For my final project, I wanted to examine the way our memories of events are altered by our present feelings. To do this, I have created two separate animations, both of which feature the same set of eight scenes presented as they actually happened. However, by clicking on the italicized words, the reader is able to see how the narrator remembers the events years later, as shaped by her current view of the world.
In one scene, the events are portrayed in a more positive light than they were when they happened, while in the other, the memories portray the scene in a much more negative light. The point to remember is that either ending could have occured -- in fact, the way it is remembered is affected by how life turned out, rather than vice-versa. These false recollections, then, are constructed as more of a defense mechanism, a way of comforting ourselves. If a relationship turns out badly, we decide it was bad all along -- good riddance. If it turns out well, we tell ourselves it has always been perfect -- that we were meant to be.
Reality gets lost along the way. We remember what we want to remember. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.
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