10 Scientific Errors In Movies That Really Need To Stop

5. The Way Amnesia Works

Memory loss in films is very different to the actual, real phenomenon of retrograde amnesia. That's because rather than being an actual phenomenon it's just a plot device to add some artificial mystery to a flagging narrative, or so that a bad guy from the first movie can be a good guy for a bit because he got a bump on the head. Amnesia is totally a real thing, but the sort of total amnesia - when people forget everything about themselves, with zero memories at all - is extremely rare. It's also unlikely that you'll end up like The Bride in Kill Bill, with some of your memories there and some conveniently missing after a bullet to your head. Take solace in the fact Memento will never happen to you! In fact the classic "bump on the head" amnesia is very, very unlikely to actually happen, because that's not really what brain damage looks like. Just as unrealistic is the sudden return of repressed or lost memories, which tend to stay lost. You can't really recover them once they've disappeared thanks to amnesia, you just get people to fill in the blanks for you and you take their word on it. Uh oh, maybe Memento can happen in real life. Anyway, the worst we've probably seen is when clones turn up and have all the same memories and personality as the original person. Memories are not contained in your DNA. That's just complete and utter nonsense. Sorry, Alien: Resurrection.