Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Blog #56 - Interpretations of Inception




Here are several interepretations of the movie.  Your job is to read over the blog and pick two to talk about.  You don't have to agree with them: you can pick them apart with evidence from the movie. 

Questions to choose from (pick two):

1. Near the end, Mal (or her projection) in limbo makes a pretty good case that Cobb is lost in his own dream and can't tell one reality from another. Do you think that this is a plausible alternative?  Why or why not? 


2. This blog from Moviefone.com outlines six different interpretations of the film (and also five plot holes - see next question). Read it for more details on each of the six interpretations, but I'll just list each of them below. We have talked about some of them in class.

** If you decide to tackle more than one interpretation of Inception, this will count as your two questions.

a. All of Inception is a dream - are we ever really shown reality? Whose dream is it, anyway?

b. Everything after the test sedation is a dream - after Yusuf's chemical test, do we see Cobb spin his totem and see it fall properly?

c. Saito is the architect and pulls a Mr. Charles gambit on Cobb - instead of a job audition like Saito said, maybe Saito is trying to extract something from Cobb?

d. Ariadne is Cobb's therapist trying to help him get over Mal's death - This is an interesting and plausible take on the movie - found here http://halphillips.tumblr.com/post/822919795/inception

e. We do see reality in the movie (first train ride in Japan, Paris, Mombasa), but Cobb is in a dream at the end - could this explain why the totem never falls at the end of the movie? This interpretation apparently hinges on the idea that the children don't appear to have aged. Plus, we don't see how Saito and Cobb get out of limbo.

f. What we see is what we get - that we are presented with a reality at the beginning of the movie (train ride in Japan) and that Cobb is back in the U.S. at the end of the movie.


3. What do you think were the movie's biggest plot holes? We had discussed a few, and I wasn't satisfied with a couple of the answers - which sounded like filmmakers' excuses instead of decent rationales. Provide one or two examples (you might want to read the blog link mentioned at the beginning of question #2 to help you out if you forgot) and explain how these holes do or don't affect the movie.


4. Evil genius theory - we had discussed this in class and it didn't get much traction, but I wonder if it's possible to show that either Saito, Mal or Cobb could be the evil genius manipulating everything we're seeing. Or could it be the film maker Christopher Nolan?



5. Is Inception really just an extended metaphor for films? In a previous blog from last semester, I posted a link from Wired, and I traced it back to its source, so I'll quote the author's take on Nolan's film:
"The film is a metaphor for the way that Nolan as a director works, and what he’s ultimately saying is that the catharsis found in a dream is as real as the catharsis found in a movie is as real as the catharsis found in life. Inception is about making movies, and cinema is the shared dream that truly interests the director."

Here's a link to the whole post: http://www.chud.com/24477/NEVER-WAKE-UP-THE-MEANING-AND-SECRET-OF-INCEPTION/


My question is, do you buy this interpretation of the movie? Why or why not? What kind of implication does it have for us as film watchers - this shared "dream space" of watching a movie together? Did Christopher Nolan just perform inception on all of us because it's now an idea, like a parasite that won't go away? :)



6. Comparing the dream/reality rules in Inception and (if you've seen) The Matrix, why do you think they're vastly different? How does Descartes' dualistic theory about the mind and body being separated work for one movie but not the other?



7. When Saito asks Cobb to take a leap of faith, he's asking Cobb to believe in him and Saito's ability to fix Cobb's problems. In some ways, Saito almost acts like a deity in this movie because through him, almost everything is engineered to work. He is the Prime Mover or causal agent - Cobb and his team are sent on their mission because they failed to extract vital info from Saito for Cobol Engineering. They are tasked to help destroy Saito's biggest competitor (Fischer), and when it's all said and done, Saito returns from limbo after many many years (remember, Mal and Cobb didn't look like they had aged when the train ran them over after just 50 yrs together, but Saito was wrinkled and withered) and supposedly sweeps away Cobb's murder warrant. What is Saito, really? Is he just a very powerful man or is he something else? Why?



8. Those of you with AP Psych experience, help us out on some of the brain / dream logistics. The way that they explain the dream rules in the movie sound plausible, but what is realistic w/ regards to dreams? Shared dream space isn't possible, is it? Any other psych insights would be greatly appreciated here.



9. Arthur mentioned it briefly on how the technology for the shared dreaming was created - by the military so that soldiers could fight/kill each other without truly maiming themselves in reality. Plus, the character played by Michael Caine, Mal's father, seems to have been the one who taught Cobb how to do what he could do. In many ways, I sense the hints of a "prequel," not a sequel for this movie. Unlike the Matrix (which probably should have been left alone instead of having 2 sequels), it might be interesting to explore how the technology for this type of thing was developed and most likely stolen. If it takes 10 years in between movies like it did with Toy Story or Tron, then so be it. What kinds of possibilities do you see in a prequel or, even if you don't agree with me, a sequel?


Some additional points and counterpoints to theories in the movie - http://inceptiontheories.com/inception-theories-points-counterpoints/

Due Friday, January 18, 2013 by class.  300 words minimum total for both interpretations.

15 comments:

  1. 2d. I thought that this was a very interesting interpretation of the movie and one of the few that I could make sense of. For all that we know Cobb could have been driven insane by his wife’s death and Cobb is really in a mental institution and Ariadne is really Cobb’s therapist. This would explain why she was always sticking her nose into Cobb’s business and trying to find out more about him and his wife. This is also evident because Cobb seems incapable of getting over Mal’s death and creates dreams so they can be together. Also it seems as if he is the only person in the way of being with his kids and that in order to be reunited with his kids again he has to try and get over the death of his wife and let her go instead of keeping her alive in his dreams.
    5. This concept also makes sense to me. I believe that Inception could be an extended metaphor for films. In inception you are made to believe that your dream is a reality and when you are watching a movie you get into it and don’t really pay much attention to reality. Also after a dream you doubt it and realize that it couldn’t have been reality. Just like when you are watching a movie you think that it is so real until after it’s over and you notice some flaws. In addition in Inception the Architect try’s to make us believe in something and changes things to try and make us go along with it. This is parallel to how the director of a movie controls the film and try’s to draw us into the film, as well as trying to influence our thoughts and how much we believe in something.

    Louis Robinson

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  2. The problem I have with believing that Saito and Cobb made it out of limbo is because first off, we never see the kick, and second off, when they apparently do get out of limbo the way they are situated on the plane is different than the way they were before. All the other times that they've awoken from a dream using the same machine, they were basically in the same place they were when they went into the dream. When they woke up, they weren't even attached to the machine. So, that part in the movie leaves me in utter confusion about the dream world and reality. Another observation I made about the movie was that when Cobb went back to his house to see his children, they were in the same exact position and the same age they were when he left them and when we saw the projections of them...I find it highly unlikely that after all that time, they would still be in the same clothes, same position, and essentially exactly where Cobb left off. Another aspect about the totem that I found confusing was that when Maul originally used it in their dream world, she chose to forget reality, but, with Cobb, was it the same? To me, I think the directors intention was to leave us on the edge of confusion and disbelief. They don't show us on purpose whether Cobb and Saito made it out of limbo...Cobb could be stuck in limbo, and even dreaming inside of that dream...and wrapping my head around that gives me a slight headache. I think a prequel would be so interesting to watch! We could actually see what happened between Maul and Cobb because I feel like there's a lot more to the story than Cobb originally led on. I think he's a mysterious character, and he goes against all of his own rules. A prequel could show us what kind of people they were before inception, the ideas behind inception, and basically the story behind the creation of Inception. Although it's fun to sort of determine our own endings of the story, I would really like to see a sequel. We all want answers. The why, how, what, when, where...and the machine? How did they even get their hands on that sort of machinery? Personally, I think a sequel would be phenomenal. We could maybe even see how Ardiane and Eames go into the dream again and try to save him...if he's dreaming...but I guess that's a secret we might never ever have the confirmed answer to. For now, it's a matter of opinion.

    -Emily E.

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  3. 1. I think this is a possible alternative. Cobb does so much jumping from dream, to reality, to dream, to dream, etc and he also has to deal with multiple issues in every single one. Not to mention he sees Mal in every single one, which was his former worry-free reality. I think it is plausible that Cobb enters dreams to deal with the death of his wife and creates everything, much like the older men we see in the beginning. Maybe that was symbolic to show that Cobb also, isn't satisfied by reality. The dream is the reality.
    8. A series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person's mind during sleep. My psychologists interpret them differently because they're so strange. According to EEG testing, the dreams occur during REM sleep (rapid eye movement) and they currently believe that dreams is a way for humans to process what is going on in their lives. There was a research done where they made a man play this interactive video game (like kinect) where he did snowboarding and struggled. That night, the subject claimed that he dreamt of being in a mountain and struggling to get through the snow. The next day, researchers made him try the game again and his results had improved considerably. Now not all psychologists believe that dreams are meant for that purpose. Freud perceived dreams only in the latent way and mostly they were all sexual. In Inception, Cobb and his crew goes into each others dreams and they even have architects for other peoples dreams. Now the idea of someone going into someone else's dream is unrealistic because dreaming is something extremely personal and varies from person to person because it depends on what we all need. Not to mention that we don't dream for that long in REM sleep because we still continue our sleep schedule.

    - Ophelie Ovize

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  4. At the end of the movie, I feel that Cobb is still in a dream. This is because of a few reasons. The first reason I feel Cobb is dreaming is because at the end of the movie, when he sees his kids, they are in the same spot and are wearing the same thing as they were in his memory. The other reason is the totem. Earlier in the movie, Cobb mentions how the dreamers use a totem to distinguish between reality and a dream. He says how each person has their own totem and that it no one else can use it. The point is that Cobb was using Mal's totem, so it may or may not have worked for him. He could be awake because of the wobbling of the totem at the end of the movie. Top started fine but after a few seconds it started to wobble before the movie ended. If it was a dream, there would be no reason for the top to wobble. This means that Cobb is perhaps awake.

    Although the movie was interesting, there were still some holes in it. The dreams were too structured. In the dream there was no random occurrences. If the film was truly like reality, Cobb could easily tell whether or not he was dreaming. In a dream, things change constantly. If you were to look at a clock , look away, then look back at the clock, the time would change; telling the dreamer they're asleep. Also, when people sleep they sometimes recognize that they're asleep and are able to control their dreams like in the movie. Since Cobb has been dreaming for so long, he would have been able to master this skill and recognize he is not awake. Cobb could also tell is he was dreaming by trying to create something like in a dream. If he couldn't manage to build anything with his mind, he could be awake.

    Hunter Osorio

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  5. Due to the fact that it's already 10PM and I see a very appealing shower in my future, I'm going to be unoriginal and frame my answer in the same format as Ophelie. Apologies.

    1. I do see this as a probable outcome to movie. I mean, the point of Cobbs character is that he's struggling with what's real and what isn't. It only seems right that then ending resolution of the film be the one that is unfavorable for Cobb. For me however as an observer, that's not my preferred outcome. I'd like to see the badass Cobb be reunited with his children and have a happy ending, but in a movie like this, and with a character like Cobb, that just doesn't feel right. He seems like the kind of guy where, no matter what he does, things just don't go his way, and as an observer, you feel bad for him, but you also feel like thats the way it has to be.

    5. No. In one word that is my answer. No. I am currently enrolled in the class "Film Study." It's a pretty good class in my opinion. We've watched some really interesting movies, like "I am Sam" and "Catfish." We've also watched some really abysmal films, such as "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari." Now matter what film we were watching in Film Study, we always did a "shot analysis" after the film. Herein lies my point. DON'T OVERANALYZE THINGS. If a curtain is blue in a movie, 9 times out of 10, it isn't a reflection of the characters sadness as a result of the loss of his mother. IT'S JUST A BLUE CURTAIN. Does symbolism exist in film? Of course it does. All the best movies and directors incorporate it. But people take it too far. At least in my opinion. Take things for what they are, don't make assumptions when you what you're guessing could very likely be the opposite of what was intended. Take things for what they are. In this case, it was an interesting story taken to its greatest potential by a visionary director. That's it.

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  6. Due to the fact that it's already 10PM and I see a very appealing shower in my future, I'm going to be unoriginal and frame my answer in the same format as Ophelie. Apologies.

    1. I do see this as a probable outcome to movie. I mean, the point of Cobbs character is that he's struggling with what's real and what isn't. It only seems right that then ending resolution of the film be the one that is unfavorable for Cobb. For me however as an observer, that's not my preferred outcome. I'd like to see the badass Cobb be reunited with his children and have a happy ending, but in a movie like this, and with a character like Cobb, that just doesn't feel right. He seems like the kind of guy where, no matter what he does, things just don't go his way, and as an observer, you feel bad for him, but you also feel like thats the way it has to be.

    5. No. In one word that is my answer. No. I am currently enrolled in the class "Film Study." It's a pretty good class in my opinion. We've watched some really interesting movies, like "I am Sam" and "Catfish." We've also watched some really abysmal films, such as "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari." Now matter what film we were watching in Film Study, we always did a "shot analysis" after the film. Herein lies my point. DON'T OVERANALYZE THINGS. If a curtain is blue in a movie, 9 times out of 10, it isn't a reflection of the characters sadness as a result of the loss of his mother. IT'S JUST A BLUE CURTAIN. Does symbolism exist in film? Of course it does. All the best movies and directors incorporate it. But people take it too far. At least in my opinion. Take things for what they are, don't make assumptions when you what you're guessing could very likely be the opposite of what was intended. Take things for what they are. In this case, it was an interesting story taken to its greatest potential by a visionary director. That's it.

    Liam Carter.
    (I goofed when I posted the comment and accidently published it as my name and not anonymous. MY B.)

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  7. 2c. Saito is the architect and pulls a Mr. Charles gambit on Cobb - instead of a job audition like Saito said, maybe Saito is trying to extract something from Cobb?
    This threw me off when I read it. I was thinking, “why Saito?” I mean Saito seems pretty cool. However, as I think about it I was also really confused when Saito woke up from Limbo with Cobb on the air plane. I couldn’t understand why he was so calm and just started making the phone call. They clearly showed Saito as a really old guy and that means they’d been there quite a while. If I had been away for what seemed like over 50 years I wouldn’t wake up and start remembering that phone number I was supposed to call. They even said that when Cobb and Mal finally woke up from Limbo that they felt like old souls and then Mal was extremely confused. Saito is definitely suspicious.
    4. Who is the evil genius?
    The evil genius award should go to, if anyone, Christopher Nolan. I think that being an evil genius takes a long time and that there’s some of it in everyone. I relate the evil genius to when I play the Sims, because I can do a lot of awful things to them and that’s what most people prefer to do. Writing this movie took over a decade and he didn’t start out with a visual dream world or a computer program, but he made it all up with his thoughts and then put it into a movie. This means he probably really liked playing evil genius and plotting out someone’s life like that. I could never imagine that one of the characters in the movie were the evil genius. I think the evil genius is almost never in the small picture because they’re focusing on the small picture and not the big one they’re living in. Even in the Adjustment Bureau the evil genius, presumably the Chairman, was out of the picture. We know next to nothing about the Chairman, but he’s still the evil genius.
    Nikita

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  8. #1
    At the end of the movie, and the last scene was Cobb spinning his own topper, and the film cuts off before we can see it topple over. I think that Cobb was not in a dream by that point. The topper, although it didn’t tumble over, started to really wobble after a couple seconds into the spin, it was moving the way that something that was about to fall over would do. Part of the reason it cut the movie short was for this reason right here, to discuss it. It seems like a creative decision on behalf of the film makers to better the plot. This way, people can be more imaginative and create their own interpretations and theories of the movie. Books usually have more creative freedom because it is a text as opposed to a visual display, and therefore harder to use imagination with, but this way the film can spark creativity and interest, therefore money.
    The topper almost about to tumble over though conflicts with the fact that the kids are the same age in all the dreams, and even “reality.” This could make it seem as though reality is still a dream, but how do we know the kids weren’t there with the original building of the dream, and are projections that change as life moved on?

    #4
    If anybody was the evil genius controlling everything in the movie, it would probably be the kidnapper, he was the only one with a motive large enough to be able to manipulate dreams. His father was hiding the will that practically set him free from his fathers chains of pain. Cobb, although having a lot of experience with dream world doesn't seem capable enough of evilly controlling everything and then trying to help out the dreamers. Mal wasn’t even in the last “reality” so it doesn’t make too much sense that she is controlling everything. If she really loved Cobb, she wouldn’t make him suffer by living reality without her or wouldn’t want to do that to herself either. Especially because it seems as though she really wants him to be with her in the deeper dreams. And as it goes for Christopher Nolan, I’m not quite sure on how he would be controlling us, because we are not a part of inception, but that is a creative theory. What would he be wanting to extract from our minds? How we really think of the movie in order to critique it for better sales in the next movie he makes maybe? Otherwise I think he is just trying to stimulate our minds--or put them to sleep!

    Kristina Elkins

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  9. 2) The movie’s biggest plot hole to me was near the end with Cobb and Ariadne in Limbo. When Cobb tells her to throw Fischer off the building and jump, they both get kicked back to the previous level, when Eames shocks Fischer and when all the kicks are going off for Ariadne. Both times when they die in Limbo they go back up to the previous level, where that kick sends them back again and so on. But Cobb stays behind to find Saito, meaning when he and Saito gave themselves a kick, they should only go back one dream level, but they end up back on the plane in reality. Maybe they had other kicks that would set them back to the real world after they got out of limbo, but they’re not shown so the person watching doesn’t know for sure. With Ariadne you see her kick go through each dream level, but with Cobb you’re left to assume what happens. For me, I believe he got back to reality because at the end he sees the faces of his children, which he isn’t able, or willing, to do in his dreams, but maybe It would have been better if they gave some kind of hint as to what happened. Another hole I noticed was when Cobb was talking about the totems. It’s said that totems have to be unique so you can tell if you’re in someone’s dream, and that only you can know what your totem is like so nobody can replicate it in a dream, but Cobb said that the top was Mal’s totem, not his. He wouldn’t be able to tell if he’s in a dream or not because it’s no this totem. Also, Arthur said that Ariadne couldn’t touch his totem because only he knew the specific feel of that weighted dye, making it impossible for another dreamer to replicate. I don’t know if it’s just me being picky or not, but a top seems like something that would be easy to recreate, even if it’s a perpetually spinning one.

    1) I think that it could make sense that Cobb’s in his own dreams and can’t distinguish from reality anymore. The entire movie shows Cobb struggling with the reality of what happened with Mal, and being unsuccessful. While I don’t think this is the actual ending, Cobb could very well be stuck in his dream, or even Mal’s dream, and not know it. It’s never explicitly stated what his personal totem is, and like I said in the previous question, he’s been using Mal’s which wouldn’t be able to tell him what’s real and what’s not. You also never see him wake up from the dreams, he’s just there on the plane again, and like he said, you can never remember the beginning of dreams. Whether or not he’s actually in a dream at the end of the movie probably doesn’t matter that much, since he finally gets what he’s been wanting from the start and is able to go home. If it’s a dream, Cobb most likely doesn’t mind staying in it, if it’s reality, everything ‘s good again. Either way it’s a win for him.

    Larry Geist

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  10. 1. I agree that Mal made a good case for Cobb being mixed up with what reality is, but I don’t think it’s plausible. Their world in limbo was made up of memories from the world that they had lived in before. Also, at the end of the movie the top is spinning and starts to wobble, showing that gravity is acting on it. In a dream, there wouldn’t be gravity and the top would never stop spinning. I definitely think that since the top starts to wobble, it ends up falling. I think that the movie ended with Cobb being in the real world. I’m still trying to process what happened in the movie though. I feel like it wasn’t all one person’s dream, since at the end all of the other people had experienced it too. I think that Mal was convincing to Cobb since he wanted the reality with her to be real, and because he had been in so many dreams that he was getting mixed up. I was really confused when she stabbed him and what her motive for that was. I really need to watch this movie again and hopefully notice more details that help me piece it together in my mind.

    7. I think that it’s possible that Saito is a type of deity. Throughout the movie, I think that Saito is putting Cobb through trials. From dream to dream, he puts more and more challenges ahead of them. I think his goal is to see just how dedicated Cobb is to getting back to his children, and how much Cobb will believe in Saito. Cobb put all of his faith in the fact that he would accomplish something extremely hard for Saito, and that Saito would have the power to free him from his past. I understand that from dream to dream the pain was supposed to get worse, but the fact that he survived being shot near the heart, I think, shows some sort of greater power. Although time works differently in the dreams, I don’t think that a normal person would have survived it.

    Emily Prosyniuk

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  11. 1 + 2a I believe that Cobb is dreaming the whole time in which he is controlling everything within the limbo and mal is actually mal trying to wake up Cobb throughout the movie and sometimes portraying other characters as the forger did. Cobb explained that the truth that the one person knows is what determines if you are in someone else’s dream and since he knows the truth behind his totem it would behave like it normally would when he is in his dream. Most of the characters that minds he went into whilst they were dreaming had no effect on Mal because they were part of his subconscious that he was breaking into and he would know the layout if the world whether he realized it or not. This could possibly be a dream in the limbo would that he is having since the amount of time that occurs over a second increases. I think Mal’s attack on cob in the end was a last ditch shot of getting him back into the real world that she perceived, which the limbo was. Cobb didn’t realize that he dreamed that she died in order to hide the truth that he is within the limbo trying to get back to the real world but lost touch of everything. Saito was another character made up by Cobb to get rid of the figurative guilt he had for leaving his kids during the day. The year of exile was his punishment/limbo like with Catholicism until he was redeemed enough through that experience and a final challenge. Which was to break up a upcoming energy giant that would make the world a worse place. He also showed in the last moments that he rose to the challenge of isolation and grew from it, making him worthy of his kids.
    - chris alder

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  12. 1. In the end of the movie Mal’s projection makes the case that Cobb is actually lost in his own dream and has the realities confused; I think this could be a very plausible explanation or alternative truth to the movie. It makes sense because he spent so much time in limbo, how could he have so easily and simply woken up from it? And then going all the way to the very end of the movie, his kids haven’t changed and the top doesn’t fall. Also, since Cobb can’t really dream on his own any longer, it’s possible that everything happens in one of his induced dreams. At one point I believe Mal points out that there’s no way his reality could be so exciting and eventful, which additionally, is solid support for it.
    2b. I like the idea that everything after Yusuf’s test sedation is a dream, however, simultaneously, I don’t think it’s the answer. The fact that we never see the totem fall after the test sedation is something that really propels the idea in my mind- but then thinking about all the other things that happen post Cobb waking up, is what makes me believe it’s not true. The sedative was really powerful, but Yusuf intentionally only gave Cobb a small amount. I realize at this point you could argue that Cobb may have gotten more after he was already asleep or it’s really that strong, but there would be no point in that. I think if any part of it was to be a dream or not real, it would be the very end solution of the movie. All the parts leading up to Cobb and Saito in Limbo are real, however, the two of them waking up and everything working out- may have been dreamt by Cobb.

    Andrea K

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  13. 7. I can see the signs that indicate that Saito is more than just a man, but in my opinion he is just a man with immense power. All of the things he does can be explained in some way or another and even without him, Cobb would probably still be going on missions like he did for Saito. I think that Saito was just the instigator that the director put into the movie to get the ball rolling with the plot. I also think Saito changed the plot by being shot and going to limbo, which probably directly or indirectly led to Cobb deciding to shoot Mal to go save him.

    9. I think that there could very well be a prequel because there are so many questions that the movie raised but didn’t fully answer. One such question was the one that you pointed out about the development of the dreaming technology. I think that a prequel could involve the development of the technology and how it got into the hands of the extractors. Another idea could be just showing Mal and Cobb’s history in the dream world, like maybe their first extraction or something. Also, even though you don’t agree, I do see room for a sequel as well. I think that it could be about Ariadne’s exploits in the field of extraction and inception after the movie ends. I think that there also might be a sequel made with the same team again, just to make money, like they did with Taken 2 (It was exactly the same. They ruined it!!!!). They could also do a movie that was the same world, but a different team and a new plot, but still using the same dream technology that was used by Cobb and his team in the movie, Inception.

    William S.

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  14. Jessica Mooney
    1-19-12
    1st Philosophy
    Inception Blog
    1. I believe that Mal’s statement near the end of the movie that Cobb cannot tell one dream from another is a plausible alternative. I think it’s very possible that throughout the entire movie anyone could have mistaken a dream for reality. When Mal tries to convince Cobb to look at their kids faces and Cobb refuses, I think he doesn’t want to see their faces because he’s afraid he’ll believe Mal’s world is real. But I think it’s possible that he could have switched the two worlds and chooses to believe one is real and the other isn’t. Because this movie is so complex and twisted, it’s very possible that along the way, Cobb lost sight of reality and is mistaken.

    7. I believe Saito is just a very powerful and opportunistic businessman. When Saito realizes Cobb is manipulating Saito’s dream, he uses his knowledge as leverage over Cobb to help him get farther in his business affairs. When Saito offers to clear Cobb’s record and return him to his kids, Cobb takes the offer because that is what he wants most in life (next to having Mal back). Cobb believes it’s a risk worth taking and because Saito is a respected and successful businessman, Cobb hopes he will be a man of his word and follow through on his promise. When Saito washes up to shore after being in Limbo for a number of years, he is old and wrinkly because his experience was much different then Mal’s and Cobb’s. I think Mal and Cobb did not age in Limbo because they were in love and recreated memories and dreams. Saito was a lonely old man that probably did not enjoy Limbo like Mal and Cobb. Saito did not have a family or true happiness waiting for him to return home while Mal and Cob wanted to see their kids.

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  15. I personally think that it is not a plausible alternative that Cobb is lost in his own dream and can’t tell one reality from another. I think that at the end when it shows his totem that it is going to fall, therefore that tells us that he is not in a dream, and that he is in real life. Cobb just can’t seem to eliminate mal from his sub conscious, because he can’t let go of her. That is why she always appears in his dreams to sabotage the whole plan. I think that the biggest holes in the plot of the movie is the fact that the guy whose dream they incepted didn’t even put together that the other people on the plane with him were the people he saw in his dream. Maybe he wasn’t able to put two and two together I feel like that is a big problem in the plot because I would have been a little sketched out if I was him. Especially if I knew about dream extraction. I don’t think that shared dreaming is possible, but if it was that would be so much fun, you could just hangout with your friends and do absolutely crazy things without any consequences. When Cobb says to the girl, do you remember how we got here? And she doesn’t have an answer, she realizes she’s dreaming. That is very realistic because it is true that when you are in a dream you truly never realize how you got somewhere, you are just dropped into the situation basically. Overall I think that inception does a very good job of creating a fake thing (dream extraction) and making seem like it is possible in the real world.

    Chase

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