INCEPTION Discussion Thread (***Spoilers!!!***)

[Maglor]

Your mom takes this ____ way to seriously.

 

[CelticPredator]

Yeah....no.

 

[Maglor]

*My patience is being tested.*

 

[CelticPredator]

So is mine.

 

[Maglor]

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Cs4Gj7JsET4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[CelticPredator]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czP9WzO7z_w&feature=related

Leo explains it. 4:05.

 

[Maglor]

Explains what?

'There are these moments in life where you have to make the most of what you have. Cobb has to make a choice.'

What about it?

 

[CelticPredator]

That's the entire point of the movie.

 

[Maglor]

That's the entire point of the movie.

I would call that an oversimplification.

It certainly is part of Cobb's story, but it's not the whole story.

And what Leo said is wildly open to interpretation. It was on HBO special. It contains no spoilers and is't a give away for what is happening at the ending.

 

[CelticPredator]

Cobb doesnt appreciate what he has. He constantly lives in the past, in regret. And he finally lets go, and appreciates his situation.

 

[Maglor]

I agree.

 

[Devil_666]

Different kids were cast for the end with the intent of accurately telling the story. The kids would be 2 years older in the real world, therefore older kids needed to be cast for the end scene.

Actually no.

I'm gonna explain this using evidence from both inside and outside of the film since you've already blurred that line anyways.

One of the reasons Nolan casted two sets of kids is because it's the law. Little kids can only work in movies for like 4 hours a day. By law. So that's a normal practice and shouldn't be seen any differently. You know who the Olsen twins are, right? They were both on Full House and they both played the same character. "The Prestige" (another Nolan film) also used two different children to portray Borden's child as an infant. It's a routine and normal practice for movies with young children in them.

The easiest way to distinguish the kids is:

The older boy has longer hair that covers his ears and face and the older girl is taller and she also tucks back some of her hair over her ears.

Older Boy/Older Girl

Younger Boy (Shorter Hair/Ears Visible)

Younger Girl (Shorter)

But here's the problem: The kids that appear in the final scene of the movie that's supposed to be "reality" are the same exact kids seen in the earlier dream scene with Cobb, Ariadne and Mal.


Dream Sequence (2:01:28) Taller Girl

Dream Sequence (2:01:29) Boy with Long Hair (You can see it hangs down past his knee)

You can also see the girl tuck back her hair over her right ear as she kneels down.


Now compare the kids seen above which is a dream to the kids from the scene where Cobb runs the "Mr. Charles" scheme, which is also a dream:

They're not the same.


Now compare the kids from 2:01:28/2:01:29 which is a dream:

To the kids from the end which is supposed to be real:

They're the same.


So how is that possible? You stated that the older kids were simply used to show the age difference between the last time Cobb saw them. If so, then why do those same older kids appear in a dream sequence BEFORE we see them at the end?

 

[Maglor]

Thought you might try the child labor law argument...


People involved in the movie saw fit to draw attention to the fact that the kids and their clothes (shoes on the boy, white shirt on the girl) are different AT THE END OF THE MOVIE. I will not ignore that.

 

[Maglor]

I wont talk about the kids anymore. If you don't want to accept it as evidence, we'll "throw it out of court" so to speak.


I don't need it to make my points as I was convinced that the ending was real long before anyone came out with the info about the kids.

 

[Devil_666]

My question remains: Why do those same older kids appear in a dream sequence BEFORE we see them at the end?

 

[CelticPredator]

It's all a ploy to trick ya. Seriously. Nolan knew what he was doing. He made sure that no matter how hard you try, you will never find out the truth about the dream/not dream arguement.

Guy is a ____ing badass. Hurting people's heads like that.

 

[Deckard]

People involved in the movie saw fit to draw attention to the fact that the kids and their clothes (shoes on the boy, white shirt on the girl) are different AT THE END OF THE MOVIE. I will not ignore that.

However it is by that same token completely possibile that the first set of clothing simply didn't fit the older, larger kids and so the closest thing available in their sizes were used.

And it just does not account for them bouncing around in various dreams so lets not just "throw it out".

To me the stuff your saying is definitive is exactly what is proving it is not. The fact that all these things were edited in and that he wants to create so much doubt tells me that it's likely theres a good reason for that doubt. Why create any doubt at all if he simply gets back to them and it's a happy ending. Because it isn't. Any doubt ensures this.

And yet is a happy ending either way, because we aren't actually emotionally invested in the real children, we are in Cobb's memory of them, and so to me all that matters is his happiness. If in his mind/dream he gets to play with his kids, real or not, he does not care, so even if he's in a coma, he is getting what he wanted. Ignorance is bliss.

Sucks for the real kids, but again ultimately, we don't have much of an investment in them. But IMO there is a reason he is putting so much emphasis on Cobb "not caring anymore" and Nolan "choosing to believe".

 

[Devil_666]

Sucks for the real kids

It does, but it's not Cobb's fault so that's no blame on him for accepting the next best thing: a dream.

 

[Deckard]

Another thing is why doesn't Cobb care?

He just went through all that hell to see them. He pulled it off, he won, he did it, mission accomplished, so Saito makes a call and he's good, right?

So then even if he is asleep there in the kitchen, and the top keeps going, couldn't he just blow his brains out or something, like with Mal and wake up knowing for sure he can go see the real kids.

But like the guys in that basement, or like Mal or Saito at the end even, I think he's just lost a handle on reality and is afraid to find the whole thing was a dream, with no deal, and that if he doesn't just take that chance right there, he may never get another. Like the way he's offered the job and left them to begin with.

"they come here to be woken up, the dream has become their reality."

Cobb is scared, he still doesn't trust his own judgement and hasn't all along which is why he cannot build. Nothing has changed to reassure him even with Mal gone and the mission complete. And so his only real option to not live in fear is to just let go and embrace whatever kids those are as his reality.

 

[CelticPredator]

Cobb always questioned his reality, no matter if he knew it or not. He was too ____ed up from being in a dream for what seemed to him was 50 years.

So yes, Deckard is 10000000% correct. He takes fear out of the equation, and accepts his reality.