There is no such thing as Goldfield Syndrome. This is a fictional condition used as the premise for the romantic comedy ‘50 First Dates’ starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. The synopsis of the movie is that Drew Barrymore’s character, after being involved in a car accident, wakes up every day believing it is the same day as the day of her accident. She is able to remember everything before they day of the accident, but cannot form any new memories and so cannot remember anything she does after that day. In true Hollywood style Adam Sandler’s character falls head over heels in love with Barrymore’s character and fails to let a little thing like her not being able to remember him, stop him from making her fall in love with him.
Albeit a fictional invention for a Hollywood film, Goldfield Syndrome takes its inspiration from a real-life medical condition called Anterograde Amnesia, people who suffer from this condition lose the ability to memorise anything after the event that caused it. A peripheral character in 50 First Dates going by the nickname of Ten Second Tom is portrayed as having an extreme variation of this condition, as he is not able to form any new memories after just ten seconds, so he is portrayed as always introducing himself.
The film Memento, starring former Neighbours heart throb Guy Pearce uses Anterograde Amnesia as an excellent plot device; when the protagonist, played by Pearce and being unable to form any new memories while in pursuit of his wife’s killer, uses a number of methods such as photographs, written messages and tattoos in order to remind himself of his vengeful mission. The sequence of the movie is played out in reverse, showing the last scene of the film first and so on, therefore involving the audience in the confusion and memory loss of the main character.
Albeit a fictional invention for a Hollywood film, Goldfield Syndrome takes its inspiration from a real-life medical condition called Anterograde Amnesia, people who suffer from this condition lose the ability to memorise anything after the event that caused it. A peripheral character in 50 First Dates going by the nickname of Ten Second Tom is portrayed as having an extreme variation of this condition, as he is not able to form any new memories after just ten seconds, so he is portrayed as always introducing himself.
The film Memento, starring former Neighbours heart throb Guy Pearce uses Anterograde Amnesia as an excellent plot device; when the protagonist, played by Pearce and being unable to form any new memories while in pursuit of his wife’s killer, uses a number of methods such as photographs, written messages and tattoos in order to remind himself of his vengeful mission. The sequence of the movie is played out in reverse, showing the last scene of the film first and so on, therefore involving the audience in the confusion and memory loss of the main character.
