In this blog post, I’ll explore the relationship between human memory, identity, and our perception of truth through the movie ‘Dark City’.
Memory is a truly curious thing. Are humans simply a collection of past memories? If we were to completely alter a person’s memories, would their personality, behavior, and even their worldview change? To answer this question, we would need to conduct experiments that actually alter human memory, but current scientific and technological capabilities do not allow for such experiments. While research is underway into the possibility of influencing existing memories by manipulating the hippocampus or specific areas of the brain—which play a crucial role in memory formation—using neuroscience technology, the technology to freely implant specific new memories does not yet exist. Furthermore, since the process by which humans form and store memories has not yet been fully elucidated, such experiments are practically impossible. However, in the film ‘Dark City’, precisely such an experiment takes place. To start with the conclusion the film presents: memory is a realm distinct from human nature. The film is based on the premise that humans remember through memory substances that act on the brain, and on this basis, it posits that injecting these substances into a person can give them a new past.
The aliens in the film possess psychic abilities—referred to as “tuning”—that allow them to levitate or move objects and create objects out of thin air. They discover that humans possess a soul—something they themselves lack—and, to uncover its true nature, abduct humans to conduct experiments in a remote city in outer space. There, the sun never rises, so it is always night, and at midnight, everyone stops what they are doing and loses consciousness. While the people are unconscious, Dr. Schreiber, a psychologist and collaborator of the aliens, injects them with the memory substance. Those who receive the injection forget all their previous memories and are given a new past. Meanwhile, the aliens use their “Tuning” ability to build or demolish buildings, altering the people and their surroundings every night. However, upon waking, the people are completely unaware of these changes and naturally go about their new lives in their new environments.
If human nature were a distinct realm separate from memory, serious confusion would surely arise when taking on new jobs or roles. Although their childhoods, careers, and even their spouses and children change every day, people feel no significant difference, as if they were puppets serving as test subjects for the aliens. By observing this behavior, the aliens seek to determine how human personality is influenced by memory. For example, they examine how a poor person’s speech, behavior, and personality change when they are implanted with memories of a wealthy past. They also aim to uncover the relationship between the soul—which exists only in humans—and memory.
The film’s protagonist is a middle-aged man named Murdoch. One day, he wakes up in the middle of a memory implantation procedure and accidentally acquires the ability to “tune.” Believing Murdoch to be the one destined to defeat the aliens and save humanity, Dr. Schreiber implants a memory into him of how he had taught him to use this tuning ability in the past. As a result, Murdock gains tuning abilities even more powerful than those of the aliens and ultimately defeats them. Later, he feels a sense of disillusionment upon learning that the place where they are is not Earth, but a massive space city created by the aliens. He also realizes that his happy childhood memories of playing on the beach were all false. In this city, which has neither sun nor sea, he uses his tuning ability to create a sun and an ocean, gradually transforming that world into the Earth he dreams of.
I first saw this movie during my senior year of high school in philosophy class. At the time, my philosophy teacher often showed us films that raised philosophical questions. When I first watched it, the fast-paced plot and the profound, complex content made it hard to concentrate. However, the premise—that if memories change, one’s past life could be altered in an instant—struck me as very intriguing. Perhaps that’s why, some time later, the film suddenly came to mind, and I decided to watch it again.
Back in high school, I thought it was just a fascinating and intriguing movie, but upon rewatching it, I noticed a few shortcomings. The film poses an important question about how human memory influences personality, but the answer is presented in a somewhat simplistic manner. After being implanted with the memories of a female serial killer, Murdock wakes up to find the bodies of women lying on the floor and flees from the police. He then breaks into a woman’s home, intending to test whether he truly possesses the nature of a killer. However, he ultimately fails to kill her and begins to doubt the killer’s memories he possesses. The police, too, state after arresting him that they see no signs of a killer in him. However, these scenes fall short of providing a sufficient answer to the fundamental questions the film poses. Moreover, the other characters—with the exception of Murdoch—are portrayed as adapting far too easily to their new environment without sensing anything amiss. This plot device lacks consistency and feels like a limitation of the film.
Nevertheless, this film prompts deep reflection on the relationship between human perception and truth. Much like ‘The Matrix’, ‘The Island’, ‘Inception’, or various theories that cast doubt on the real world, this film also raises the question of whether the world we believe to be real is necessarily the truth. The people in the film understand the world based on the memories implanted in them every day at midnight. The “truth” they believe in is real from their perspective, but the audience knows it is a lie. The virtual reality depicted in ‘The Matrix’ also demonstrates that what we see, feel, and remember can differ significantly from absolute truth. Fortunately, because Murdock had lost his memory, he was able to set out in search of “facts” to replace the illusions of his past.
I greatly admire Murdoch’s pursuit of truth. If I were a resident of Dark City, I, too, would likely be no different from the others who live relying solely on their five senses and memories. In the same vein, I believe we must at least once consider the possibility that the values and life principles I have long believed to be true might actually be wrong. Only then can we see a new world that we have not seen before. For a frog in a well to break free from its confines, a jump of its usual height is not enough.
I believe Murdock’s approach—gaining insight into the essence of things through the exploration of reality—is a virtue that today’s science and engineering students also need to cultivate. The laws of nature discovered by humans are the result of modeling facts gained through experience into theories such as mathematics and philosophy. Among these physical laws, there are quite a few that transcend our common sense. The pursuit of truth is not merely a passive process reliant on memory and experience; rather, it is an active process of constructing new theories based on existing principles and developing them through prediction and verification. While human capabilities certainly have their limits, I believe that through ceaseless inquiry, we can gradually draw closer to the truth.
