There are many films that speak about personal identity but one that comes to mind now is Memento. Now I didn’t really like the film so much but I do like the questions it addresses—Every 5-10 mins this guy (Leonard) can’t remember anything that has happened. He leaves messages for himself all over the place: on his body, pictures, and any piece of paper. Well the film goes continues to tell his story of finding his wife’s killer, from the end of the movie to beginning (its backwards, and those who haven’t seen this film I am sorry, but I am going to ruined it a little) when we learn that he find him at the end killing this guy he believes is the killer (who really isn’t the killer he is searching for and he had already killed the real one long time ago). We also learn that his friend, Teddy, has been using to kill different guys because he can’t remember it. What Leonard does is trick himself in killing Teddy next time because Teddy’s initials match the killer’s. So who is the murder of Teddy? Can we really say it is Leonard when he can’t remember tricking himself? Is he a different person each time he “forgets”? The last question what is Leonard’s personal identity, who is Leonard? What are your thoughts about this?
posted by Sage at 1:52 PM
1 Comments:
Its been a while since I have seen the movie, but if I remember correctly, Leonard remembers his life up until the attack. If this is true then wouldn't Leo retain his identity and know who he is, at least up until his wife's murder. And as for whether or not Leonard is responsible for the murders, since he leaving notes for himself so that he can track down and kill his wife's murderer, I think he does hold responsibility. Even if he doesn't remember them and was being used by Teddy.
Post a Comment
<< Home