Analysis of Anterograde Amnesia in the Film 50 First Dates

This report presents a psychological film review of '50 First Dates,' focusing on the concept of anterograde amnesia as portrayed in the movie. The review begins with an introduction to the film's plot, where the protagonist, Lucy, suffers from anterograde amnesia due to a car accident. The report then delves into the psychological aspects of anterograde amnesia, explaining its causes, symptoms, and diagnosis. The reviewer discusses how Lucy's condition is managed through various methods, such as videos and journals, to help her remember her relationship with the character Henry. The review also highlights the psychological accuracy of the film's portrayal of amnesia, emphasizing that the primary treatment involves managing the condition using technological tools and support systems. The report concludes by discussing the significance of memory and its vulnerability to health conditions and traumas, drawing parallels with Alzheimer's disease. The review uses references to support its analysis.

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Psychological Film Review of “50 first dates”
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PSYCHOLOGICAL FILM REVIEW 2
Psychological Film Review of “50 first dates”
Good morning, Ladies, gentlemen, teachers, and my fellow students.
Today’s presentation is an outstanding event for all of us to discuss another
psychology topic. We are all thankful for our memory and how it defines our life as it enables
us to remember and recognize our language, family, friends, and the things we enjoy (David,
& Nathan, 2018). The film I will review today is the “50 first dates,” which is a romantic
comedy film directed by Peter Segal (Segal, 2004). The reason I am reviewing this film is
that it features the psychological concept of memory loss based on anterograde amnesia,
which is the inability to create new memories and the inability to recall a recent past.
The film “50 first dates” features a womanizing veteran called Henry Hoth who preys
on tourist women at Sea Life Park on Oahu (Segal, 2004). Henry has three close friends; Ula
who is an Islander and smokes marijuana, Alexa is his assistant whose gender is not revealed,
and Jocko who is a waitress, and Willy who is Henry’s pet penguin.
The story begins when Henry's boat breaks down, and he decides to go to a cafe
named Hukilau to wait for the coast guard. At the restaurant, Henry meets Lucy Whitmore,
and she's making architectural art with her waffle dish (Segal, 2004). Henry avoids
confronting her because she assumes that Lucy is a local, but the next morning he offers to
buy her breakfast. After having breakfast, Lucy asks Henry to meet her the next day.
After meeting the next day, Lucy shows no memory recollection of meeting Henry
even though she had requested him to meet her. After noticing the incident, the cafe owner
named Sue explains to Henry about the condition affecting Lucy. According to Sue, Lucy and
her father went to a pick a pineapple at North Shore for Lucy’s birthday on October 13th
(Segal, 2004). After picking the pineapple, Lucy and her father had a car accident after which
Lucy developed anterograde amnesia. After the accident, Lucy wakes up every day, thinking

PSYCHOLOGICAL FILM REVIEW 3
that the date is October 13th. Despite the warning by Sue, Henry insists on having breakfast
with Lucy, which ends up breaking her heart and a strict warning by her brother to leave her
alone (Segal, 2004). I now wish to present to you how anterograde amnesia is a psychological
condition and relate the case of Lucy in my explanation as it relates to the central theme of
memory.
Amnesia is a psychological condition in which an individual experiences a form of
memory loss. The causes of amnesia in the case of Lucy could have been traumatic head
injury after the car accident that caused damage to her head (Markowitsch et al. 2018). The
concussion of the brain could have been the result of her disruption of memory since the
accident (Markowitsch et al. 2018). On the other hand, anterograde is a term which explains
amnesia, and it involves the inability to remember information after its onset. This means that
anterograde amnesia in the case of Lucy is an inability to remember information or to
recreate new memories after an event that caused initial amnesia (Rizzello et al. 2020). It is
now clear that Lucy suffers from anterograde amnesia after the accident due to damages in
her brain, especially in areas of her hippocampus.
Another instance to prove that Lucy suffers from anterograde amnesia is when Henry
notices traffic police officers writing her a ticket because of her expired car plates. On this
day, Lucy argues that her car plates are not expired and tries to prove using that day's
newspaper (Segal, 2004). When Lucy notices that the date was not October 13th as she
thought, her brothers are forced to intervene and explain her condition to the police officers.
From this point, I will explain how anterograde amnesia is diagnosed and treated from
a psychological point of view. The first solution a therapist has is to focus on the underlying
cause of the condition (Cuncic, 2020). While there are no known treatment methods used to
treat this condition, some rehabilitation methods can be used even if the patient has

PSYCHOLOGICAL FILM REVIEW 4
permanent damage. Some of these include reminder beepers, diaries, journals, notes, family
support, and occupational therapy (Cuncic, 2020).
In the case of Lucy, Henry decides to make a video to remind her of her accident
which caused her condition and also to remind her of her relationship with Henry. Henry
decides to play the video to Lucy every morning, but she is hurt every time she watches that
video (Segal, 2004). Eventually, Lucy is able to watch the video and recollect what the video
portrays about her condition. By this time, she can spend more time with Henry and can
remember old memories with her friends and even goes to visit some of them (Segal, 2004).
Another point is that Henry helps Lucy to fill in a journal entry of their relationship from the
first day they met something that helps Lucy recollect the memory of their relationship.
In this case, Henry uses reminder beepers such as the video and journal entries to
remind Lucy of her accident and particularly her relationship with Henry (Segal, 2004).
Eventually, Lucy can recollect some of her memories and is even able to recall Henry and
have dreams about him. The story and Henry and Lucy is particularly true from a
psychological perspective (David, & Nathan, 2018). One reason that this story is
psychologically factual is that the treatment of anterograde amnesia is primarily managing the
condition because it has no permanent cure (Segal, 2004). Another fact is that technological
tools such as videos, reminder apps, and daily planners can be used to manage the condition.
From this case study of the film “50 first dates,” we can learn that memory is
information that has been acquired, stored, and can be retrieved from the brain. Memory can
also be affected by health conditions, accidents, head traumas, and genetic conditions (David,
& Nathan, 2018). From the case of Lucy, we learn that a person who suffers memory loss can
enjoy the company and compassion of other people even though later they will be unable to
recall those people (Rizzello et al. 2020). In some severe instance, people with memory loss
can only remember the days and dates when they suffered their memory loss. One health

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condition that has been associated with severe memory loss is Alzheimer's disease, and just
like anterograde amnesia, patients begin having difficulty remembering new information and
recall new information after its onset just like Lucy did (Rizzello et al. 2020).
Thank you all for listening to my speech, and I appreciate your time. Have a good day.

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References
Cuncic, A. (2020). Anterograde Amnesia Makes It Impossible to Remember New Things.
Verywell Mind. Retrieved 6 November 2020, from https://www.verywellmind.com/an-
overview-of-anterograde-amnesia-4581313#:~:text=Anterograde%20amnesia%20is
%20a%20condition,remember%20events%20that%20have%20happened
David G. Myers, & Nathan DeWall, (2018). Psych 1101 Introduction to Psychology 1: Basic
Processes. (12 Ed) Macmillan Learning, 295-321.
Markowitsch, H. J., Staniloiu, A., Kordon, A., & Sarlon, J. (2018). Minor Brain Damage And
Somatic Complaints Accompanied By Excessive Long-Term Amnesia:
PSYCHOLOGICAL CAUSE?. Psychological Applications and Trends, 34.
Rizzello, E., Middei, S., & Marchetti, C. (2020). Synaptic Correlates of Anterograde
Amnesia and Intact Retrograde Memory in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s
Disease. Current Alzheimer Research, 17(3), 259-268.
Segal, P. (2004). 50 First Dates | Netflix. Netflix.com. Retrieved 6 November 2020, from
https://www.netflix.com/ke-en/title/60033311.