So, how do you interpret the ending of Memento? Who killed Leonard's wife? Is she dead? Why does he kill Teddy? Does he really have amnesia? Use evidence from throughout the movie to support your response.
I am very conflicted with the ending. For me it can go both ways. Teddy can be lying or he can be telling the truth. If he is telling the truth and he is a cop then why in the world is he letting Leonard kill people over and over? But it also seems like Teddy is lying because why let this guy go through all this? Watching this whole film makes us feel the confusion that Leonard is feeling and it is stressful. We see what we want but as it slowly does the flashback, the film reveal things that are crazy and it makes me realize how it lead up to Leonard killing Teddy.
Your question is a good one. The only answer I can think of is that we're all human, and ultimately we all have human motivations. But yes,,, I'm not certain that addresses the complexity of that ending. I do agree with you and wonder if Teddy might have even wanted to get shot?
I believe Teddy. I think Lenny's wife is still alive for a couple of reasons. One, there was a scene at the end of the movie where she was in bed with Lenny with all of his tattoos, which clearly he started adding to himself as clues after he realized he had amnesia. Also, There was a portion of the police report missing, I believe Lenny got rid of it because he truly believed his wife was killed. Also, Teddy had a police badge on him and the things Teddy said to Lenny at the end of the movie just made more sense. Lenny wrote on the back of Teddy's picture "don't believe his lies" only AFTER Teddy tried telling him the truth. I truly believe that the "Sammy" story was about Lenny. He kills Teddy because he doesn't want to believe the truth. He can write things down and make himself believe whatever he wants because he really doesn't have a short term memory. I believe he truly does have amnesia.
Very good observations, Yasminda. When you read criticisms about the film, these details are what people raise the most questions about, especially that curious scene with the tattooed Leonard in bed with his wife. What does that mean? I agree about the Sammy story!
I believe that Leonard is the culprit. I believe Teddy is telling the truth about them already find the person responsible and how Leo kept creating new chaos. Had the movie not been backward, everything that came after the beginning scene with Teddy, which was the end, would've made complete sense. I do believe he has amnesia, or the inability to make new short term memories, and he manipulates that to his advantage in the same way others, such as Natalie, do. He doesn't want to face the truth, because that would mean he does not have a purpose anymore. His wife is dead and he cannot do anything because he cannot make short term memories. Without this, he has no purpose. As a result, he also refuses to face the truth--he killed his wife. The story about Sammy Jenkins was really about his wife and him. He did not do it on purpose, but his wife is gone. He kills Teddy because he dupes himself into believing Teddy is the killer, and because Teddy told him the truth and he can't handle it. Memento was an amazing movie.
Glad you liked it. I also think we could say this last scene also shows the power of the mind -- the power to control your own mind to make it do what you want it to do. He is a culprit, and forgetfulness is the main thing he is remembering to maintain that status.
In the ending of the film, a important fact was revealed by Teddy that Leonard actually is Sammy. Teddy confronts Leonard about who Sammy Jankis really is, and how he and Sammy Janis are the really the same person. And the ending shows that Leonard’s lying to himself to escape the fact that it was he, who really caused his beloved wife’s death. Actually, both Leonard and his wife suffered from the intruder incident. But Leonard suffer from amnesia. He just remember the things happened before the incident. His wife is so painful and she wants to intrigue Leonard’s memory via injecting the insulin. Unluckily, Leonard’s memory is not awaken, and his wife is dead owing to over-injection. Leonard is too sad to accept the sad fact so he forced himself to think the sad fact happened on Sammy not him and he convinced himself to to believe that his wife was killed by intruder. Sammy Jankis was also diagnosed with the same condition — short term memory loss. Sammy’s wife who was not sure if his condition was genuine, repeatedly requested insulin injections to try to get him to break his act. He did not and as a result his wife fell into a coma and died owing to over-injection. Similarly, in the later part, there is a very close-up of a hand twirling an insulin needle flashes on screen and startles Leonard. The two similar plot is an evidence to show that Sammy and Leonard are the same person. Besides, there is a shot that when Sammy’s wife was sent to the hospital after death, the people sits on the wheelchair changed from Sammy to Leonard. So, it is concluded that Sammy’s wife is Leonard’s wife, and it is his illness that caused his wife’s death. In the ending, Leonard sits in the car and asks himself, “Do I lie to myself to be happy?” Actually, he wants to fins another John G, who is thought by Leonard to kill his wife, and he does. From the movie, it is seen that Leonard do not really trust Teddy for sometimes is not honest enough and Teddy tells Leonard a fact he does not want to face, so Leonard makes Teddy his new John G, by creating a fact that make him a prime suspect and kill Teddy. Definitely, Leonard lacks the ability to memorize the new things. He just have fifteen-min memory. But, he does not totally lacks the ability to memorize things. For example, every time he loses memory, he clearly knows he suffers from amnesia. Strictly, if he does not have the ability to memorize things, he will not know himself suffers from amnesia.
I believe that Lenny did have a short term disorder. I also believe that his wife is dead and had been dead for some time. However, I don't believe that teddy,the cop, is telling the truth to some extent. I believe that he is using the Sammy Jenkins case to cope with his reality that he and Jenkins are the same. I just don't believe that a cop would go around, numerous times, as he states allowing Lenny to cause all this trouble. Meeting people like Natalie and her boyfriend is not helping him or keeping him busy from his truth, but it hurt him and made him worse. The best thing anyone could have done for him was get him real help to allow him to come to terms with the truth. Not let him escape and allow his ticking- time memory to dictate what he should believe going forward.
It does appear, though, that Teddy has tried to guide him to the truth. But what is truth? Truth is guided by each individual's motivations, perhaps. A thoughtful response, Jade that provokes more thoughts!
I believe Teddy, mostly because it makes for a good ending. I believe this because of the scene where we see Lenny laying with lots of tattoos next to his wife. I also believe that Lenny does have amnesia, if he didn't he would be with his wife. Lenard makes it clear that he loves his wife unconditionally, which I believe is a subconscious feeling. Sadly Lenny is to damaged for his condition to reverse itself, which could be very overwhelming for a wife. Not only that but she was involved in the accident as well, and so she is most likely trying to forget all about that night all together. This would be very hard to do with a severally damaged husband. I think Lenard kills Teddy because his subconscious has taken over, it wants him to be happy living his new life, and will stop at nothing to achieve it.
I like your opening line: it does make for a good ending. Do you think Lenny will keep killing? there is something chillingly cyclical about this ending; my own thought was that perhaps when Lenny killed the first man (the one who really killed his wife) he discovered he liked doing it. And this is a ploy to keep being able to do it.
I am very conflicted with the ending. For me it can go both ways. Teddy can be lying or he can be telling the truth. If he is telling the truth and he is a cop then why in the world is he letting Leonard kill people over and over? But it also seems like Teddy is lying because why let this guy go through all this? Watching this whole film makes us feel the confusion that Leonard is feeling and it is stressful. We see what we want but as it slowly does the flashback, the film reveal things that are crazy and it makes me realize how it lead up to Leonard killing Teddy.
ReplyDeleteYour question is a good one. The only answer I can think of is that we're all human, and ultimately we all have human motivations. But yes,,, I'm not certain that addresses the complexity of that ending. I do agree with you and wonder if Teddy might have even wanted to get shot?
DeleteI believe Teddy. I think Lenny's wife is still alive for a couple of reasons. One, there was a scene at the end of the movie where she was in bed with Lenny with all of his tattoos, which clearly he started adding to himself as clues after he realized he had amnesia. Also, There was a portion of the police report missing, I believe Lenny got rid of it because he truly believed his wife was killed. Also, Teddy had a police badge on him and the things Teddy said to Lenny at the end of the movie just made more sense. Lenny wrote on the back of Teddy's picture "don't believe his lies" only AFTER Teddy tried telling him the truth. I truly believe that the "Sammy" story was about Lenny. He kills Teddy because he doesn't want to believe the truth. He can write things down and make himself believe whatever he wants because he really doesn't have a short term memory. I believe he truly does have amnesia.
ReplyDeleteVery good observations, Yasminda. When you read criticisms about the film, these details are what people raise the most questions about, especially that curious scene with the tattooed Leonard in bed with his wife. What does that mean? I agree about the Sammy story!
DeleteI believe that Leonard is the culprit. I believe Teddy is telling the truth about them already find the person responsible and how Leo kept creating new chaos. Had the movie not been backward, everything that came after the beginning scene with Teddy, which was the end, would've made complete sense. I do believe he has amnesia, or the inability to make new short term memories, and he manipulates that to his advantage in the same way others, such as Natalie, do. He doesn't want to face the truth, because that would mean he does not have a purpose anymore. His wife is dead and he cannot do anything because he cannot make short term memories. Without this, he has no purpose. As a result, he also refuses to face the truth--he killed his wife. The story about Sammy Jenkins was really about his wife and him. He did not do it on purpose, but his wife is gone. He kills Teddy because he dupes himself into believing Teddy is the killer, and because Teddy told him the truth and he can't handle it. Memento was an amazing movie.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it. I also think we could say this last scene also shows the power of the mind -- the power to control your own mind to make it do what you want it to do. He is a culprit, and forgetfulness is the main thing he is remembering to maintain that status.
DeleteIn the ending of the film, a important fact was revealed by Teddy that Leonard actually is Sammy. Teddy confronts Leonard about who Sammy Jankis really is, and how he and Sammy Janis are the really the same person. And the ending shows that Leonard’s lying to himself to escape the fact that it was he, who really caused his beloved wife’s death. Actually, both Leonard and his wife suffered from the intruder incident. But Leonard suffer from amnesia. He just remember the things happened before the incident. His wife is so painful and she wants to intrigue Leonard’s memory via injecting the insulin. Unluckily, Leonard’s memory is not awaken, and his wife is dead owing to over-injection. Leonard is too sad to accept the sad fact so he forced himself to think the sad fact happened on Sammy not him and he convinced himself to to believe that his wife was killed by intruder. Sammy Jankis was also diagnosed with the same condition — short term memory loss. Sammy’s wife who was not sure if his condition was genuine, repeatedly requested insulin injections to try to get him to break his act. He did not and as a result his wife fell into a coma and died owing to over-injection. Similarly, in the later part, there is a very close-up of a hand twirling an insulin needle flashes on screen and startles Leonard. The two similar plot is an evidence to show that Sammy and Leonard are the same person. Besides, there is a shot that when Sammy’s wife was sent to the hospital after death, the people sits on the wheelchair changed from Sammy to Leonard. So, it is concluded that Sammy’s wife is Leonard’s wife, and it is his illness that caused his wife’s death. In the ending, Leonard sits in the car and asks himself, “Do I lie to myself to be happy?” Actually, he wants to fins another John G, who is thought by Leonard to kill his wife, and he does. From the movie, it is seen that Leonard do not really trust Teddy for sometimes is not honest enough and Teddy tells Leonard a fact he does not want to face, so Leonard makes Teddy his new John G, by creating a fact that make him a prime suspect and kill Teddy. Definitely, Leonard lacks the ability to memorize the new things. He just have fifteen-min memory. But, he does not totally lacks the ability to memorize things. For example, every time he loses memory, he clearly knows he suffers from amnesia. Strictly, if he does not have the ability to memorize things, he will not know himself suffers from amnesia.
ReplyDeletesome lovely insights and careful watching, Nicole.
DeleteI believe that Lenny did have a short term disorder. I also believe that his wife is dead and had been dead for some time. However, I don't believe that teddy,the cop, is telling the truth to some extent. I believe that he is using the Sammy Jenkins case to cope with his reality that he and Jenkins are the same. I just don't believe that a cop would go around, numerous times, as he states allowing Lenny to cause all this trouble. Meeting people like Natalie and her boyfriend is not helping him or keeping him busy from his truth, but it hurt him and made him worse. The best thing anyone could have done for him was get him real help to allow him to come to terms with the truth. Not let him escape and allow his ticking- time memory to dictate what he should believe going forward.
ReplyDeleteIt does appear, though, that Teddy has tried to guide him to the truth. But what is truth? Truth is guided by each individual's motivations, perhaps. A thoughtful response, Jade that provokes more thoughts!
DeleteI believe Teddy, mostly because it makes for a good ending. I believe this because of the scene where we see Lenny laying with lots of tattoos next to his wife. I also believe that Lenny does have amnesia, if he didn't he would be with his wife. Lenard makes it clear that he loves his wife unconditionally, which I believe is a subconscious feeling. Sadly Lenny is to damaged for his condition to reverse itself, which could be very overwhelming for a wife. Not only that but she was involved in the accident as well, and so she is most likely trying to forget all about that night all together. This would be very hard to do with a severally damaged husband. I think Lenard kills Teddy because his subconscious has taken over, it wants him to be happy living his new life, and will stop at nothing to achieve it.
ReplyDeleteI like your opening line: it does make for a good ending. Do you think Lenny will keep killing? there is something chillingly cyclical about this ending; my own thought was that perhaps when Lenny killed the first man (the one who really killed his wife) he discovered he liked doing it. And this is a ploy to keep being able to do it.
Delete