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In Memento (2000), Burt speaks to Leonard:

That's the thing. I have this condition.

BURT Condition?

LEONARD I have no memory.

BURT Amnesia?

LEONARD No. It's different. I have no short-term memory. I know who I am and all about myself, but since my injury I can't make any new memories. Everything fades. If we talk for too long, I'll forget how we started. I don't know if we've ever met before, and the next time I see you I won't remember this conversation. So if I seem strange or rude, that's probably...

He notices that Burt is staring at him as if he were an exotic insect.

LEONARD (cont'd) I've told you this before, haven't I?

BURT (nods) I don't mean to mess with you. It's just so weird. You don't remember me at all, and we talked a bunch of times.

Leonard shrugs.

BURT (cont'd) What's the last thing you remember?

Leonard looks through Burt, thinking.

LEONARD My wife.

BURT (fascinated) What's it like?

LEONARD Like waking. Like you always just woke up.

What does "it" in "What's it like" refer to?

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  • 5
    Probably "the experience of remembering". (Or "not remembering", given what movie this is.)
    – stangdon
    Jan 7, 2022 at 16:28
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    We need more context. The preceding dialogue or delivery probably make it clear.
    – Andy Bonner
    Jan 7, 2022 at 19:15
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    OP, you do know that dialog is highly context-dependent, right? I'm afraid you're going to hate the rest of this movie if you're running into these problems early on. Maybe you should try reading something easier first.
    – FeliniusRex - gone
    Jan 7, 2022 at 22:39

1 Answer 1

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Burt: What's the last thing you remember?
Leonard: My wife.
Burt: What's it like?

One thing is certain, the pronoun it does not refer to Leonard's wife, which requires the feminine pronoun she.

  • “What's she like?”.
  • “What is your wife like?”

This is further confirmed by Leonard's response

It's like waking. It's like you just woke up.

If "it" referred to his wife that description makes no sense whatsoever. So to find the antecedent we must look further back to the beginning of the conversation between Burt and Leonard.

LEONARD: That's the thing. I have this condition.

            BURT
    Condition?

            LEONARD
    I have no memory.

            BURT
    Amnesia?

            LEONARD
    No. It's different. I have no short-term
    memory. I know who I am and all about
    myself, but since my injury I can't make
    any new memories. Everything fades. If we
    talk for too long, I'll forget how we
    started. I don't know if we've ever met
    before, and the next time I see you I
    won't remember this conversation. So if I
    seem strange or rude, that's probably...

LEONARD: (cont'd) I've told you this [the short term memory loss] before, haven't I?

            BURT
       (nods)
    I don't mean to mess with you. It's just
    so weird. You don't remember me at all,
    and we talked a bunch of times.

Source: The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb)

Thus "it" in Burts' question refers to Leonard's short-term memory loss.

  • What's [a/an [extremely] short-term memory] like?
  • What's this condition like?

The expression short-term memory is the headword of the noun phrase, the words extremely and this are called premodifiers because they modify the headword that follows. The use of "it” makes it a placeholder for the entire noun phrase.

There is another way of interpreting Burt's question, the post modifying clause is omitted entirely, as shown below in what is known as an elliptical sentence.

  • What's it like [to have short term memory]?
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