realization, I began to think of the many other amnesiacs that I know and love. If only they could remember who I am…
1. Clementine Kruczynski and Joel Barish (Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Not only is this a tale of voluntary lacunar amnesia (on par with a night of heavy drinking), it happens to be one of the greatest love stories of all time. Despite the fact that Joel and Clementine have erased one another from each other’s mind, they still manage to meet up and (hopefully) work it all out. Even amnesia can’t stop two people from being in love. It’s just so cute.
Amnesiawesome: In an attempt to save his memory of Clementine, Joel finds her and attempts to hide her in the parts of his mind that are reserved for personal shame and humiliation. It takes a lot of love to bring someone into those dark and painful mental regions, that’s for sure.
2. Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), The Bourne Identity, Supremacy, and Ultimatum: My man Jason Bourne. I can safely say that I love the guy. Even though he’s killed countless people and could do me in with a Bic pen, I just really hope he gets his life sorted out.Amnesiawesome: After finding out about his first mission (the one that involved killing a married couple and making it look like the killed themselves), Bourne tracks down their daughter and explains what happened. Sure, the guy can tangle with the most deadly of assassins, but it’s these moments of integrity that make him heroic.
3. River Tam (Summer Glau): Like Jason Bourne, River is a government-engineered weapon whose mind has been fractured by needles and experiments. Her brother Simon the doctor kidnapped her and smuggled her aboard Serenity in hopes to get her away from the ever-pursuant Alliance. While on the ship, she talks all kinds of scary nonsense and surprises everyone when an animated Japanese octopus triggers her into kicking the crap out of a whole bar full of people. Badaaasss.Amnesiawesome: Within the first half hour of Serenity, the crew is chased out of a backwater town by the cannibalistic and scary-as-hell Reavers. After watching Mal (Nathan Fillion) shoot a townsfolk to save him from being eaten alive and seeing Jayne (Adam Baldwin) get harpooned through the leg, the first thing that River says upon reaching the safety of their ship? “I swallowed a bug.”
4. Sammy Jankis (Guy Pearce), Memento: It’s been awhile since I’ve watched this flick, but I do remember how intense it was to watch Sammy tattoo clues on his body and leave himself reminders everywhere. Honestly, this one hurt my head pretty badly. But I’ll be okay.Amnesiawesome: After we find out that Carrie-Anne Moss (I forget her character’s name. How ironic!) is evil, we watch as she confesses her evil intentions, leaves the house, and returns five minutes later. Due to Sammy's regrettable condition, he still thinks she's okay. What a total bee-yotch.
5. Rita/Camilla Rhodes (Laura Elena Harding), Mulholland Drive: In Lost Highway, David Lynch was toying with the idea of what smartfolk call a dissociative fugue, which is when a person mentally erases their own identity and recreates another one due to some kind of trauma or psychosis. Rita in Mulholland Drive may or may not be suffering from some sort of “fugue” syndrome. It took me exactly sixteen hours to get that far in my interpretation of this movie.Amnesiawesome: No, it’s not the girl on girl love scene. Pervs. It’s when Rita and Betty (Naomi Watts) visit the strange nightclub Silencio. It appears to be a halfway point between the mental worlds that Rita and Betty inhabit while living in the crazy city of L.A. And I thought Rebekah Del Rio’s Spanish version of “Cryin’ Over You” by Roy Orbison was a tear jerker.
6. John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell), Dark City: Unlike the other members of this list, John Murdoch has amnesia because of alien parasites. He lives in a city that is controlled by the Strangers (the aforementioned alien parasites), who conduct mind experiments on the city’s inhabitants. Murdoch wakes up in a bathtub with no memory of who he was because all of his memories have been extracted from his brain via creepy syringe by Dr. Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland). Long story short, he learns how to use the Strangers’ powers against them, does mighty battle with their leader, and recreates the city in a more sunny and happy image.
Amnesiawesome: Though it appears that Mr. Murdoch is about to be killed by the Strangers, Dr. Schreber sneakily injects his brain with the know-how to use their alien captors’ telekinetic powers against them. Afterwards, an all out mental apocalypse takes place as John and Mr. Book shoot telekinetic bolts at one another. Mental Apocalypse would be a good band name.
7. Wolverine/Logan (Hugh Jackman), X-Men: Before I start, I’d just like to say that Brett Rattner has screwed this franchise. Anywho, Wolverine got amnesia because of government experiments too (that’s three!). The reason he gets to be in his own category is because he’s a mutant and the experiment involved lacing his skeleton with unbreakable adamantium steel! Not to mention that when he starts having flashbacks of his torturous ordeal, he usually freaks out and kicks some ass.
Amnesiawesome: Honestly, when isn’t Wolverine doing something awesome? He’s either going berserk on soldiers or trying to steal Jean Grey away from dorky Cyclops.
