DudyDawg
12-08-2014, 02:10 PM
Just watched Memento for the first time, and wow. It was crazy. I've been reading a ton of theories and i haven't quite figured out what I think is the truth, but this is my theory. I assume anyone on here who's seen it will have one too, since it's one of those movies that leaves things open to interpretation, so post what conclusions you've come to.
Okay, here is my view.
Firstly, Sammy: I believe this story is true, as Lenny tells it as happening before the injury. I've read theories of him being Sammy, but that seems impossible to me. Here's why. If he was sammy and he actually killed his wife with insulin bc he didn't know he had already dosed her up, then he would not be able to remember doing that and thus would not have the ability to tell the Sammy Jankis story over the phone. Sammy killed his wife after losing his ability to make memories, so there is no way Lenny could be Sammy, because he wouldn't remember the story. There is a cut scene where they put Lenny in the mental hospital for a split second instead of Sammy, but I believe that is just because Lenny knows he will wind up in the same situation, not knowing how he got there one day after killing those people, and the tattoo "remember sammy jankis" is simply to remind him of his condition and that he identifies with the man.
Second, I think its clear his wife died in the attack, ruling out the possibility of Lenny being Sammy Jankis, or him simply doing all this to suppress the memory of killing her. It was stated multiple times that he is killing bc there was no police investigation and he wants justice for his wife (even if he won't remember). A lot of theories suggest the wife lived, but if that were true, then she would have been able to tell the police that there were two attackers, and they would have investigated it. Instead, Lenny is the only one who can tell them that there was a second attacker and "they don't investigate because who would believe a guy with no memory". If she was there, they would know there were two attackers.
Teddy: I think he simply heard from the investigation that Lenny couldn't make memories, and decided he could use him as a way to kill off people who caused trouble (people like Jimmie) and others involved in local drug rings. I don't trust him. I do however believe he helped Lenny kill the real John G., the man who killed Lenny's wife. When Teddy gives Lenny the picture of himself touching his chest, where the "I did it" tattoo was going (and seen in his daydream, something I believe is nothing more than a nice daydream to give himself a moment of satisfaction for the kill), that represented the kill of the real John G. However, after killing Jimmie, Lenny realized that Teddy was using him and decided to burn the picture to let himself forget and get Teddy's license tattooed on him to get Teddy back for using him, and also to give himself some sort of purpose in life (Nolan's way of saying that where you go doesn't matter, its the journey in life that is important).
Natalie: She is a really weird character. She makes it clear she doesn't care about Lenny, but I'm not positive what she's using him for. When Lenny pulls up in her now dead boyfriends car and clothes, she doesn't freak out, and when he says he "found a coaster in my pocket telling me to come to this bar" she says "yeah, you're pocket" showing that she knows it was Jimmie's, which implies she had a part of it and helped Teddy or that she simply wanted him dead. My opinion on her is that she just uses him to keep her safe from Dodd and is keeping him around until she can find Jimmies 200,000K.
Here is the other theory (summed up) that I'm jostling with possibly being the truth. The Sammy story is true, except that he didn't have a wife. Lenny just investigated him, denied the claim, got injured, killed his own wife with insulin, and added it to Sammy's story to help him cope with the guilt of killing her and other people. This theory of him selectively suppressing the memory of killing his wife and conditioning himself to purposefully misremember Sammy's story is a very close second for me.
One more interesting theory that has more holes but could be possible. Sammy was a liar, and Lenny reported it as such. He then realized that, post incident, he could make the same lie and use it to kill the attacker and claim mental insanity. One big reason that this one intrigues me is that when the man from the front desk tells Lenny his boss made him charge two rooms, Lenny says "you don't have to be that honest with people, Burt". This sentence implies two things. First, that he feels that honesty isn't always they best policy and that it can help to lie (so he decides to falsify his condition). And secondly, he knew his name was Burt, but the man never told him, possibly showing that he did remember the guy and that he simply repressed what he wanted to in order to cope with his guilt.
Anyways, if you took the time to read that, thanks. Like I said, I just watched it and I love thinking movies like that, and it got me a little wrapped up in the riddle of the film. Easily up there in my list of favorites already. Let me know your theories.
ETA: on the dvd set, there is a way to watch the movies with the scenes placed in chronological order, so if you have seen that, what is it like and does it shed any light on the riddle? Thanks
Okay, here is my view.
Firstly, Sammy: I believe this story is true, as Lenny tells it as happening before the injury. I've read theories of him being Sammy, but that seems impossible to me. Here's why. If he was sammy and he actually killed his wife with insulin bc he didn't know he had already dosed her up, then he would not be able to remember doing that and thus would not have the ability to tell the Sammy Jankis story over the phone. Sammy killed his wife after losing his ability to make memories, so there is no way Lenny could be Sammy, because he wouldn't remember the story. There is a cut scene where they put Lenny in the mental hospital for a split second instead of Sammy, but I believe that is just because Lenny knows he will wind up in the same situation, not knowing how he got there one day after killing those people, and the tattoo "remember sammy jankis" is simply to remind him of his condition and that he identifies with the man.
Second, I think its clear his wife died in the attack, ruling out the possibility of Lenny being Sammy Jankis, or him simply doing all this to suppress the memory of killing her. It was stated multiple times that he is killing bc there was no police investigation and he wants justice for his wife (even if he won't remember). A lot of theories suggest the wife lived, but if that were true, then she would have been able to tell the police that there were two attackers, and they would have investigated it. Instead, Lenny is the only one who can tell them that there was a second attacker and "they don't investigate because who would believe a guy with no memory". If she was there, they would know there were two attackers.
Teddy: I think he simply heard from the investigation that Lenny couldn't make memories, and decided he could use him as a way to kill off people who caused trouble (people like Jimmie) and others involved in local drug rings. I don't trust him. I do however believe he helped Lenny kill the real John G., the man who killed Lenny's wife. When Teddy gives Lenny the picture of himself touching his chest, where the "I did it" tattoo was going (and seen in his daydream, something I believe is nothing more than a nice daydream to give himself a moment of satisfaction for the kill), that represented the kill of the real John G. However, after killing Jimmie, Lenny realized that Teddy was using him and decided to burn the picture to let himself forget and get Teddy's license tattooed on him to get Teddy back for using him, and also to give himself some sort of purpose in life (Nolan's way of saying that where you go doesn't matter, its the journey in life that is important).
Natalie: She is a really weird character. She makes it clear she doesn't care about Lenny, but I'm not positive what she's using him for. When Lenny pulls up in her now dead boyfriends car and clothes, she doesn't freak out, and when he says he "found a coaster in my pocket telling me to come to this bar" she says "yeah, you're pocket" showing that she knows it was Jimmie's, which implies she had a part of it and helped Teddy or that she simply wanted him dead. My opinion on her is that she just uses him to keep her safe from Dodd and is keeping him around until she can find Jimmies 200,000K.
Here is the other theory (summed up) that I'm jostling with possibly being the truth. The Sammy story is true, except that he didn't have a wife. Lenny just investigated him, denied the claim, got injured, killed his own wife with insulin, and added it to Sammy's story to help him cope with the guilt of killing her and other people. This theory of him selectively suppressing the memory of killing his wife and conditioning himself to purposefully misremember Sammy's story is a very close second for me.
One more interesting theory that has more holes but could be possible. Sammy was a liar, and Lenny reported it as such. He then realized that, post incident, he could make the same lie and use it to kill the attacker and claim mental insanity. One big reason that this one intrigues me is that when the man from the front desk tells Lenny his boss made him charge two rooms, Lenny says "you don't have to be that honest with people, Burt". This sentence implies two things. First, that he feels that honesty isn't always they best policy and that it can help to lie (so he decides to falsify his condition). And secondly, he knew his name was Burt, but the man never told him, possibly showing that he did remember the guy and that he simply repressed what he wanted to in order to cope with his guilt.
Anyways, if you took the time to read that, thanks. Like I said, I just watched it and I love thinking movies like that, and it got me a little wrapped up in the riddle of the film. Easily up there in my list of favorites already. Let me know your theories.
ETA: on the dvd set, there is a way to watch the movies with the scenes placed in chronological order, so if you have seen that, what is it like and does it shed any light on the riddle? Thanks