MovieChat Forums > Inception (2010) Discussion > Was the whole movie Cobb's dream?

Was the whole movie Cobb's dream?

posted 8 years ago by shell_31
10 replies | jump to latest

I've been looking at Inception again after about not looking at it for a few years. It got me thinking...Could the whole movie be about Cobb getting over the death of his wife? Could everything else (the dreams within dreams, the inception job, etc.) just be Cobb's way of finally dealing with the death of Mal? His guilt over her death and leaving his children was so deep that it took an elaborate scheme that his subconscious came up with for him to finally come to terms with everything?

[–] realbullet 8 years ago

The script is written so as to give you this possibility, but I think it is ultimately rejected by the end of the film.

In other words, this is a movie with a storyline. If the storyline doesn't make sense, then the movie is not worthwhile. If the entire movie is a dream, then the story does not make sense (all the talk about catharsis and taking a leap of faith would ring false.)

👿 I know something you don't know ... I am ambidextrous!

[–] jdrubnitz 8 years ago

All the talk about catharsis and taking a leap of faith would ring false if we as the audience end up believing the very same thing that Cobb believed. The concept of a "leap of faith" can ring true in the context of a dream within a dream.

That being said, I do think it's plausible to propose it all could have been a dream. But we see that it isn't about Cobb trying to get over losing his wife. At the heart of is emotion is not "grief" or "missing Mal". At the heart of his emotion is "guilt" as he tells Mal in one of the last scenes.

One can feel guilty for something they aren't truly responsible for. One can feel guilty for doing something that did not actually take place. Cobb felt guilty for implanting an idea in Mal's mind, but that does not mean that the idea was implanted in reality.

[–] realbullet 8 years ago

Basically, I agree with all of this. The possible exception is that it is not about getting over his guilt -- it is about putting that guilt in context of the rest of his life.

The theme of the movie is about the power of an idea -- "An idea is like a virus, resilient, highly contagious. The smallest seed of an idea can grow. It can grow to define or destroy you."

Cobb's guilt was real. He planted the seed of an idea in Mal which ultimately lead to her death. They were being reckless with the dream technology the way that some people are reckless with alcohol or thrill seeking or gambling. For him, this idea came to define him -- it had infected him over every other part of his psyche.

Using the Jungian model of the psyche, Cobb had to probe to the deepest recesses of his unconscious mind so that he could identify the root cause of his emotional trauma. This is where he confesses that it is not his wife's death which had defined him --- it was his guilt over his role in his wife's death.

Only after he understands this root cause could he reach his catharsis. His guilt is not gone, but it no longer controls him. He can return home.

👿 I know something you don't know ... I am ambidextrous!

[–] alloneword950-948-598356 8 years ago

http://halphillips.tumblr.com/post/822919795/inception

[–] shell_31 8 years ago

Ok, I read it. I agree with about 80% of the theory...but the question is this: Do is have anything to do with Sharkado? (Sorry, DAMMMU SCIFI CHANNEL!!!!)

[–] criztu 8 years ago

I've been looking at Inception again after about not looking at it for a few years. It got me thinking...Could the whole movie be about Cobb getting over the death of his wife?

The whole movie is just a thought, a momentary doubt: what if my wife doesn't love me? The entire movie is the mind experiencing an unsettling succession of feelings originating from that initial thought, and regaining balance.

Observe the very first scene of the movie: Cobb is nearly drowning on the shore of a beach.

Later in the movie, Cobb talks to Ariadne about "we wound up on the shore of our own subconscious"
Then we see Ariadne and Cobb reaching the limbo by emerging from the ocean, on a beach.
The whole team fell into the river, in that van, from the bridge.

Engulfing water, is thus a metaphor for "diving into the unconscious".
The beach is the "place" where stuff is stored into the unconscious.

So, the very first scene of the movie, means "everything you see from here on, is imagined in the unconscious".

Now, take a look at the name Cobb. in English you have the word 'cob' - head, from Old English copp - top, head
Then take a look at the name Mal. in English, you have the word 'mal-' - evil, wrong, ill, forming words like 'malady', 'malaise', 'malfunction', 'malevolent'. from French. Marion Cotillard is French, and Mal's song is Je ne Regrete Rien - by Edith Piaf - French singer.
Later in the movie, Cobb spells it all out: You're just a shade. You're just a shade of my real wife.
Jungian psychology defines the Shade, as a collection of unpleasant impulses, hidden in the unconscious, because they would destabilize us if we'd be aware of them at all times.

Mal inside Cobb, is thus a metaphor for "unpleasant thoughts hidden in the unconscious".

So, Mal is not the subject's real wife (what fcvked up name is that?!), but "unpleasant thoughts towards his wife".

The whole movie is a destabilizing thought experienced by the subject, that he shakes back into oblivion; subject then proceeds to the kitchen with his kids, as their mom - his wife, called them to eat. He is restored to balance.

[–] kristenpaul98 8 years ago

Go ask Christopher Nolan this bs

[–] RagLagertha 8 years ago

Basic physics should mean he wasnt dreaming in the endscene; though we don't see the totem toppling over at the end we do see it shifting a bit on it's horizontal axis, swaying from side to side. If you ve had something like that as a kid, you know that once it isn't spinning exactly straight anymore it won't take long for it to topple over.

Ofcourse since it was a movie where psysics wasn't their main concern, (to put it mildly ;) ) we can't be completely sure that Nolan missed that basic fact himself, but I doubt he didn't already know from his own childhood, seeing his age.

Which ultimately means that was his last hint to show the viewers Cobb made it out and got reunited with his kids.

"Cake or death?" ehmm, cake please

[–] beth-243 8 years ago

I think Nolan used the top totem to make the end ambiguous. You're right, there was a tiny wobble in the last few seconds -- but if you look at the top when Cobb first starts it spinning, it's circling around on the table. Then Cobb gathers up the kids and goes out with them, and when the camera cuts back to the top, it's more stable than it was before. Curtain.

I take the timing of that final cut to mean it doesn't *matter* whether Cobb's dreaming. You could say he had two goals: to get back to his children (his explicit goal) and to resolve his issues around Mal's death (his implicit goal). By the time he spins the top at the end, he's achieved both goals. We don't need to know whether the top falls over or goes on spinning forever. (But if it keeps spinning, it will get boring really soon, which is as good a reason as any to end the scene.)

[–] RyanEvo9 8 years ago

Cobb saw his kids in the real world at the end.
The entire film was about him trying to see his kids again, all the effort everyone goes through would be pointless if he just gives up and lives in a dream at the end of it all. I don't like that.

Plus, the totem never wobbles whenever he's dreaming. It always spins perfect. Which is further proof he made it.
There's also the wedding ring theory too, if you've heard about that??

By the beard of Zeus!