The Vow Movie Analysis

“The Vow” is a movie that encases the turmoil and hardship associated with retrograde amnesia and the classic symptoms and steps associated with recovering and potentially regaining lost memory. Taking into account the information gained through multiple sources; such as, lecture of Mental Health, medical databases, and the personal experiences of Krickett Carpenter, the Vow provides both an accurate and inaccurate depiction of retrograde amnesia.

The movie opens up introducing the main characters, Paige and Leo. Paige and Leo are a happily married couple who live in the city and on one very snowy night, are involved in an accident. The accident causes Paige to be thrown onto the hood of the car with her head leading her way crashing through

the windshield. In the literature available, retrograde amnesia typically results from a traumatic brain injury causing the patient to lose (temporarily or permanently) memories events right before the traumatic event (Mastin, 2010). Anterograde amnesia is much more common following a traumatic brain injury; these individuals do not have the ability to recall new information after the event (Zilmer, 2008), but unfortunately this information was not portrayed in the movie. After the accident it is assumed that Paige underwent several surgeries to correct the multiple issues present, and she does not remember any of these memories. Procedural memories, whether due to anesthesia or other factors, are typically not recalled (Mastin, 2010). Upon waking up, Paige shows no signs of anterograde or procedural amnesia; but, has extensive retrograde amnesia that causes her to lose the entire recollection of knowing her husband Leo, becoming an artist, and mentally sets her back five years when she was previously engaged to another man. When trying piece her life together she recalls her last memory of being at a restaurant ordering ravioli. While this five year memory loss may be unlikely and exaggerated, it is possible. Each individual has the potential to present unlike any other, but a clear cut off when memories are recalled and lost, such as being at the restaurant, is not common. Typically a patient will be able to remember short fuzzy clips throughout the memory loss timeline.
There is an extensive misrepresentation of the emotional and psychological turmoil that accompanies losing ones memory.

As Paige returns back to her life with her estranged husband Leo, she has clear frustration but gives up on regaining her memory rather quickly. The movie portrayed Leo as the one who was unstably dealing with the events that had unfolded before them, more so than Paige did. Paige regresses back to the woman she was five years ago, and had a massive shift in personality and lifestyle. Normal presentation of retrograde amnesia does not alter ones personality; if there is a shift in personality, it is more likely due to a regression in knowledge and the ability to retain both standing knowledge and new information (Mastin, 2010). Paige returns back home to immerse herself in an environment she is comfortable with and used to. She fit back into her old life seamlessly until she began maturing and discovering reasons why she left home in the first place. During this phase the movie depicted the setbacks and frustration associated with amnesia very well. While Paige was living at home away from Leo, he saw it as an opportunity to rebuild their love and was eager to begin this process with Paige all over again. After weeks of failed attempts to show his love and affection he gave into a pressured and seemingly eminent divorce. Leo had a very hard time dealing with this new chapter of his life and from then on engorged in working more and distracted himself with a new pet. After the divorce had gone through, Paige had not regained any of her memory and decided to make a path of her own and got an apartment, a new job, and began falling back into why she loved being an artist

again.
Paige began attending her old school and avidly worked at regaining her memory. While Paige and Leo were non-communicative it seemed as though as time went on Paiges personality and sense of identity had returned to what is was before the accident. Typically, if personality changes take place after a traumatic brain injury it is likely that these changes will be present for the duration of their life, as well as fundamental changes associated with having to relearn many activities of daily living. About a year after the accident happened Leo and Paige ran into one another while on an outing and decided to give their love another chance. While she still had not regained any memories Paige had discovered that her hands still knew how to mold and shape her artwork even though her mind had forgotten. Often times this is the case, biomechanically the body is still able to recall how to do things, like riding a bike, even though the mind cannot recall having learned this skill.
The Vow was filmed after Kim and Krickett Carpenter tragically experienced this first hand. Unlike the movie, Krickett faced far more hardship than Paige and was essentially disabled after her accident. Krickett lost 18 months of her memory but also faced anterograde amnesia for 4 years following the accident. Krickett saw a neuropsychologist to relearn the essentials of everyday life such as bathing, feeding, and dressing herself (Carpenter, 2012). Unfortunately this depiction was downplayed in Paige’s case, but is very common with many traumatic brain injuries that result in retrograde amnesia. Another aspect of the movie that did not match up with Kricketts experience was that she suffered from severe mood swings often times leaving those around her at a loss of words, unable to know how to comfort her and provide the reassurance she needed.
The movie highlighted a lot of the issues and hardships associated with retrograde amnesia for both the patient, and family and friends around them, while incorporating a love story in between the lines. It provided information that was both accurate and subpar when illustrating actual events associated with a traumatic brain injury resulting in retrograde amnesia.