vote on Inception's ending (spoilers obviously)

[Temis the Vorta]

Nobody already started this poll? Okay, I will.

So, what dya think happened in the end? I'll give you an Other option in case anyone has alternative theories other than the obvious,

My take is this: since Moll had a "magic" top that would tell her whether she was in a dream, her assessment of whether she was in a dream or not must have been accurate (assuming the movie is playing fair with the "rule" about the top) and if she thought she was still in a dream, I say she was right. At some point after she "woke up," she spun the top and it didn't stop on its own, leading to only one sensible conclusion: jump off a ledge (and frame your stupid pigheaded husband for your murder so he'll kill himself or at the very least, be executed).

Dom putting the idea in her mind that she's in a dream isn't what caused her to kill herself. Just because you have an idea, regardless of where it comes from, you can always change your mind. Inception isn't mind control and it doesn't destroy free will.

Okay, let's hear from the peanut gallery!

 

[Skywalker]

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Cue Senator Vreenak...

 

[SG-17]

I believe that the entire film was a dream, none of it took place in reality.

 

[Trippy]

^ah, but the top fell over a few times to let us know when it was 'reality'

I voted reality. The top was slowing down just before it faded to black.

Plus, he actually saw his kid's faces

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I believe that the entire film was a dream, none of it took place in reality.

But you voted for reality!

 

[Mr Light]

Reality. That top was wobbling dammit. Also, if it ISN'T reality the entire movie is a cheat/waste.

 

[RoJoHen]

At some point after she "woke up," she spun the top and it didn't stop on its own, leading to only one sensible conclusion: jump off a ledge (and frame your stupid pigheaded husband for your murder so he'll kill himself or at the very least, be executed).

But Cobb stole the top and locked it away! That was the whole point. Subconsciously, her magic top would NEVER stop spinning, so she would always think that she was in a dream whether or not that was true.

I want to believe that it was real. Otherwise, the whole movie is just about a guy taking a nap, and none of it matters.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

If she was in a dream, she could have conjured another top in her pocket (or "found" it there if she was still thinking it was reality).

And why did he lock the top away? Did he know it was all a dream and was trying to hide it? There's really no reason to hide the top unless he knew she was right after all...

Subconsciously, her magic top would NEVER stop spinning, so she would always think that she was in a dream whether or not that was true.

Only if inception were a form of mind control that could alter a person's perception of reality and override their normal senses. I never got the sense that it was presented that way. And if that's what inception means, then objective reality has become meaningless. Dom could have had inception planted in his own brain by someone else (I was waiting for Arthur to be revealed as some kind of nefarious guy), and not be aware of it, and that's the end of him being able to tell reality from dreams.

Otherwise, the whole movie is just about a guy taking a nap, and none of it matters.

Maybe that is the point: that it doesn't matter. In fact, that's the interpretation that allows the ending to be something other than a silly joke. It's not "we didn't show you the end because we couldn't figure out a real ending to this movie," but rather, "we didn't show you the end because the characters can't tell the difference anyway."

So even if the top fell over, it could still be a dream. And in fact, if you're going to end the movie with the top "wobbling," then why no go all the way and show it falling over? If you're not going to show it falling over, why have it start to wobble? I think it's because it didn't matter either way.

 

[Trekker4747]

Nobody already started this poll? Okay, I will.

So, what dya think happened in the end? I'll give you an Other option in case anyone has alternative theories other than the obvious,

My take is this: since Moll had a "magic" top that would tell her whether she was in a dream, her assessment of whether she was in a dream or not must have been accurate (assuming the movie is playing fair with the "rule" about the top) and if she thought she was still in a dream, I say she was right. At some point after she "woke up," she spun the top and it didn't stop on its own, leading to only one sensible conclusion: jump off a ledge (and frame your stupid pigheaded husband for your murder so he'll kill himself or at the very least, be executed).

Dom putting the idea in her mind that she's in a dream isn't what caused her to kill herself. Just because you have an idea, regardless of where it comes from, you can always change your mind. Inception isn't mind control and it doesn't destroy free will.

Okay, let's hear from the peanut gallery!

So.... your interpretation of the ending is based on something in the movie that never occurred and was never even hinted as possibly having occurred. .... Interesting.

How I voted: Real.

For starters after seeing the movie twice the top was definetly begining to develop a favor in its spin and on the verge of failing. By the movie's own rules this means he was back in the real world.

Secondly, if it was still a dream seems like it'd be a "long" one considering quite some time has passed between Mal's death (I've no idea who this "Moll" is there was no such character character in the movie) and the events of the movie. And considering the "levels" of the dream world seemed to follow what Leo knew they were it seems silly that he'd be dreaming and not know it simply by the fact that Limbo is where it is "supposed to be" four levels into dreaming.

Thirdly, it being a dream sort-of makes the whole movie pointless. The whole driving thing in the movie was Leo's need to clear his name to be able to get back into America so he can see his kids again because he couldn't see them in his dreams. So it seems dumb for the whole movie to be a dream and sad for it to be a dream for him to get to see his kids again. Would you be satisfied getting to see your kids again in a dream? That wasn't enough for Leo so if the ending is a dream it's a pretty lame shot in the balls for Leo's character.

And to clarify, I'll ammend it by saying "He was back in the real world as much as he always thought he was his entire life/during the entire "real world" portions of the movie." Becuase it's "possible" that his idea of the "real world" isn't the real world.

If she was in a dream, she could have conjured another top in her pocket (or "found" it there if she was still thinking it was reality).

And why did he lock the top away? Did he know it was all a dream and was trying to hide it? There's really no reason to hide the top unless he knew she was right after all...

Mal hid the top in the safe fallen over. This put the idea in her head that where she was living was "reality" for her and Limbo and the ages they spent there became her "reality." Her and Leo both seemed to be pioneers or "specially unique" to this dream contraption so she likely knew that laying the top in the safe of her old house would make her treat this world as her reality.

Only if inception were a form of mind control that could alter a person's perception of reality and override their normal senses.

Were you in the bathroom at some point in the movie? Leo tells Wantabe's character before he fully commits to the job that what they plant in subject's mind will define them and become what they are all about until they've accomplished that implantation's goal. By spinning that top in the safe he defined his wife. He not only made her realize that Limbo was a "dream" and made her want out he defined her in the "real world" as well.

If you're not going to show it falling over, why have it start to wobble? I think it's because it didn't matter either way.

This is a tough one as I agree. It's possible he is saying "it doesn't matter" which is a lame thing to say because it does matter. He gets to see his kids which is the only thing in the world he wanted to do I think, as a father, that'd really matter to him big time. Why show it starting to fall and not going all of the way? Because you may not need to and to cause this kind of discussion to get people asking these kinds of questions and to put this doubt in their mind sort of like the blinging white light at the end of Total Recall it leaves enough room of "doubt" open to get people thinking or debating what the ending means. If we saw the top topple over then that'd leave no doubt in anyone's mind as by the movie's own rules Leo was back in the real world. Cut the movie off just as the top is begining to fail and you pose a zillion questions in people's minds.

 

[RoJoHen]

If she was in a dream, she could have conjured another top in her pocket (or "found" it there if she was still thinking it was reality).

And why did he lock the top away? Did he know it was all a dream and was trying to hide it? There's really no reason to hide the top unless he knew she was right after all...

He did know it was a dream, but she had forgotten. So he took the top and buried it in a deeper level of her subconscious so she would be convinced to kill herself and return to the real world. Unfortunately, that idea was buried so deep that it persisted even when she woke up. That's the whole point of inception.

Plus, I don't think the totem is something you can simply conjure at will. It serves as a reminder that you're in a dream, but you can't just make it appear at will.

Otherwise, the whole movie is just about a guy taking a nap, and none of it matters.

Maybe that is the point: that it doesn't matter. In fact, that's the interpretation that allows the ending to be something other than a silly joke. It's not "we didn't show you the end because we couldn't figure out a real ending to this movie," but rather, "we didn't show you the end because the characters can't tell the difference anyway."

I never got the sense that writers "couldn't figure it out." I agree that you're right, that maybe it doesn't matter. It was more about a person accepting their life and the choices they've made and being able to continue living. Whether or not the ending was real, it showed that Cobb was finally able to get over his guilt.

So even if the top fell over, it could still be a dream. And in fact, if you're going to end the movie with the top "wobbling," then why no go all the way and show it falling over? If you're not going to show it falling over, why have it start to wobble? I think it's because it didn't matter either way.

I think this is pretty obvious. He didn't show it falling over because Chris Nolan is mean!

 

[T'Baio]

...between Mal's death (I've no idea who this "Moll" is there was no such character character in the movie)...

I think we can forgive that, can't we? They did pronounce it "Moll" in the film, regardless of what its spelling was.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Plus, I don't think the totem is something you can simply conjure at will. It serves as a reminder that you're in a dream, but you can't just make it appear at will.

If they were always in a dream throughout the entire movie, then the totems they made were made within a dream as well.

There's no externally valid way to distinguish whether anything that happened was a dream or reality. Who's to say that everything Dom experienced wasn't inception planted by somebody else? E

Either the ending was a joke and Nolan is mean (which he probably is ) or that's the true point of the movie. The ending does give it away. It's a reality or a dream depending solely on what you want it to be.

 

[Trekker4747]

...between Mal's death (I've no idea who this "Moll" is there was no such character character in the movie)...

I think we can forgive that, can't we? They did pronounce it "Moll" in the film, regardless of what its spelling was.

Right. You know, I really like that Star Trek series with the captain named John Luke Pucard.

 

[RoJoHen]

It's just a character in a movie. People shouldn't be required to imdb everything just so they can get the spelling right.

 

[Skywalker]

I really feel that people who believe it was all a dream are just overthinking it.

 

[Trekker4747]

It's just a character in a movie. People shouldn't be required to imdb everything just so they can get the spelling right.

Or, you know, read the credits.

 

[Gepard]

I voted dream, not because I like that interpretation or think it was necessary for the story, but because Cobb's children hadn't changed a bit from his memory earlier in the film. Yeah, I know it could be symbolic or simplified for audience understanding, but children that young grow up fast, and we know he'd been on the run for some considerable length of time (long enough to get a string of jobs extracting, and to establish a reputation for himself doing so). I find it implausible to the point of absurdity for him to return home in reality and find his children looking, dressing and acting exactly the same as the last moment he saw them. Plus that top was spinning for an awfully long time...

 

[RoJoHen]

It's just a character in a movie. People shouldn't be required to imdb everything just so they can get the spelling right.

Or, you know, read the credits.

Do you read all the credits of every movie you see? When the credits start, I get up and leave the theater.

 

[RoJoHen]

I voted dream, not because I like that interpretation or think it was necessary for the story, but because Cobb's children hadn't changed a bit from his memory earlier in the film. Yeah, I know it could be symbolic or simplified for audience understanding, but children that young grow up fast, and we know he'd been on the run for some considerable length of time (long enough to get a string of jobs extracting, and to establish a reputation for himself doing so). I find it implausible to the point of absurdity for him to return home in reality and find his children looking, dressing and acting exactly the same as the last moment he saw them. Plus that top was spinning for an awfully long time...

I thought someone here said that there were actually two sets of children hired to play Cobb's kids. This is something I'd really need to watch again just to compare. Kids do grow up fast, but how much time had actually passed since the last time he saw them?