So Then, Yours is Truly a Journey Through Memory Quiz

Answer: Memento

This complex film structure was used to simulate the state of mind of the protagonist, Leonard Shelby (played by Guy Pearce), who suffers from anterograde amnesia. This is a disorder in which the sufferer cannot form new memories after some traumatic event (as opposed to retrograde amnesia, in which the events preceding the trauma are lost from memory). Leonard must constantly write notes, take Polaroid pictures, and even get tattoos in order to record what he discovers about the trauma as his investigation into his past proceeds.

Some DVD releases of 'Memento' include the option of playing the scenes in straight chronological order, for those who found the constant unravelling of what is 'real' to be confusing, and just want to see what happened.

Answer: Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind

As is often the case with 'The Simpsons', the episode is full of cultural references. The title refers to the movie 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind', in which both partners of a broken relationship have wiped all memory of each other from their minds; the title of that film is from Alexander Pope's poem 'Eloisa to Abelard', itself based on a tragic 12th century romance between a young woman and her tutor, a philosopher twenty years her senior.

This story turns out to have a much happier resolution than either of the others - Homer had tried to erase his knowledge that Marge was planning a surprise birthday party for him! His struggle to regain the memory lost when Moe served him a special drink to erase the previous 24 hours from his memory succeeds while he is plummeting downwards from a bridge in an attempt to end his worthless life; fortunately, he lands on a bouncing castle that has been erected on the deck of the boat where the party is waiting for his arrival.

Answer: I am the Cheese

'I am the Cheese' comes from the pen of Robert Cormier, following on the success of 'The Chocolate War'. Since the structure of the book is flashbacks in which Adam recalls events from his life, I don't want to give away too much information. The title seems to refer to the line in the children's song 'The Farmer in the Dell', which says, "The cheese stands alone". Adam does indeed seem to have been deserted and left to deal with life on his own. We learn much more about his past, present and possible future as the memories unfold.

The book was adapted into a 1983 film starring Robert McNaughton as Adam Farmer / Paul Delmonte. Rober Cormier played the part of Mr Hertz, the father of Adam's friend Amy.

Answer: Muppets Take Manhattan

While the memory loss is not the focus of this lighthearted puppetry romp, it does give Miss Piggy a chance to restore Kermit's memory by socking him because he doesn't remember her, just in time for the Broadway premiere of 'Manhattan Melodies', a muppet fest that culminates in their wedding.

As was the case for their previous movies (including the creatively titled 'The Muppet Movie'), the film featured a number of cameos from guest stars, including Liza Minelli, then-mayor of New York Ed Koch and restaurateur Vincent Sardi as themselves.

Answer: Picture Perfect

Cassie's marriage to Alex, a celebrity actor, involved both passionate love on both sides and serious violence against her. She had left him when she discovered she was pregnant, hoping to keep him from injuring the child. When Alex finds her and takes her home, she believes that she is returning to a picture-perfect life, until the memories return.

The cycle of abuse and apology, including promises to reform, so commonly seen in violent relationships is vividly described, along with the anguish experienced by both parties, as each one has a deep love for the other. Ultimately, however, Cassie decides that the pain of arranging a permanent separation must be faced.

Answer: Random Harvest

This one is a real tear-jerker! Colman's character wanders out of the asylum where he is being treated while everyone is busy celebrating the end of the war, and is taken in by a singer named Paula (played by Greer Garson). They establish a happy life together, until he is struck by a taxi just after the birth of their son, and wakes up with no memory of her, but recalling his earlier life.

He goes home and takes over the family business. Paula, using an assumed name, becomes his secretary, hoping that he will remember her, but no such luck.

Instead, he develops a relationship with a step-niece, and Paula has "Smithy" (the identity under which they had been married) declared legally dead so that he will be free to marry. However, he starts to recall that there was someone in his lost years, and tries to find more. Several boxes of tissues later, memory is restored and they look set to live happily ever after.

Answer: Regarding Margie

When Marge returns from the hospital, she quickly recognises the other members of her family, and the neighbors, but not Homer - there is something about him she doesn't want to recall. He tries in vain to woo her, but when she meets an interesting man at a speed dating event, and is dumped by him when she reveals that she has three children, Homer's angry confrontation with her erstwhile date makes her realise that there is something of value in their relationship. On the way home, she remembers him because his reference to beer reminds her of his slight problem with alcohol.

Why was she frantically cleaning the house in the first place? It seemed that she had won a magazine contest promising her a maid to clean for the day, and didn't want the maid to think they were slobs. Of course, the mail was actually intended for another house, because Bart, Milhouse and Nelson had only painted the 74, not 742, street number on the curb outside their house before Homer told them to stop because he wouldn't pay.

Answer: 50 First Dates

A fictitious condition that sounds similar to anterograde amnesia has left Lucy with no memory of any events after the day of a serious car accident. Initially she is reliving that birthday (minus the accident) every day, in a carefully-scripted setup in which her family is trying to keep her from recalling the pain.

Henry falls in love with her, and Lucy is attracted to him every day; eventually, he helps her progress to living a new life every day, not just repeating one day forever. Yada, yada, yada - she still needs to be reminded who she is and what has happened in her life every morning, but she is happy with Henry and their child, and Henry is successfully pursuing the career he had temporarily abandoned in order to be with her every day.

Answer: Amnesia

Wait, it gets worse - you are engaged to a woman you don't remember, someone is trying to kill you, and you are wanted for murder in Texas. The script for this game was written by respected sci-fi author Thomas Disch (winner of a Hugo Award among others), although nearly half the script had to be abandoned because of the limited storage capacity of the 5¼" floppy disk technology used for the game.

He also wrote a screenplay, using the same characters and story, which was but it has not been produced to this date. One of the most striking aspects of this game was its simulation of Manhattan - for around 4000 separate locations in Manhattan, players saw streetscapes with then-current stores (which opened and closed at the appropriate times), street lighting for night scenes, and traffic. Since players moved on foot through the streets, and had to reach their destination at the right time, the realism was an important factor in helping them determine their timing, and successfully trigger the next stage of the plot.

Answer: The Bourne Identity

This is the first instalment of the 'Bourne Trilogy', all featuring "Jason Bourne". The novel starts with a man escaping from a burning boat after a gun battle. Rescued by nearby fishermen, he is discovered to have retrograde amnesia, and the only clue to his identity is a bit of film negative embedded in his hip which connects him to a Zurich bank account. As he follows the traces, he discovers that he has been involved in high-level international intrigue, and had been in pursuit of the (real-life) terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal. Since he has seen Carlos, but his memory is quite erratic, the novel ends up with him placed under protective surveillance, in the hope that he will eventually regain his memory completely.

This novel was the basis for a 1988 television movie starring Richard Chamberlain, and a 2002 movie starring Matt Damon (who also featured in the movies based on the other two books of Ludlum's trilogy, 'The Bourne Identity' and 'The Bourne Supremacy'.