Memory

“A place in thy memory, dearest,

Is all that I claim;

To pause and look back when thou hearest

The sound of my name”

- Gerald Griffin

WARNING

This post contains some references to popular culture and may contain spoilers and/or opinions about such areas. 

It’s funny, the things that our minds choose to pick up and carry with us. Sometimes, it can be terrifying, to find that a particular incident leaves its mark upon our souls – a dark memory that haunts us as well as any ghost. Still, our memory banks may also be stocked with those happy memories; the first time you held your baby cousin, though she’s all grown up now, or the shriek and spontaneous hug that a friend gives you when she sees exactly what you got her as a gift. These are the things we carry with us, wrapped up in our minds and hearts – the good, the bad, and the unforgettable.

Books and movies leave their marks upon us in the same manner that true life does. The truly remarkable thing about such media is, however, that it isn’t our own actions or interferences that remain in our minds, but those of characters who do not exist. Greater still is the fact that sometimes, the most powerful of memories are those that come from the utterance of a single word.

Twilight.

Before Stephanie Meyers released her book, this word brought up two different thoughts. The first was the ubiquitous (for me) pondering of what time, exactly, defines twilight. The other was the episode of NCIS, where Kate dies. Now, Stephanie Meyers has released her series by such a title, and popular culture being what it is, no one is allowed to forget that Twilight means Bella and Edward, and the modern epitome of the dues ex machina, goddamn Breaking Dawn.

Clarence.

I’ve never heard this name used by anyone other than the angel we all know and love. It’s a Wonderful Life was a great movie, and the name Clarence never ceases to bring to mind frozen rivers and jingling bells.

“Khaaaan!”

Captain James T. Kirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise, played by William Shatner in the original Star Trek series, will be known by Trekkies for an eternity of memory for screaming this name to the heavens. Funny, how a single word can bring so many images of the good captain and his crew to mind.

Sometimes the words we recall from these movies or books bring the following phrases right to mind. Much like the amusing, if somewhat annoying, commercial for Red Robin (yum!).

Casper. (“The friendly ghost!”)

Rudolph. (“The red-nosed reindeer.”)

Frankly, my dear. (“I don’t give a damn.”)

Back! (“To the future!”)

Memory is a funny thing, and the lines and images that stick with us from movies and books are truly amazing. In a way, it’s just one more occasion where art is imitating life, and an artist can only hope that whatever they create with their hands – be it a sculpture, painting, or a book – someone, somewhere, will hear a word, and remember.

~ Wandering (“Muse”)