Retrospective Memory - in Popular Culture

In Popular Culture

The absence of retrospective memory creates an amnesia that has frequently been a key element in plot lines in television, film and novels. Some examples are:

Remember Me, a novel by Sophie Kinsella, in which amnesia is caused by trauma.
The Bourne Identity, a novel by Robert Ludlum and a film adaptation, in which amnesia is caused by trauma.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a film by Michel Gondry, in which amnesia is caused by a company who are hired to erase painful memories.

Memory is frequently the subject of many wise quotations. The following are some examples relating to retrospective memory (or lack thereof):

Memory is the diary that we all carry about with us.-Oscar Wilde
Not the power to remember, but its very opposite, the power to forget, is a necessary condition for our existence.-Sholem Asch

Read more about this topic:  Retrospective Memory

Famous quotes containing the words popular culture, popular and/or culture:

    Like other secret lovers, many speak mockingly about popular culture to conceal their passion for it.
    Mason Cooley (b. 1927)

    You are, I am sure, aware that genuine popular support in the United States is required to carry out any Government policy, foreign or domestic. The American people make up their own minds and no governmental action can change it.
    Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)

    Why is it so difficult to see the lesbian—even when she is there, quite plainly, in front of us? In part because she has been “ghosted”Mor made to seem invisible—by culture itself.... Once the lesbian has been defined as ghostly—the better to drain her of any sensual or moral authority—she can then be exorcised.
    Terry Castle, U.S. lesbian author. The Apparitional Lesbian, ch. 1 (1993)