Gris, your explanation was the one I thought of after I posted my comment, and I also thought that Arthur should have woken up. So I don't know.
As for your other one, Mal and the kids are both Cobb's projections, so I don't see the inconsistency.
This here's a recipe for unpleasantness.
Mal ,'Objects In Space'
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Polter-Cow - Jul 19, 2010 6:17:46 am PDT #9994 of 30000
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
Gris - Jul 19, 2010 6:29:28 am PDT #9995 of 30000
Hey. New board.
The FIRST time they were in limbo, though, they were completely alone for fifty years.
Bidunno. I'm pretty much with Jon B right now - guidelines only!
Also, if the whole movie is actually all one big Cobb dream, then whatever.
Jon B. - Jul 19, 2010 6:49:59 am PDT #9996 of 30000
A turkey in every toilet -- only in America!
I haven't read this yet, but it looks pretty good. Spoilers for the movie, obviously: Inception’s Dileep Rao Answers All Your Questions About Inception
Polter-Cow - Jul 19, 2010 6:52:49 am PDT #9997 of 30000
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
Gris, I don't subscribe to that theory at all. If so, why did the top fall several times in the course of the movie to confirm that he WASN'T in a dream? Oh, because everything was lies and bullshit, of course. No, the only IT WAS ALL A DREAM theory I'm willing to entertain is the more obvious one in the last five minutes. But I'm not actually willing because THE TOP FUCKING FELL GODDAMMIT.
Jessica - Jul 19, 2010 7:02:53 am PDT #9998 of 30000
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
But the only reason we believe the top has any significance at all is because Cobb says it does. And if he's not a reliable narrator, then the top reality-test is just one more lie he's telling himself.
Jon B. - Jul 19, 2010 7:03:36 am PDT #9999 of 30000
A turkey in every toilet -- only in America!
PC: FWIW, Rao (who has spicy brains) agrees with you.
Jon B. - Jul 19, 2010 7:03:45 am PDT #10000 of 30000
A turkey in every toilet -- only in America!
10K!
Polter-Cow - Jul 19, 2010 7:11:47 am PDT #10001 of 30000
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
I like this Rao character! I don't remember him in Avatar, but I did like him in Drag Me to Hell.
And, Jessica, I agree with you that if it's all a dream, the top-signifier doesn't mean anything. But I don't see enough evidence that the WHOLE thing was a dream. Like Rao says, in that viewing, we never see the real Cobb, the actual reality, the final layer. There aren't any hints that the reality layer in the film is a dream, as far as I can tell. Besides the very on-the-nose names. Also, if the other characters are just projections, how do they go deeper into the dream layers with him? You basically don't have to believe anything said in the movie at ALL if it's all a dream. Personally, I don't find that interpretation satisfying. But if people do, that's cool, and it's to Nolan's credit that he made a movie where IT'S ALL A DREAM does work. (Also, ha, if the top-signifier doesn't mean anything, that final shot is meaningless and signifies nothing! You can't have it both ways!)
Jessica - Jul 19, 2010 7:12:40 am PDT #10002 of 30000
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
Um, I just got to this part in that article:
It's like people who are convinced 9/11 is an inside job.
And you know what, fuck him. Speculating about psychological levels of reality in a movie that's about psychological levels of reality is like being a 9/11 truther? I'm calling this interview Godwin'ed and ignoring it.
Jessica - Jul 19, 2010 7:15:23 am PDT #10003 of 30000
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
For me, if it's NOT all a dream, then it's an unbelievably boring heist movie. I can't accept that the Fischer storyline really is what it's presented as, because the resolution is just too stupid for that.
OTOH, I felt the same way about A Beautiful Mind and the last season's premiere of House, and both of those turned out to take place in reality, so....