Most amnesia victims do not have this strong or dedicated of a support system.įor both Memento and 50 First Dates, a traumatic injury causes the characters’ anterograde amnesia.
Also, the family of Barrymore’s character spend their lives pretending her final day before the accident that caused her amnesia is still happening. In 50 First Dates, while the condition is presented relatively accurately, it is given the nonsensical name of “Goldfield’s Syndrome,” which does not exist. However, if this was the traumatic moment that caused his condition, his memories would not be that vivid surrounding it. The darkness of the Memento story revolves around Leonard obsessing about the attack on him and his wife. So, yes, these things do happen, and Hollywood gets things right sometimes.
Krickitt Carpenter lost 18 months of memories after a traumatic car crash, and her then-forgotten husband worked to help her build a new life even though those memories never returned. The romance The Vow is a more traditional amnesia tale, and it is actually based on a true story of Kim and Krickitt Carpenter. Even the film’s somewhat happy ending in which Barrymore’s character manages to fall in love and get married could conceivably happen, even if it is a bit cheesy. More significant, perhaps, is the fact that the film shows the unfortunate need to institutionalize some people who suffer permanently from the condition. The presentation of the disease in the movie is relatively accurate. Similarly, in 50 First Dates, Drew Barrymore’s character suffers from anterograde amnesia and can’t make new memories. In fact, Leonard’s case is very similar to a man known as Patient HM, who suffered from anterograde amnesia but was still able to form procedural memories, or learn the ability to do perform actions and patterns. It is a relatively accurate portrayal of anterograde amnesia, with his memories only lasting a few minutes at a time. Even though Leonard insists he doesn’t have amnesia (though it appears he’s explaining he doesn’t have the amnesia people are used to seeing on television), he does. Not surprisingly, Christopher Nolan got a lot right about the character of Leonard ( Guy Pearce) in Memento. Other forms of amnesia can result from psychological trauma, pervasive alcohol abuse, developmental disorders during childhood, and malnutrition. In the film The Bourne Identity, Jason Bourne ( Matt Damon) suffers from a dissociative fugue state, which is a loss of memory about one’s identity. Much differently, in the film The Notebook, Gena Rowlands’ character suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, which brings on a form of amnesia by not allowing the subject to recall memories of his or her past. This is a classic example of drug-induced amnesia. In The Hangover, the Wolf Pack wakes up from a drug-and-alcohol binge with no memory of the night before. However, movies use many other forms of amnesia without really realizing it. This type of amnesia has been featured prominently in films like Memento and 50 First Dates. The inability to form new memories results from the brain not moving information from short-term memory to long-term memory. Anterograde amnesia is a little more complex but offers a more compelling mystery. Retrograde amnesia is a common tool used in television and soap operas because it makes for an interesting mystery to solve. This is, at least, one thing that Hollywood tends to get right. Most amnesia results from some sort of trauma to the body, either by an accident or drugs. There are many types of amnesia, but the most commonly addressed types in movies are retrograde amnesia, which is the inability to recall things that happened in the past before a certain event, and anterograde amnesia, which is the inability to make new memories. They might only forget things for as little as a few seconds to a few minutes. Not all amnesia cases result in people forgetting vast chunks of their memories. While most people think of amnesia being a grand, sweeping disorder, it can be much simpler. Like any science you see in the movies, there’s certainly a basis in fact. Whether it’s Jason Bourne trying to get a hold of his past or a poor widower chasing down a man named John G., amnesia makes for a compelling story where we get to learn alongside a person who already knows the thing that they don’t know.īut is movie amnesia realistic, or is it total crap? The Answer: It’s a deliciously blended crap-and-truth milkshake It often indicates a user profile.Ĭertain real-life afflictions make excellent plot points in movies and television, and one of the biggest cliches that’s still used today is amnesia. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
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