Dear Mr. Caine,
I’ve replied to your post before, but my answers confused you (and others) even more.
That was my mistake, I should have explained myself better. Especially because you mention some important concepts of Memento. Unfortunately I can’t explain these concepts within one post. For a full explanation please see my post "Memento Mori Chronology (the true story of Memento)". But you are asking questions I was asking myself when I saw Memento. And they are important questions!
1) The second criminal who knocked him down.
Do you believe the story of this second criminal? Did you notice how “clever” this guy tried to cover his tracks? He believes the police won’t look for a second guy but instead will think that it was the dead man who knocked Leonard unconscious. But before the dead man knocked Leonard unconscious, Leonard shot the dead man dead (or vice-versa). This guy must be the most stupid burglar of all times!
Also: he is thrown to a mirror (front head injury) and not hit/knocked from behind as he earlier stated (“Somebody hit me from behind. I remember. It’s about the last thing I do remember.”). Lenny is apparently able to change his memories. Like in the three statements about John G below. The first and second one are ultimately converged into the third one:
- “He raped your wife, he fucked up your brain.”
- “He killed my wife and he took away my fucking memory.”
- “John G. raped and murdered my wife”
(The thing that actually hit him from behind was a car driven by “just some guy, does it even matter who? No reason, no conspiracy, just bad fucking luck.” Getting raped and murdered is NOT just bad fucking luck.)
2) The Sammy-mirror.
Lenny uses Sammy as a mirror to transform himself into Lemmy. In chronological order:
Leonard Shelby : no CRS, no wife
Samual R. Jenkis : no CRS, no wife
Lenny : CRS, dead wives bad (1st) and murdered (2nd)
Sammy : CRS, dead wife good and deceased
Lemmy : no CRS, dead wife
Also the faking-concept is very important. Who fakes what? In chronological order:
Samual R. Jenkis : fakes having CRS (Leonard exposed him as a fraud).
Lenny : fakes he remembers Natalie, his first high school love.
Lemmy : fakes being gay (so he can kill his raping guard).
3) A new hunt for John G.
Lenny starts a new hunt for a new John G several times. One new hunt is identified by a very important clue you found yourself: “You don’t have to be that honest, BURT.”
How does Lemmy remember his name? It’s because he has identified Burt as his next foe. And Burt is a hotel manager who steals from his own guests. So he must be the most stupid burglar of all times!
Hope you have a change to read the full story my post "Memento Mori Chronology". Donno why, but so far nobody seems to take it seriously (or even read it). If you do, let me know what you think it (I'll donate USD 100 to a charity of your choice if you are able to refute it…)