Memories aren't made of this: amnesia at the movies
BMJ 2004; 329 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.329.7480.1480 (Published 16 December 2004) Cite this as: BMJ 2004;329:1480
All rapid responses
Rapid responses are electronic comments to the editor. They enable our users to debate issues raised in articles published on bmj.com. A rapid response is first posted online. If you need the URL (web address) of an individual response, simply click on the response headline and copy the URL from the browser window. A proportion of responses will, after editing, be published online and in the print journal as letters, which are indexed in PubMed. Rapid responses are not indexed in PubMed and they are not journal articles. The BMJ reserves the right to remove responses which are being wilfully misrepresented as published articles or when it is brought to our attention that a response spreads misinformation.
From March 2022, the word limit for rapid responses will be 600 words not including references and author details. We will no longer post responses that exceed this limit.
The word limit for letters selected from posted responses remains 300 words.
I enjoyed this article but wanted to point out the omission of
"Mirage", a 1965 vehicle for Gregory Peck in which he plays a character
who spends the whole film trying to work out who he is after a prolonged
bout of amnesia. A highlight of the movie - which endorses completely the
thesis expounded by Sallie Baxendale - is when he visits a sceptical
psychiatrist. The psychiatrist tells him sternly that the amnesia he
describes is of a type completely unknown to medical science. (sic)
(It emerges at the end of the film that his loss of memory has been
precipitated by the shock of seeing someone falling hundreds of feet from
a skyscraper window - a great sequence, shot from above.)
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
Dr. Baxendale's article is an excellent review of how amnesia is used
as a plot device (or distraction), rather than wasting time on the real
experience of amnesia patients and those around them. The literary sources
of these portrayals bear as much responsibility as the moviemakers,
however. I found an early reference to that beloved plot device of trauma
to the head causing personal amnesia, reversed by second trauma to the
head, in an 1898 sea story called "The Slumber of a Soul", by Morgan
Robertson, who was probably indebted to William James.
These unrealistic portrayals of amnesia have one benefit, however.
When we see patients reporting these experiences, we can quickly identify
the non-neurological nature of their experiences. Perhaps recommending
movies identifying the adverse consequences (death, jail, pursuit by
professional assassins) will help these patients recover more quickly?
Competing interests:
I enjoy movies, even absurd ones
Competing interests: No competing interests
Sir:
Congratulations to the author for a fine and fascinating review. [1] I found very interesting the misconceptions that people can obtain from films and TV shows.
Unfortunately the same concept applies for other conditions that are misinterpreted and also bear little relation to reality. One that I am familiar with is the condition called “fever phobia”, a term introduced by Smith in 1980 [2] and recently reappraised by Crocetti. [3] The amount of emphasis placed on fever when children are being evaluated for an illness is overwhelming.
As with amnesia in the article stated by Baxendale, fever is usually misread, and considered a horrendous threat that kills thousands of children around the world. This misconception can lead to unnecessary (and occasionally dangerous) measures to treat a condition that by itself, does not pose a risk.
Helen Hunt in “As Good as It Gets” (1997) with Jack Nicholson, plays a single mother who rushes into the emergency room when his son is felt “burning up”. In “The Confession” (1999) Ben Kingsley plays a murderer who avenged his young son's death by killing the ER doctor and a nurse; they do not specify the cause of the death, they just make very clear that the fever (and the doctor) was the culprit.
This is just an example of movies (not mentioning the hundreds of soap operas and TV shows around) portraying this fever phobia.
As with many other topics represented in movies, the public seems to have also very little understanding of the fever and its mechanism of action and most importantly, they have little information about how to detect real dangerous conditions.
Movie and TV screen-writers should have at hand a medical adviser and in an ethical way put what is real. It is not impossible, and would not decrease the interest of the public – the amazing “ER” show from NBC proves it. After all, real life is as incredible and amazing as fiction.
1. Baxendale S. Memories aren’t made of this: amnesia at the movies. BMJ 2004;329:1480-1483.
2. Schmitt BD Fever phobia. Misconceptions of parents about fever. AJDC 1980; 134:176-181.
3. Crocetti M, Moghbeli N, Serwint J. Fever phobia revisited: have parental misconceptions about fever changed in 20 years? Pediatrics.2001; 107 :1241 –1246.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
Portrayal of cancer in soap operas
Dear Editor,
Sallie Baxendale says that amnesic conditions in films bear little
relation to reality(1). The soap opera Emmerdale recently ran a high
profile story about colon cancer, and so we ask: Does the portrayal of
cancer in soap operas bears any relation to reality? It is important that
the portrayal is realistic, because soaps reach large audiences, and have
a record of affecting health-seeking behaviours. The Emmerdale story
resulted in a 1,000-fold increase in calls to the colon cancer care
helpline(2), and after Coronation Street ran a story about cervical
cancer, 14,000 extra smears were performed in the north of England (an
increase of 21% on the previous year)(3).
Firstly, we ask whether the story lines are representative of the
true experiences of cancer patients. Emmerdale worked closely with the
charity Colon Cancer Concern to ensure that their character with colon
cancer was portrayed realistically. The relevant episodes, in which the
character requires a stoma-bag, have been well received.
Epidemiologically, breast cancer is over-represented in the
storylines of 4 of the most widely viewed soap operas (Eastenders,
Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Neighbours) while other common cancers
such as lung and prostate are under-represented (figure one)(4).
Only 5% of deaths in Emmerdale, Eastenders and Coronation Street are
from cancer(5). 1 in 4 people in the UK die of cancer(4), so 5% is very
low. Granted, cancer probably doesn’t make good television. So do the
editors just avoid the subject of cancer, or do the characters in soap
operas have an abnormally good prognosis? The answer is that a distressing
38% of patients who have had cancer in the 4 soap operas studied are dead.
Although we accept that occasionally the death of characters is necessary
for logistical reasons, we feel that a 38% overall cancer mortality is
particularly poor. The prognosis does depend on the program – it is much
safer to have cancer in Emmerdale (0% mortality) or Neighbours (20%
mortality), than in Coronation Street (100% mortality).
We commend the production team of the soap Emmerdale. We suggest that
since mortality from cancer in the UK is falling, we should see a higher
proportion of cancer success stories on our television screens.
Yours sincerely
Dr Judith Gaffan
j.gaffan@medsch.ucl.ac.uk
Cancer Research UK Clinical Research Training Fellow, ACME, RF&UCMS,
Archway Campus, Highgate Hill, London N19 3LW
Dr Alison Jones
Alison.Jones@royalfree.nhs.uk
Consultant Medical Oncologist, Dept of Medical Oncology, RF&UCMS,
Royal Free Campus, Rowland Hill St, London NW3 2PF
Figure One: Incidence of cancers in soap operas, and in the UK
population.
References
1. Baxendale S. Memories aren’t made of this: amnesia at the movies.
BMJ 2004; 329: 1480-83.
2. Colon Cancer Concern Press Release, September 2004.
3. Howe A, Owen-Smith V, Richardson J. The impact of a television soap
opera on the NHS cervical screening programme in the north west of
England. J Public Health Med 2002; 24: 299-304.
4. http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/aboutcancer/statistics/
5. http://www.thecustard.tv/linksandlists/tvdeathslists.html
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests