Post-Class Week of 2/22: Memento

After watching Memento for the second time, I could not help but relate my own experience of interpreting the movie this time much differently from the prior time, to a declaration by Barthes stating: “From one reading to the next, we never skip the same passage”. In this quotation, Barthes explores the idea of how the individual will never reread a text in an identical manner, no matter how many times the text has been analyzed, because every time one reads a text, new things will appear that he/she did not recognize in prior occasions. Every time one explores an open text, whether it be a book, a film, etc., he/she will inevitably fill in that “gap” differently because there is endless room for individual interpretation and the possibility for multiple perspectives to form. I think Memento perfectly exemplifies the idea of an open text that encourages active audience participation because it challenges conventional story-telling and forces the audience to question what is reality and what is simply imagination. There is never a time where the audience is secure in their prediction of where the film is headed, leaving them in a constant state of confusion and uncertainty. Its non-linear narration splits from the status quo, ultimately creating an enormous “gap,” because Memento does not allow for a “surface” reading but instead delves into the audience’s consciousness by forcing him/her to discern between the “real” and the “fake”. And, in the end, I do not think it is clear which moments of the film are of either sort. Fortunately, because I had already seen in the movie, I was better prepared for what to expect and knew not to look at the film with a predisposed idea of what was going to be occurring. Unlike most films where one can take for granted that what is being shown is fact, this film makes you constantly question all that is… and because of this, it seems Memento stands as a mediated representation of a variety of postmodern themes: the antiform, the absent, and the deconstruction.