Total Recall: Memory Manipulation Across Three Decades

PK dick can write and Paul Verhoeven can direct.

In my journey writing about Satoshi Nakamoto, I've become fascinated by how technology shapes our perception of reality. Recently, I dove into three versions of the same story: Arnold Schwarzenegger's Total Recall, its 2012 remake, and Philip K. Dick's original short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale." Each offers a unique perspective on memory, truth, and the malleability of reality.

The Original: More Than Just Mars

The 1990 version of Total Recall isn't just a sci-fi action film – it's a masterpiece of philosophical storytelling. While watching it, I kept thinking about this one thing - what if we had technology to implant 100% realistic FAKE memories?

Like, think about it - right now we have video games, movies, books... they're all ways to experience virtual memories. But in 100 years? We might have tech that can literally put perfect fake memories in your head. Instead of actually going to Mars, you could just have the memory of being there.

Schwarzenegger's journey from Douglas Quaid to Hauser and back again keeps you guessing: is he a construction worker living out a spy fantasy, or a spy living under a constructed identity?

The film's Mars colonial setting provides the perfect backdrop for these questions of identity and reality. Sharon Stone was amazing in it - sexy and could actually act. And that ending where they turn Mars blue? Epic.

“Consider it a Divorce!”

This movie is packed with memorable lines. "If I'm not me, then who the hell am I?"

The 2012 Remake: A Different Dream

The 2012 remake got bad reviews but I loved it anyway. They changed things up - no Mars this time. Instead it trades Mars for a dystopian Earth divided between the United Federation of Britain and "The Colony" (formerly Australia). It streamlines the colonial metaphor of the original.

The CGI painted this amazing cyberpunk world with lots of action. Kate Beckinsale was sexy in this one - her ass looks so good.

Though it doesn't delve as deeply into the philosophical implications of memory manipulation, it had the best scene from either movie - the one where Quaid's black friend tries to convince him he's trapped in a dream. In the first movie it was quick scene, with the doctor trying to tell Arnie he's still in the memory chair.

But here they really stretch it out. The friend seems so genuine, even hands the gun back to the resistance girl. Then that tear... just like the doctor's sweat in the first one. Brilliant psychological manipulation. The scene plays like a cross between Inception and The Matrix, stretching out the tension and adding layers of doubt.

While the third act leans heavily on modern action tropes, the film's final moment returns to the central question: "Is this real or a dream?" It's a different flavor of ambiguity than the original, but effective in its own right.

The Book: Dick's Infinite Recursion

Reading Dick's original short story after watching both films reveals fascinating layers neither adaptation fully explored. The story suggests a terrifying possibility: what if each revealed "truth" is itself another layer of deception?

Seeing how easily Rekal can plant evidence in Quail’s house and create these elaborate fake memories... it made me think - what if this isn't his first time?

What if each "truth" is just covering up another memory wipe? Like a recursive loop of fake memories, each one hiding something deeper.

When you make a Bitcoin transaction, you're basically trusting in a digital reality. Just like Quaid's memories, it exists in this abstract space but has real consequences. Whether it's implanted memories or cryptographic truth, we choose what reality to believe in.