Inception

[katikat]

Gravity made me want to watch Inception again, for some obscure reason I decided not to question. And thus the movie was watched and enjoyed again.

You know why I love the movie so much? I couldn't care less about Cobb and Mal and Fisher and his issues and his eternal waterfall of tears. I love the movie for its excellent, groundbreaking, mind-blowing ideas. Dream-sharing. Dream levels. Dream security. Projections. Hidden secrets. Paradoxes. Mazes... It makes your imagination expand to previously unheard of levels.

Unfortunately, it's also where the movie's biggest plotholes are hidden. Like, every dream has to be anchored in someone's mind, the architect builds the dream in said mind and then they bring the subject in and he fills it with his secrets. So, level 1 was anchored by Yusuf. Level 2 by Arthur. And level 3 should have - should have! - been anchored by Eames. So, why/how did it work when Fisher took Eames' place and became the anchor for level 3? They shouldn't have been able to hear the music since it was Eames who had the headphones on, not Fisher, the anchor. Also, the whole level should've collapsed once Fisher died - but that can be excused, he didn't wake up, after all, he just dropped into Limbo. Still. The fact that they could exchange one anchor for another and it still worked... I mean, level 3 was specifically build for Eames - as Ariadne said, Eames added a secret route inside the hospital, just for himself. Was it enough that the level was build for him and thus the change of the anchor didn't matter? He was still the theoretical anchor and that was enough? Or was he actually the real one, the real anchor, Eames and not Fisher, and when Ariadne asked into whose mind they would be breaking and Dom responded that into Fisher's, he meant the vault, not the level itself? That would make sense, considering the headphones and Eames guarding the level...

I mean, until that point, it was all crystal clear. But with the level 3 anchor... Plothole or a misunderstanding? Are anchors necessary? They should be, why else would they have anchored the first level in the Saito dream in Nash's mind and the second one in Arthur's? And why else would the Fisher dream levels go Yusuf --> Arthur --> Fisher/Eames? And the second level was Arthur's - remember the Pemrose staircase? They can change only their own dream, not someone else's.

Also, I think that the ending was all in Cobb's head, that he didn't make it back. And not because of the spinning top - but because of the kick. As he said, they needed to ride the kicks up to get out. Cobb and Saito couldn't have killed themselves in Limbo, then in level 3, 2 and 1 - which would be brutal, but efficient... if not for the sedative. If they had killed themselves in Limbo, they would have landed back in Limbo. The sedative wouldn't have allowed them to wake up a level higher. Unless... unless dropping into Limbo basically "rebooted" them. Once they dropped there, they had no other place to go but up and the danger wasn't Limbo itself but forgetting why they were there. Hm... But yeah, I think Cobb and Saito never made it out. Or maybe Cobb never made it out of the PASIV den in Mombasa. Remember? He never let the top stop spinning when he checked his totem because Saito startled him. So, is he still stuck in his dream in the den in Mombasa? Or is he still stuck in Limbo?

Awesome brain exercise!

Comments

[kansouame]

Eames was the dreamer on level three. They lied to Fisher. Ariadne asked and Cobb told her that he just told him that. That's why Eames heard the music and why Arthur put the headphones on Eames in the elevator.

And my canon is that he did make it. You can see he (Cobb) is not wearing his wedding ring at the airport when he hands his passport over to security.

But everyone has their thoughts and ideas about Inception and that's one of the amazing and lovely things about it. It has so many possibilities inside.

[katikat]

I guess I was confused because they put Fisher under first and Ariadne asked into whose mind they would be breaking and Cobb said that into Fisher's. It really threw me because, wasn't that the goal the whole time? Why was she asking this? But if Eames is the dreamer on level 3, then it's all very clear. This was the only part that seemed "muddy" to me.

Another thing I loved was how the levels were distinguished by color. Yusuf's was grey, Arthur's brown and Eames' white. Nice!

I would really love to see the official canon background for Arthur and Eames. I mean, the way Arthur crawled ninja like over the walls in the rolling corridor... And Eames, the way he took care of the whole army of security guys in level 3 - that's not just a forger/thief. That's special ops skills!

[kansouame]

I saw a meta once that you might enjoy. It compared the dream levels to the dreamers. For instance. Yusuf's dream level had everyone in more casual clothes (Except Eames who for some reason is wearing Arthur's shirt that he has on on the plane) O_O But still, his suit is a little less tailored.

And in Arthur's dream everyone is in suits (including Ariadne) and Eames looks very nice but in Eames' dream (where sadly we don't get to see Arthur) Eames is fucking James Bond! But he thinks of himself younger, more confident looking and totally BAMF.

Side note- Arthur is the dreamer in the 1st dream of the movie and look how fucking well dressed everyone is then too!! Mal is hot!

They also talk about the colors and textures of the dreams, which you brought up. If I can find it, I will send you a link.

Don't even get me started on the whole concept of dreamshare. I just adore this movie.

[katikat]

I never noticed the thing with the shirt. Will have to re-watch the movie again and pay more attention. I think my favorite Eames attire is the one he has on in the last scene, all black. YUMMY!