Analitical Essay

Jean P.
Lugo
Jadiel Lopez
Krina Malav
INST: Morales Carrero
INGL 3103-051-20
9 November 2015
Inception time and reality
Inception is a 2010 science fiction heist thriller film written, produced, and directed by
Christopher Nolan. This movie is based around dreams and the subconscious of the characters.
Throughout this film the concept of time and reality is seen many times consequently, to be able
to understand this motion picture one must know these key elements very well. In this essay we
will explain these concepts showing how they affected the main character Cobb and describe
what reality really is according to the director and what we perceive as it.
What is time? There are many approaches toward understanding the lapse of time. We
perceive it as past, present, and future. In physics it plays a major role in measurement of motion
and forces. This conecept is just a subjective. Some days it seems to go too slow or too fast but in
reality is just our perception towards how we see itself, for we all perceive it in a different way.
This brings us with the difference between the real world and the dream world In the movie
Inception one hour in dreams was equal to five minutes in the real world. Setting in the perfect
example that time is a merge concept of a measurement to be established.
Living in the past is when the present actions of a person is to change or forget an event
that has already happened. The danger of living in the past is that it can lead to depression. The
character that possesses this illness is the protagonist Cobb who is played by Leonardo DiCaprio.
The symptoms that Cobb shows are sadness and anxiety (Bluhm 780). This is evidenced by his
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conscience constantly reminding him of his children and wife; especially when he sees a
similarity between the present and a memory. Another effect from living on the past is wanting
to develop a closer relationship with loved ones (Bluhm 782), this is shown by Cobb
constructing levels of dreams from his memories so that he could still see his children and talk to
his wife. An emotionally unstable person will distract their mind with work and hubbies (Bluhm
782), as you can see, Cobb does this because he is the leader of the team, responsible for
contacting new members, and he is also responsible for obtaining the wanted information from
his victims. The last trait from living in the past is wanting to receive care and hope from a
specific person (Bluhm 782). Cobbs personal counselor is Ariadne, she is an architech student
and joins the team to design the dreams environments. She is the only person who has visited all
levels of Cobbs dreams and the only one who knows what actually happened to Mal. Resuming,
Cobbs reality is to change and make everything the way it was with his dead wife so that he
could no longer feel regret for her death, and get a chance to see his children once again.
Inceptions finale leaves the audience in suspense whether Cobb is in a dream or in reality.
In an interview with Christopher Nolan he was asked about the ending and he said He [Cobb]
didnt really care anymore, and that makes a statement: perhaps, all levels of reality are valid.
The camera moves over the spinning top just before it appears to be wobbling, it was cut to
black. The point is, objectively, it matters to the audience in absolute terms: even through
when Im watching, its fiction, a sort of virtual reality. But the question of whether that is a
dream or whether it is real is the question I have been asked most about any of the films I have
made. It matters to people because that is the point about reality. Reality matters. What we can
tell from this is that the concept of reality is different from each person, reality is what you want
it to be.
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In conclusion, both the concept of time and reality in this film are difficult to understand
but they have some clear points to bring out. Time in dreams is different from time in real life,
living on the past can create emotional issues to whoever lives this way. Everybody comprehends
events according to their own opinions and experiences. Reality is what we live every day in our
lives but in this film reality is whatever you want it to be, just as Cobb demonstrated in the finale
were he does not stay to see if the spinning top will fall or not he just wanted to live that reality
and did not care about the outcome of the spinning top.
Works cited
Bluhm, Robyn L., et al. ""I just have to Stick with it and it'll Work": Experiences of Adolescents
and Young Adults with Mental Health Concerns." Community mental health
journal 50.7 (2014): 778-86. ProQuest. Web. 3 Nov. 2015.
Inception. Dir. Christopher Nolan. Perf. Leonardo Dicaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page,
Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Michael Caine, and Marion Cotillard. Waner Bros,
2010. DVD.
Romano, Nick. Christopher Nolan Finally Tries To Explain Inception Ending, Still Talks In
Circles Cinemablend. June 01,2015. Web. 3 Nov. 2015.

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