As I watched the movie, I can't help but think of the Private and Confidential part that doctors do. Only the Cutter would know the whole story. The whole life story.
A Zoe implant is placed even before birth, into the brain. It records EVERYTHING that the person sees and hears, and so it records everything the person does. Memories can be preserved, like the first step, first word, first day of school, first kiss, first sex... Loved ones would want to have that lasting memory of that person, so that he or she can be remembered as that.
Here comes the tricky part. In the show itself, there are many Anti-zoe groups out there. They oppose the technology and with many viewpoints. Some say memories are meant to fade, some say the Rememory doesn't show who the person really is, and some say that the memory is personal. This POV of having a personal life is where the P&C the doctors do.
The Zoe Chip takes away your personal life, revealing all of your secrets and wrong doings. But with that in mind, a person can change, only doing the right thing to look good. Can you really be a saint when you do good things? Of course there must be the part about needing to be good in the heart first. I feel that the goodness of the deed is based on the purity of the heart. I used to think that I do things for the sake of doing them, not for fame or fortune. But I realized that it was not because my heart is pure either. Why do I keep helping people out and forsaking my own life? Why did I say yes to make the IMU Cup banner? Why have I taken that burden that will affect my future? I’ve done it all my life and I have become like a mindless drone that will do everything that he’s told.
Even if I had a Zoe chip, I doubt that my intensions can be seen. Of course there would be secrets that I do not want people to know, things that I’ve done, crimes I’ve committed. I still remember the time I threw away the milk powder so that I can buy a new tin of milk just to get a wooden skeleton of a dinosaur. I remember the time I stomped on my friend’s bag to act like a bully.
And of course I want to see the fun times as well, like memories of my grandfather singing to me when I was little, of my grandmother playing mahjong with me, of my siblings ‘Happy Club’ with our anthem and shows… These are memories that made me happy.
Back to about the movie, these scenes are viewed by the cutter and made into a ‘Rememory’ for all the deceased’s loved ones. Your spouse, your siblings, your children, and maybe your parents, would want to see and remember you by. A cutter’s job is to view a person’s life and summarize it. A cutter sees it all, and other people will get to see life through the deceased’s eyes. It’s something more personal than a dairy, a journal, a blog.
A doctor takes a patient’s history, and it all goes into a P&C folder. Both the cutter and doctor would know things that other people would never know, like a trip to the prostitute den, a secret trip to Africa, a time with stupid drug addict friends, an illness that could jeopardize your career, or the real reason why you are limping.
How does the cutter or doctor live with that kind of information? How does one react when he meets with a fellow criminal, or the girl he’s having an affair with, or knowledge of secrets nobody needs to know? For Alan (Robbin Williams), he edits with no feelings. He can’t have any. It’s the same with House, having emotions mixed in will tear a person apart. There is only so much that a person can handle. But without those feelings, wouldn’t the person seem less human? In the movie, Alan had a secret past, in which he sorts to forgiving other people for their wrong doings. He takes out memories, in hope that someone would take that memory of his out as well. And with such secretive information that both doctors and cutters have, not only do they have to experience the emotions that come with it, but also to guard that information with their lives.
All these from a 1 hour and 40 minutes show…
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