Cinematic Amnesia

You see, I have this problem. I have virtually no memory for movies. I call it “Cinematic Amnesia.” I enjoy the experience of watching a movie; I just can’t remember anything about it unless I’ve seen it numerous times. A side effect of my affliction is a social impairment stemming from the fact that my condition prohibits me from participating in conversations about movies. People will often ask me if I’ve seen or liked certain movies, and I honestly can’t remember.  I’m a horrible conversationalist when the topic is movies.

The bright side of having Cinematic Amnesia is that I can watch the same movies again and again. I often get all the way to the end of a movie, then think to myself, “You know what? I’ve seen this before!” A lot of times, I watch previews of movies and exclaim to my companions, “That looks good! I think I’d like to see that,” before they remind me that I have already watched, sometimes quite recently.

I think part of the problem is that movies are so darned long! I do much better with commercials. I can remember a commercial! As a child, I would run around singing every jingle from every commercial on TV. Actually, I still do that. I am plagued by ADD. I am too distractible. My mind has far too much opportunity to wander during a 2-hour movie.  As a therapist who works with a lot of ADHD kids, I have come to realize how distractible I really am compared to most people and how much of a problem I have staying focused.

HEY!! When did this blog entry become about ADD?? (Yes, I am fully aware that the condition is now called ADHD. I just dropped the ‘H’ because it doesn’t apply in this case. Besides, it’s an informal blog entry, not something to be published in an academic journal.)

Anyway…What was I saying? Oh, yes…something about distractibility. I have heard it said that people with ADD don’t have a problem because they can’t pay attention to anything; rather, the problem is that they pay attention to everything. When I watch a movie, every little thing the characters do or say starts my mind on a new train of thought that inevitably reminds me of something else to think about, and before I know it, I’m not paying a bit of attention to the movie. I do the same thing with books. Especially fiction. I tend not to read a lot of fiction. If I do read fiction, I like to read children’s books, probably because the chapters are short and they are fast-paced for the short attention span of children and other people with short attention spans… I also tend to start a lot of books at one time, usually without finishing many of the books I start.

HEY!! When did this blog entry become about books??

Anyway…What was I saying? Oh, yes…children’s books. I’ve always wanted to write children’s books. It’s something I think I could actually complete, because they’re usually short. I tend not to finish a lot of the projects I start. I’ve been sitting on an idea for a children’s book for quite some time now. I have lots of ideas jotted down on hundreds of post-it notes that I stick in my pockets, my wallet, my purse…I also have about 12 different notebooks going, full of all kinds of ideas. I’m always writing down ideas. I often write myself notes on my hands. The problem with that is that I wash the notes off before I ever take any kind of action. Who knows what kinds of great ideas I’ve had only to be washed down the sink? And I’m always misplacing my pens. The other day, I couldn’t find a pen or paper, so I wrote myself a note on my hand with lipstick. Needless to say, that one got washed down the sink. But, I digress.

Anyway…Seen any good movies lately?