In the movie Memento, the character Leonard suffers from short term memory loss. His last memory being his wife’s death. He uses notes tattoos and photographs that he left himself as clues to get through his days. His mission is to avenge his wife’s death by tracking down her raper/murderer and killing him. The character Leonard says two things that stand out to me regarding how he feels about the topic of memory itself. One being “Memories are irrelevant if you have the facts.” and another being “Certainties are the kinds of memories you’ll take forever.”. The character Leonard just like Hume feels like memories are not to be trusted. They can be distorted, scrambled or misinterpreted but the facts are to be trusted because they do not waver. His tattoos being the “facts” and the mirrors are reflections of the truth or the “clear vision”.
Mirrors and the act of focusing in on his facts gave his character tunnel vision. Leonard was no longer an insurance investigator, husband with a normal life that he once was. He had a mission and every day he woke up (having no idea how long it’d been), putting his efforts into avenging his wife’s death. Looking into his mirror he is sure of his mission and his beliefs. “John G. raped and murdered my wife.” is the tattoo he has on his chest.
(Word count: 230)