I Really Like the Depiction of Amnesia in "50 First Dates" (2,004)

The other day I watched the Adam Sendler's film, "50 First Dates", and I thought the main aspect of the film was very well handled for a rom-com, so here I'm, writing about this.

Plot summery: Henry (Sendler) is a womaniser and veterinary doctor in Hawaii, he makes every tourist he meet to fall in love with him and then he makes-up a reason for them to not stay in touch, all of this because he is afraid of commitment. Enter Lucy, a local that overwhelms Henry's heart after his usual routine; Henry realises he doesn't want this relationship to end like all the others and decides to take her on her offer and meet her tomorrow in the same resturant.

Suprise! Lucy doesn't remember a thing, and it explained that she suffered an head injury that hurt her ability to form short term memory (Anterograde amnesia). Long story short, Lucy fall in love with Henry every day, her family doesn't like this until they see it has a good effect on her, then Lucy herself doesn't want it bacause she understands that Henry will never have a normal life with her, they stop, Lucy is sent to an institute, Henry realises that Lucy may still harbour some feeling for him, it turns out she does, cut to 4 years later, Henry still has to remind Lucy every day of their love, but they are also married and have a daughter, the end.

It may not look like it from my summery, but this film is great and you should watch it, genuinally very romantic film that doesn't shy from the realistic hardship of such relationship, and this is specifically what I want to write about.

If you are like me, you may have felt uncomfortable, because there are maybe some issues of consent, and the fact that Lucy is basically disable and easy to take advantage on, but I was actually satisfied by the end, because delve into this things.

It paints Lucy life as and those who live her as a realistic tragedy, how her dad and brothers has to give her the same newspaper every day, how they need to paint the walls white so she could paint on them in the afternoons only for them both to repaint white for the next day, and when Henry comes into the picture, they are afraid he is going to use her situation, but when they accept him in, we are shown that he needs to give up on his dream just so he could make Lucy fall in love with him, every single day.

And by the end of the film ?

Lucy still suffer from the same defect, she still cannot form short-term memories. Before Lucy realised what a toll she is on Henry's life, he would show her, every single morning, a tape in which he explain their relationship and what happend to her, and in the "epilogue", he just has to make a new tape, in which she watch what they did, their wedding>! (a jewish one, which is nice touch) and when she goes up she realises she is on the boat in arctic (Henry's dream), and Henry, and their child, greet her.!<

While the film shows that Henry does have some effect on her condintion, and it implied that while she can't remeber it, her feelings for Henry stay the same, it also shows that she never fully recorved from it. Herny and her family will always have to start every day with reminding Lucy her condintion, see her despair and tears, and the films does a good job showing how heartbreaking the entire procces is.

This rant probably went on too long, and I don't know if I was able to fully make you understand what I love about the depiction and how Lucy isn't really cure in the end, but anyway, thank you for reading my rant, by yours truly,

DoctorZaga20