Myths of Memory

On my TV screen, a psychic mutant covered with phlegm asks Arnold Schwarzenegger what he wants.
"The same as you," Arnold says.
"To remember."
"But why?"
"To be myself again," Arnold responds.
The movie is Total Recall, an action/adventure flick based on the Philip K. Dick story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale." Arnold plays an ordinary guy who is frustrated by dreams of Mars, where he has never been. So he goes to a memory shop to buy a false memory, the memory that he was a secret agent on Mars. …