ADDITIONAL READING: AMNESIA & WHISTLEBLOWERS
Amnesia is a key topic that I will be researching to help me understand how my protagonist should act or respond to the loss of memory. Our main protagonist, Mason, is on the run from government agents due to something that he has remembered from working in a secret government programme. The government have been observing him for the past few years due to the fact that he had forgotten, but it has since returned and he needs to be taken care of.
What is amnesia?
According to the NHS, amnesia, also known as memory loss, happens when a person loses the ability to remember information and events they would normally be able to recall.
Memory loss can be distressing for the person affected, and their family. Relatives may fear the worst and assume that it may be dementia, but it often isn't the case. GP's find often that the people who commonly suffer from memory loss are likely to have: anxiety, stress or depression. The reason being is that their memory loss is the result of poor concentration and not noticing things in the first place because of a lack of interest. Sleeping problems generally make the memory loss worse. Amnesia symptoms include: memory loss, confusion and the inability to recognise familiar faces or places. Infantile amnesia, or the inability to remember anything at all from the first few months or years of life, is universal. It is thought that the memory processes of the brain take time to develop.
There are different types of memory:
Short term - new information is stored for a brief time. If the information isn't further processed, it will soon be forgotten.
Long term - information from the short term memory is shifted to the long term memory.
Declarative - conscious memories of information and events.
Non-declarative - once learned, habits such as driving a car are ingrained and automatic.
In this case, our main protagonist Mason, would have classified his lost memories as long term memories, which have since returned due to a catalyst. This obviously is unrealistic, but since the film is a fictional piece of work, we are able to bend the rules or physics of things slightly.
Whistle blowers are people who expose any kind of information or activity that may be deemed illegal, unethical, or not correct within an organisation that is either private or public. The information of the alleged wrongdoing can be classified in many ways: violation of company policy/rules, law, regulation, or threat to public interest/national security as well as fraud and corruption.
People who become whistle blowers can choose to bring information or allegations to the surface either internally or externally. So they may choose to expose the information to the general public to generate worldwide acclaim and give the information publicity, or choose to expose the information to someone they may trust within or outside the organisation who can sort out the problem, by contacting a third party outside of an accused organisation, whistle blowers can reach out to the media, government, law enforcement, or those who are concerned, but as a consequence, face stiff reprisal, and retaliation from those who are accused or alleged of wrong doing. Some third party groups offer protection to whistleblowers, but that protection can only go so far. Whistleblowers face legal action, criminal charges, social stigma, and termination from any position, office, or job. The most recent case of whistle blowing that I can remember was from Edward Snowden, who was responsible for leaking to the media details of extensive internet and mobile surveillance by American Intelligence. He has since been granted temporary asylum in Russia, and faces espionage charges over his actions.
The scandal broke in early June 2013, when the Guardian newspaper had reported that the US National Security Agency (NSA) was collecting the telephone records of tens of millions of Americans. That report was followed by the fact that NSA tapped directly into the servers of nine internet firms including Facebook and Google, to track online communication in a surveillance programme known as Prism. Shortly afterwards, the Guardian revealed that ex-CIA systems analyst Edward Snowden was behind the leaks about the US and UK surveillance programmes. A subject of controversy, Snowden has been variously called a hero, a whistleblower, a dissident, a patriot and a traitor. His disclosures have fueled debates over mass surveillance, government secrecy and the balance between national security and information privacy.
This topic relates greatly to my work, as Mason is being targeted by the government for remember something he shouldn't have. As a result, he is being hunted down and faces the consequence of being killed. I conducted additional reading to help me research about similar situations that people face in real life, how they acted, and what has happened to them. From the research I have gathered, I have gained further knowledge as to how Mason will react when he recovers his memories, and what he should do knowing that the government is after him.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/memory-loss/Pages/Introduction.aspx
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/amnesia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whistleblower
https://www.gov.uk/whistleblowing/what-is-a-whistleblower
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23123964
