Two things, OP:
1. Check the article out. It’s short, so no need to get Colin.
https://www.discovermagazine.com/mi...-you-cant-remember-the-movie-you-just-watched
“Apollo Creed knocks black-eyed Rocky Balboa to the mat. Rocky’s trainer, Mickey, pleads with him to stay down so the fight can end. Adrian walks into the arena as Rocky gets back up. Soon, the crowd is chanting Rocky’s name. And I … honestly cannot recall who wins the match.
Truth is, it’s not just Rocky. My husband and I have been sharing many classics with our kids, as well as more recent movies. During the viewings, he is constantly telling the kids, “Watch what’s going to happen next.” More often than not, I have no idea what’s about to come. This got me thinking: Why do I forget most of the movies I see? And how does my husband remember every detail?
David J. Linden, a neuroscientist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, says people differ in memory ability, just like any other skillset. “There are some people who are quite good at memory for certain kinds of events or certain kinds of facts. Someone else may be really good at putting names to faces or recalling everything they read off a page,” says Linden, the author of Unique: The New Science of Human Individuality.
At least I have that going for me. I am better than my husband at remembering birthdays and when big life events took place.
Individual aptitude aside, many factors affect how well we remember. For example, when you memorize your new home address, it can become difficult to recall your old address. This is called interference. Unless the old memory is recalled again, it might eventually fade. “You have seen many other movies since that [particular] movie. All of these other movies have the potential to interfere with your memory of that original event,” says Sean Kang, a cognitive psychologist at the University of Melbourne.
Repeated similar experiences, such as watching many movies or reading many books, can also render your memories generic. Let’s say you’ve been to the beach 100 times. You are not going to remember the details of each visit — only when something significant or different happened. Linden says this blended memory is more helpful in terms of guiding decisions and future behavior than having a perfect recording of each trip to the beach. So, when someone asks if you want to go to the beach, you can rely on that blended memory to know you would enjoy it. In this way, not remembering everything is actually useful.
Why then, do some people manage to remember all the details?
Wandering Thoughts and Retrieval
“How well you pay attention when you watch a movie or read a book can affect how well you remember,” says Kathleen Hourihan, an associate professor of psychology at Memorial University of Newfoundland. “If you are checking IMDb because you want to look up an actor you recognize, that is going to take away from encoding the information.”
This rings true for me, especially when it comes to reading — another area where my husband frustratingly remembers more than me. When I am reading, my thoughts often wander and I sometimes speed through certain pages. My husband is a slower, more deliberate reader.
He also likely takes more opportunities to retrieve information after the experience, Kang says. “He thinks about the plot twist, what he liked. Maybe he has conversations about the movie with friends,” he says. “We think of memory as getting something in, but getting the stuff out is equally important.” Calling on a memory again and again helps consolidate that memory. Teachers often use frequent, short quizzes to get students to recall what they have learned. This promotes retention.
In today’s world, retrieval has become less necessary because of all the info at our fingertips. For example, when recognizing an actor in a movie, most people won’t bother searching their memory for where they’ve seen him, since they can just look it up. “Give people the opportunity to use Google when answering questions and they are more likely to give up [and turn to their device] than rely on their memory,” Hourihan says.
2. You will remember the
characters long after you have forgotten the story. That’s why it’s important to create characters that resonate with the audience for a number of reasons. If you strip them down, you will notice that the most memorable characters have a common denominator - and it’s that they are direct. Those characters tend to be deliberate in what they do and there are no wasted movements. Another thing I’ve noticed is the power of nostalgia, I’ll explain as quickly as I can:
Think of all the “favorite” and “top three” threads we’ve been apart of. We will see certain selections that are commonly agreed upon, but every once in a while we will see a selection that strikes us as “…WTF?” When explained, the poster will always defend the selection by mentioning that it reminded them of a significant or special time in their lives. That’s why it will always be important above all else and not make sense to others.
We sometimes come across characters that remind us of something significant- good or bad - and we immediately align with that character. Be it pleasantries or trauma, we can’t look away from certain performances.
