Sunday, September 5, 2010

Inception: Here Come The Arguments *SPOILERS*

By now I hope you've seen "Inception," because, in my opinion, it's a great movie. If you haven't you may want to skip over this article. For those of you who have seen it, it's time to talk.

The most argued aspect of the film is the ending. Is Cobb back to reality? (Oh, there goes gravity?) Is he in limbo? Did the top fall down or is it still spinning? What was the point of the movie? I'll answer these questions, relax.

It seems that right before the scene cuts out, the top begins to make more noise. This is due to the top beginning to tilt, as when a top starts to fall down, the surface area of the top that is in contact with the surface it is spinning on increases. If you wish to test this spin a top (or a coin) and pay close attention to how it sounds and how it looks as it gets closer and closer to falling down. Of course if it doesn't fall down you should wait for a train. By this logic, Cobb is out of Limbo.

Another reason I believe Cobb is back in reality, is that after he gets off the plane, only the people he knows respond to him, whereas, in the dreams, the entire subconscious would respond, either by looking or attacking. Another aspect of this is the fact that when Cobb and Mal are in limbo together, there are no people, only them, whereas, after the dreams there are people everywhere. Now this brings up the argument, "Couldn't Cobb create people to give himself a sense of reality?" If he could do this, why would he bother creating the airport scenario? Why wouldn't he just allow himself to be with his family right away, and therefore wouldn't he create another version of Mal?

But these arguments take away from the real point of the end of the film. The scene cutting out represents how Cobb no longer cares whether or not he lives in reality. By confronting Mal he achieved his catharsis and felt redeemed, ridding himself of his guilt. This is Christopher Nolan's point. To cleanse ourselves of our past misdeeds, or missteps, we must take responsibility and confront those whom we've wronged. Only then can we enjoy that cathartic feeling of relief.

But this is just my opinion. What do you think? Leave a comment. And please refrain from comments such as, "you're wrong." Please elaborate. Discussions are nice.

8 comments:

  1. i don't really know what to say..but keep up the good work !

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  2. The whole movie was a dream, duh.

    haters gonna hate.

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  3. I comeplelty agree. I'm not sure if any other peopl do but that's my opinion.

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  4. Nice Job Simon,

    Just another thing to discuss:

    The top also belonged to Mal and if u remember in the beginning of the movie someone say's (when explainging to the new girl the concept of the "tops") that everyone should have their own top and that no-one else should "touch it".

    This causes a problem because Cobb and Mal shared one. And for Mal "reality" was Dicarprio's "limbo" so if she spinned the top in "limbo" it would fall, but if DiCaprio spun it, it would never fall. So this causes a dilema for the end fo the movie.

    I hope you understand what I'm saying, I tried to explain myself the best i can.

    -Itamar

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