Amnesia is a Time-Play

"We all have our time machines, don't we. Those that take us back are memories... And those that carry us forward, are dreams." —H.G. Wells, The Time Machine

» Your time starts … now.

First, let’s settle some groundwork terminology provided by moi. (Can you tell I was heavily influenced by Miss Piggy as a child?)

I love reading and watching time travel. Periodt. But time travel isn’t always via a straight line or actually traveling, and I started calling this whole grouping “time-play,” whether it’s a novel or a movie, or what have you. Time loop. Time spiral. Time hopscotching. "Natural” time travel. Paranormal or superpower time travel. Device-dependent time travel. String theory. Alternate timelines. Gah. All of it.

And even, amnesia time travel. Maybe the most grounded in medical basis in general (amnesia does happen) while also difficult to either prove or refute (amnesia cases are hard to definitively diagnose and depend on a variety of assessments and tests, including the word of the patient).

One advantage amnesia time-play stories have over a standard, direct time-travel tale, is that lighter lifting is allowed. The necessary parts of time-play books of any sort starts with the entry point for the reader and the way the author describes and explains the method by which the traveler may be transmitted through time. Usually by either glossing over it or giving almost no explanation.

• "This is what makes time travel possible: the flux capacitor!"

• I don't know. One minute I was standing there touching the stones and there was a strangely loud buzzing and wham ... the next thing I knew I had apparently traveled in time to the past.

• Allow the time travel aspect to be glossed over so much as to be forgivable ("Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!")

• Give all the detail easily managed, and leave the reader to determine if it is plausible enough to allow.

The only rule really is to follow whatever laws are constructed in that time-play universe. It's fictional, so it's up to the author to determine what's allowed and what isn't — but with no deviations once the parameters are set. And there should be consequences laid out at some point.

But with amnesia … readers just get it. There’s very little beyond that explanation that must be done. The rest is up to the author to stack carefully, layer by layer.

You didn’t think I’d come to Show and Tell without examples, right?

Let’s start with Liane Moriarty’s What Alice Forgot.

Alice, the titular character who has forgotten, has hit her head and awakens with the mistaken belief that she has returned to her life ten years ago. Moriarty's approach here is wholly encompassing. I loved the way she had Alice going through her thoughts and sifting through memories. As she realized her state of amnesia and tries to come to grips with her life as it stands in her new present, I was mesmerized with the details and nuances Moriarty was able to use to steer Alice through the story. Stirring all my sympathy and emotions, I could see how everything that was happening in Alice's head could conceivably happen under those given circumstances. The smells, the sounds, the sights ... all the sensory perception that goes into creating a memory plays a role here.

Alice’s amnesia puts her right in the seat of time traveler going forward in time, which is a slightly different “fish out of water” scenario than what traveling backwards provides. Regardless, the time traveler rarely wants to reveal to the majority of people around them that they are, in fact, unaware of their location, time, and place within this world. They must constantly assess their surroundings and adjust their course accordingly.

Very similar to What Alice Forgot is the movie The Vow (2012), starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum. McAdams stars as Paige who, after a car accident, loses her memories of the past few years, including her marriage to Leo, played by Tatum. After waking from her coma confused and overwhelmed, she returns home with her parents, hoping to regain her memories while Leo works hard to win her back.

The Vow was loosely based on the real-life relationship of Kim and Krickitt Carpenter, whose marriage was tested after a car accident erased Krickitt’s memories. The basis of the film’s plot and character development go beyond that of what is related in the memoir, The Vow: The Kim & Krickitt Carpenter Story by Kim Carpenter, Krickett Carpenter, with John Perry, which is only used for the general idea of the story. (I have not read this book.)

While amnesia fiction doesn’t always lend itself to the feel of a time-play tale, it often dips its toes into that arena, if even briefly, before the other, more dominant, elements take over.

I’m sure at some point I’ll return with more time-play scenarios, books, and movies. But, in the meantime, I’d love to hear about any amnesia-centered books or movies you’ve enjoyed!

—C.