4 possibilities:
1) Cobb firmly believes he is in reality and is correct.
2) Cobb firmly believes he is in reality and is INcorrect.
3) Cobb is unsure whether he is dreaming, and doesn’t care either way. He’s just happy that he can finally see his kids.
4) The whole movie was a dream, there is no such thing as shared dreaming, and tops spinning is a red herring.
Let me just say that I am dismissing option #4 out of hand. That argument could be made about every movie ever made.
Option #2 would be a crushingly depressing ending because it would mean that Cobb returns to find the top still spinning, meaning that he was wrong. This is not real, these are not my kids, and all that swelling beautiful music was a load of crap!
Option #3 feels totally counterintuitive to me. Say he spun the top and then thought: "You know, I’m just glad I’m here. Regardless of the truth, I accept this as my reality.” The logical thing for him to do would be to stop the top from spinning. Even better, he could stop it from spinning and then hide it away like his wife had done in limbo.
For me Option #1 is the only one that makes sense.
He spins the top because it’s a deeply ingrained habit. For years he has doubted that reality is reality. As my old posts say, this is related to the guilt he feels for his wife’s death. Now that he has forgiven himself, letting go of guilt, the doubt has also fallen away. When he sees his children turn and call for him he realizes this completely. He no longer cares about entertaining his old doubts and habits. He abandons those old doubts so completely that he doesn’t even need to wait to see if the top falls. His kids are more important, so he goes to them. Later he returns to make his children peanut butter sandwiches, and there it lies on its side just as he knew it would be.
Actually no.
This point is often missed, and it's important.
Your totem only tells you if you're in someone else's dream.
Dom states this to Juno (forget her name lol). He doesn't say totem's help a person tell if they're in reality or if they're dreaming. He clearly states that the purpose of a totem is to help a person tell if they're in the real world or if they're in
someone else's dream.
Every single dream sequence in the film (minus the ending scene) where Dom uses the totem and it spins indefinitely is a shared dream i.e. not Dom's individual dream.
You never see an individual dream and see a person using their totem in their own dream so there's no basis to declare that totem's act the same in your own dream like they do when you're in someone else's dream.
So the only proof of their use is stated by Dom. And again, he clearly states that the purpose of a totem is to help a person tell if they're in the real world or if they're in
someone else's dream.
So for your Option #2, if it's Dom's dream the top WOULD stop spinning and fall over. But that is NOT proof that he's in the real world. It's only proof that Dom isn't in someone else's dream. That's it. And I believe he isn't. I believe he's in his
own dream, of his
own creation.
It's mentioned numerous times throughout the film that Dom was once a great architect (both in real life and in dreams) and capable of creating vast landscapes. And you can even see evidence of his work i.e. creating huge amounts of architecture from memory (real places) for Mal to inhabit. The reason he stopped is because of his subconscious projection of Mal. After the last scene between the two, when he finally forgives himself and lets her memory go it would be perfectly logical that he would then regain that ability to recreate the airplane, to recreate (or even just create) an airport and to recreate his home which we see in the film he's already done before.
Now about his wedding ring.
The theory is every scene we see Dom wearing a wedding ring is a dream and every scene when he's not wearing one is the real world.
Two things.
1. This actually isn't true, because in the scenes that are supposed to be flashbacks we see Dom wearing his ring. So are those moments from dreams as well!? Just saying.
2. People who use this theory point out that Dom isn't wearing his wedding ring in the final scenes of the movie i.e. that's proof that the final scenes are indeed in the real world.
And actually that's not true.
His "wedding ring" isn't real. It's a projection of his subconscious in dreams. And that's because in his dreams, subconsciously he's still holding onto Mal. Like a prisoner. When he finally let's her go and clears his conscious/subconscious of his memory of her that projection of his wedding ring is no longer necessary.
It's interesting to note, in the "beginning scene" which is actually the second to last sequence, when Dom is sitting at the table eating with Saito there's two clear and deliberate shots of his hand with the wedding ring. Yet, from the time Saito reminds Cob of who he is and why he's there you never see another shot of his wedding ring. Because IMO, once he becomes aware of who he is and is no longer amnesiac (I guess that would be a good description) his projection of wedding ring would disappear since he no longer needs it in his dreams.
Now about his kids.
The main points I see regarding the kids are their clothing, their age and the fact that Dom only sees their faces at the end. So that must mean it's real.
I disagree.
Their clothing is irrelevant. We see Mal (whose part of Dom's subconscious) throughout the film in different clothing. So whether or not the kids at the end are wearing the same clothes, similar clothes or even completely different clothes is irrelevant.
Their age is also irrelevant because they look almost exactly the same. And like I said before, without info outside of the movie it would be impossible for anyone to prove within the realm of the movie differently. Because there is no definitive proof.
Lastly their faces. This is interesting because at one point (while in a dream) Mal calls to their daughter and right when she's about to turn
Cobb turns away and puts his hands over his face in shame. IMO this is because it's Cobb who can't face his children since he feels guilty and blames himself for the mother of his children being dead. It's not because he can't imagine/remember his kids faces. As a father myself it doesn't matter if the last time I saw my son he was facing away from me, whether in a dream or awake and just in my imagination I could easily remember and picture his face clearly. Even years after the fact. The reason Cobb never sees his kids faces in dreams is because he can't bear to look them in the eyes. But AFTER he forgives himself and lets Mal go, then and only then can he face them.
And the ending might seem happy with his kids and being free but it goes back to what Cobb said earlier in the film when the team is preparing for Fischer Jr.s Inception about positive emotion and that we all learn through reconciliation, for catharsis.
Well what happens at the end of the film? He confesses to Mal (actually himself) about planting the idea that eventually lead to her death and he finally makes peace with himself/cleanses his soul. He meets up with Saito in limbo and again when he "wakes up". His stateside troubles disappear once and for all. And finally he sees his children again. ALL examples of positive emotion, reconciliation & catharsis.
Sorry for the essay.
)
