first thoughts on Dark City

I just want to start by saying that I am really enjoying this movie thus far. Yes, it is often difficult to understand and calling it strange would be an understatement. However, it has something that is very different (in a good way) from most movies that we've watched in class and most movies in general. I can't seem to place exactly what it is that makes this film so appealing just yet...

One of the points Mr. Bennet was bringing up in class was the concept of the individual and how that comes into play in Dark City. Since the memories of every single person in the city are constantly being erased and re-created, they are never really the same person. Or are they? One of the central questions being posed in the film is whether or not these people are the same or whether it is their memories and experiences that make them who they are. The director (Alex Proyas) is not trying to give us any answers at this point in the movie. He is, on the other hand, making the audience think that people are always the same, regardless of the memories they posess from their earlier lives.

One of the points brought up in class was the man who John Murdoch sees in the hotel and again at the magazine stand who says the same thing. Mr. Bennet suggested that meant that he remembered the phrase somehow from his previous memories. However, I think that it is meant to show that he is the same person, with the same mannerisms, as the individual that he was before. Later on, while the "tuning" is taking place, Dr. Schreber makes a comment (I forget his exact words) saying something like "The rich just keep getting richer." I interpreted this to mean that people stay basically the same no matter how many memories they change. The rich keep getting richer, the people who were a certain way before are the same way after. In essence, the experiment is about trying to see if human nature is dependent on experiences. According to these examples, Proyas is saying no, humans are the same people no matter what their memories, whether real or imaginary, are.

Now this situation becomes much more interesting when the character of John Murdoch comes into question. As he is seen in the movie, the audience has little to no difficulty sympathizing with him. He is portrayed as a good man who would never do something terrible (say, killing a half a dozen prostitutes) so it seems absurd to anyone that the murders he is being accused of could really have anything to do with him. But, we do see in his real memories when they are implanted into one of the aliens that he was guilty of killing the young woman in his apartment/hotel room. Now, according to the ideas formerly presented in the film, logic would dictate that Murdoch would still be the evil murderer he once was, right?