The buzz around the ending of Inception has lessened lately so I thought this would be an opportune time to express my ideas about the film. The big argument that seems to be happening is whether or not Inception was entirely a dream or not. Everyone is using parts of the film to debate with each other and are continually struggling to bring others to their side. This debate I find inherently boring and in the end kind of useless.
When in an art gallery people discuss, not debate, their interpretations of an artist’s rendering. I feel the same mentality should be employed about the discussions around Inception.
To illustrate my point I would like to bring up Schrödinger's cat. Once in the box the cat is both alive and dead at the same time. Lost’s Damon Lindelof brought this concept to Inception by stating that the top continued to spin and stopped spinning after the credits rolled on the film. Now one element we can agree on is that the character of Cobb had accepted that realm as his reality, than Nolan moves the camera back to the top not for the characters sake but for the audiences. This allows us to deduce the ending of the film in any way that we wish. The entire film, which ended with the question of whether or not the top continued spinning, is Nolan placing an idea within the minds of every individual watching the film. People bring their own emotions and ideas into every picture they see and Nolan has filtered those emotions and ideas through Inception, placing the idea of questioning the reality of the world he had created.
The effect is people consistently debating the “reality” of the film attempting to legitimize their interpretations to others. This is where Schrödinger's cat becomes involved again. The countless opinions of what happened in Inception are all right and wrong. I would not attempt to even try to convince someone of my opinion of the films ending because that is my opinion of the films ending because that is my personal opinion and it is up to me to use that information and reflect upon myself about what my deductions mean. Can we discuss the ending of Inception? Of course, but I argue that we do not debate it. Everyone is right and everyone is wrong.
Some may say that this is an easy way to get around the flaws of the film. For example the inconsistent nature of the dream states or the several coincidences of the film can be used against it. But as I said this film is a piece of art just as all films are and should be handled as such. It just happens that Inception has brought these concepts to the forefront of our own consciousness’s creating this wonderful conversation.
I write this not to convince anyone that I am right but to say that Inception should be looked at with a different lens then most other films.
I one big argument I see against Inception is that the ending is just lazy and that any piece of evidence in the film can be used to prove any theory. Personally I feel this is the strength of the Inception and that the people invested in the film can have a completely unique stance on the plot of the movie. Therefore it should not be looked done on because of the questions it raises but admired for the concepts and ideas Inception presents.
