Anterograde Amnesia

“Memento” 1/3/13

Killian Black Katagiri

Anterograde amnesia is a very shady subject in the world of psychology as well as in the medical field. This paper will be giving an analysis of a movie that provides an accurate example of this type of amnesia. Also, it will explain the causes, symptoms, treatments, and the origin of anterograde amnesia. Case studies and important scientists, and their controversial ideas, will be provided to give the reader a better idea of how anterograde amnesia works.

The movie I will be analyzing is “Memento”. “Memento” is a psychological thriller and is directed by Christopher Nolan. Nolan bases this movie on a short story his brother, Jonathan Nolan, wrote, “Memento Mori”. In the beginning of the movie, it shows a photograph that is slowly fading away; everything is going back in time. The whole movie works backwards showing a scene then going back in time show what led up to that scene and the same with that scene. Leonard is the main character, and was diagnosed with anterograde amnesia. Anterograde amnesia is the theme of the movie. Leonard developed this disorder after an accident he was in, which a burglar raped and killed his wife and hit him over the head. Leonard’s main goal throughout the movie is to find the burglar and get his revenge. Leonard was an insurance investigator before the accident, and one of his cases was Sammy Jenkins, who supposedly had the same problem he had. The story he tells everyone about Sammy Jenkins is actually the story about him, but his mind repressed the memory and tricked him into thinking that it was Sammy’s life. Sammy was actually someone who tried to defraud an insurance company