Have you or.......

........one of your family members eaten a nut that wasn't your fault in the last three months?

The Truman Show

Today the sea is light grey and flat and appears to stretch out to infinity as it blends seemlessly with the sky. There is a complimentary eerie quietness about, occasionally a straining speedboat engine or some arguing seagulls reveal how little noise there is. The interesting idea on which that disappointing film was based comes to mind.

Forget it.

Last night a documentary aired on More 4 entitled "Unidentified White Male". Three years ago a 35 year old man found himself on the subway in New York. He knew nothing about himself, his name, where he lived, his job. He presented himself at the Coney Island Police Station from where he was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital and checked into the psychiatric department. He was told he would stay there until someone he knew came to collect him. He had no identification on him at all but in a Spanish book he had in his ruck sack there was a post-it note with a woman's name and phone number. When the hospital staff called the number the nice lady at the other end was unable to help. She did subsequently suggest to her daughter however, that she might call the hospital on the off-chance that she might know the man. She did; she had dated him a few times and so she collected him and took him home to his apartment. We learnt that he had been brought up in various European countries before becoming a stock broker in New York. Aged thirty he had made enough money to retire and chose to change vocation and become a photographer.

The cause of his "accident" was unknown but he had suffered a complete erasure of his "episodic" memory; the part that contains records of all the events of our lives. His "procedural" (the "how to" bit) and semantic (meaning bit of his) memories were intact. The effect of this was to render him without any context for his life, no knowledge of his friends or family, of world history, any history, art, food, politics. He was however still, eloquant and intelligent.

Initially he is very frightened due to his isolation. Perhaps surprisingly, very quickly (a few months later) he reaches a point where he is not just ambivalent at the prospect of his memory returning but he would prefer it didn't. This is because he is a man with no baggage. He does not feel responsible for the person he was before his accident and is unencumbered by the memories we all have that make us who we are.

When he is introduced to his old school mates they mourn the departure of their friend. He is very polite to them but they no longer share a past. Everyone observes how he is no longer the outgoing go-getter he was. He is now an intropsective, philosophical, aesthete. He sees everything as new, for the first time. When he goes to the beach and paddles in the water he is moved to tears by the "extraordinary energy" of the water. He does not recognise his family but identifies a "chemical" connection to his sisters. There are no stereo-types for him, only originality.

His friends feel they are twenty years older than him, not because he is childish but he has a lightness. Indeed although not referred to specifically in the film, he comes across as very cool, he does not seem to have any of the ego problems other have. A friend mentions in an email that he looks forward to reaquainting him with the delights of West Indian cricket when they next meet. "Is that a drink or an insect?" he inquires. His photography tutors believe his work has improved dramatically.

Is he the same person? If it were discovered for example that he had committed a crime in his former life; would he be punished now? Is he blessed?