a mission to avenge his wife’s murder and rape. These themes are portar Memento, by Christopher Nolan, is a film that changed the course of cinematography in the early twenty-first century. The film is cut and edited in a way that not only turns the experience of watching in a puzzle, and emerges the audience into the life of somebody suffering To most people, having already lived through their pasts, the idea of our present and uncertain future are of greater concern to us which is why the first scene in Memento strikes the viewer…

    • 437 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    People with disabilities are attached with stigmas, such as being less intelligent or incapable in certain facets of life. Stereotypes are present in society, but it may be difficult to discuss and to further change or overcome them. However, humor can be used as a device to allow a serious topic to be more approachable by relying on preposterous situations. Through the use of dark humor in Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot, John Callahan breaks these stigmas and illustrates an outrageous view of disability in order to show the irrationality of the stereotype or stigma portrayed. Throughout this work, Callahan directly attacks the stereotypes regarding disability and illustrates the realistic portrayal of disability and offers a solution, through humor, to overcome the societal prejudices.…

    • 1779 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Amnesia In Memento

    • 1436 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Memory is the mechanism through which one forms and alters their identity, and it is this inherent idea that is explored in Christopher Nolan’s film Memento, depicting a former insurance claims investigator, Lenny, on the hunt for the murderers of his wife while suffering from anterograde amnesia due to traumatic brain injury at the hands of the murderers. While Memento is not the first film to utilize amnesia as a plot device, it does deserve exceptional recognition for portraying the neurobiological effects of anterograde amnesia accurately. In particular, the film excels at portraying the utilization of an artificial memory system to showcase Lenny’s attempts at continuing his life and the portrayal of the impacts of anterograde amnesia…

    • 1436 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Like H.M., Lucy’s anterograde amnesia did not improve (Kolb & Whishaw, 2015, p. 715), so her family was forced to take care of her. After falling in love with Lucy, Henry comes up with an idea to show Lucy a video every morning that tells her about her memory loss and gives her an update about everything she has forgotten. With the help of this video, Lucy and Henry are able to maintain a relationship and eventually have children. Many patients who recover from brain damage make adjustments to their routine to improve their quality of life (p. 716), and this method seemed to work very well for Lucy. However, in a real case of amnesia it is very unlikely the patient’s caregivers would be able to make the sacrifices that Lucy’s family and Henry did.…

    • 1679 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Memento Movie Analysis

    • 1696 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Episodic memory refers to specific events in someone’s memory that have occurred in the life of the individual, whereas Semantic memory refers to the knowledge about the world, facts, general knowledge that does not directly relate to a person, but could still be a part of their life experience. Semantic memory usually doesn’t involve the role of the amygdala, because it is facts and figures. In episodic memory, the amygdala plays the role of adding an emotional aspect to the memory. . Figure2 Leonard Shelby could be compared to the case of H.M. H.M’s case led to the discovery that the hippocampus is not the place of permanent memory storage, but does played a role in the transfer of information (memories) from short term into long-term memory. Because of the lack of transfer from short term to long term, sufferers may therefore repeat comments or questions several times and forget people who they met after the trauma in a matter of minutes, as Shelby does numerous times throughout…

    • 1696 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Reliving today is not exactly a special phenomenon for many people. Generally, individuals live their lives according to a simple go to work and go to bed schedule with little variation. However, for some people, reliving today is only a product of forgetting that today already happened. Anterograde amnesia is a condition that is marked by patients being unable to store information in their short-term memory after a specific incident most commonly involving brain trauma. Having anterograde amnesia means that its victims can remember events leading up to the specific trauma they experience but do not form new memories after.…

    • 1743 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Analysis of American Horror Story: Freak Show In class we have learned about many different aspects of disability. In American Horror Story: Freak Show (Freak Show), there were many themes shown throughout that touched on material we have talked about in class. Freak Show illustrates the medical and sociopolitical models of disability, uses terms that are deemed inappropriate or unacceptable by the disability community, and represents people with disabilities in the media. I have read several articles claiming the show to be a disgrace to those with disabilities, but each author of various articles claimed to have not watched even a full episode.…

    • 2070 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays