On April 25, as a “comment,” post your response to Inception. Make your response a thoughtful two, to four, paragraphs. Make in-depth comments (of at least three sentences) on at least three other entries from this class before April 27.
In the cover note section, in your “collaboration” page, note whose responses you replied to for Inception blogging. If you have not done so, also note whose responses you replied to for your previous blogging.
anne f walker 
The movie is a riddle which a bit difficult to figure out. The main theme of the movie is borrowed from Hindu philosophy that the world as we see it is an illusion or a dream. The gods/super beings/we are dreaming our reality. When we die we will wake up and discover our reality. Similarly in this movie when we die in our dream we wake up to our reality. I’ve seen this movie couple times to understand its complexity and to figure it out completely I have read several internet blogs as well.
The entire idea behind can be categorized into 3 parts. The reality, the dream and sub dream. The differentiation is beautifully explained before the interval. Now the inception can be done at sub dream level. It grows into dream and finally becomes reality. The time difference is 10 times as you can still see the van still in free falling state after every ten minutes. The ten hours flight is inception time frame. The implementation is done through a maze framework. It’s creative. You will get to know only after watching it twice.
When I was young while a movie where taking places the question was: What is the Matrix? Now it is: What is the most resilient parasite? If there is a movie that could outscore the concept of Matrix, it is undoubtedly Inception. Hats off to entire crew of this movie really thought provoking
I agree, that the whole movie was a riddle like story. I had no idea, that the theme of the movie was also borrowed from a Hindu philosophy which I found very interesting in your blogging. I also really like how you categorized the whole movie into three parts, that really correlate to the movie.
I like how you did research on the movie. It gives the reader another view of how the movie came to be. At first, I was confused with the whole 3 parts: the reality, the dream, and sub dream. Now it all makes sense.
I found it very interesting that you made the connection from Inception to the Hindu philosophy. I never knew that the movie was so complex and deep on many different levels. I also like how you did research on the film; I never knew that it was categorized in that way.
I think thats so interesting that it’s borrowed from Hindu philosophy, it’s a really cool concept for a film. I’m sure if I watch it once or twice more it will be more comprehensible. I thought of the matrix too, inception is a similar genre, a psychological thriller. The film was indeed very thought provoking
I really liked your outside researched. In addition I found it very interesting what you said about when we die we will wake up and discover our reality because this is an arching idea of the film. Also I agree the entire crew of the movie did a amazing job.
That’s a very intriguing point you make about how all life is but a dream, and we can only truly discover our reality when we wake up. You are totally right in that the film is highly complex, and can be more easily understood when viewed twice. I also agree in that the film is really thought provoking, and it kind of puts you in a hypnotic state towards the end.
Inception is a great movie that leaves you questioning the real world as we know it. The film takes us through various stages of dreams, which is the dream itself, the sub dream and another dream within that one. It shows us the complexity of planting an idea into someone else’s mind through their dreams. Leaving the idea of planting one inside someone else’s mind, there is a risk while doing so. One can get so lost into the dream that soon we forget reality and our dreams become reality. And when we do come back to reality we think that it’s our dream as we have been dreaming for a long time. The film takes a new angle than what we have seen before which is good because it leaves us thinking.
In my opinion, this just illustrates how guarded our minds are from outside information coming in and changing who we are. Learning is an everyday thing but opinions and criticism is another concept that some may not take lightly. Comparing this to what we have done in class, are writing assignments have been somewhat different than the ones we are used to. In this class we can let our creativity run as much as we can while still keeping it to the standards in writing. I’m not saying we get lost in our writing but this may be the case with the students whole love writing and plan to pursue it as a career.
I agree, that the movie leaves the viewer to question as to if we actually genuinely know it ourselves. I like how you also explain how the movie is depicted. Also, I really liked how you explained that some of us can be lost in a dream, which does not enable us to react to reality anymore. Moreover, the importance of knowing the difference between reality and a dream.
Inception does make one really question the world and how it functions. For me, sometime I mess my dreams up for memories and vice versa. It has been such a long time, it seems as if it was a dream. I agree that sometime dreams does become reality for some.
I agree, Inception definitely left my thinking especially the ending: Is he still in a dream or in reality? I really like how you made the comparison of the the film and writing. I feel that some of the most creative and thoughtful work is produced when you truly let yourself get lost in it.
I agree he film showed that one could get lost in a dream and think that is reality; and when one comes to reality we realize it is merely a dream. I remember when that use to happen to me when I would dream. How amazing it would be instead of thinking we are in real life; we realize we are in a dream and can control that dream.
As I watched the movie it showed me a different perspective of looking at our thoughts because it is hard to look at thought just simply. Looking into the deeper meanings of thought to see an better description of what we are trying to show. It also makes me think about what else we can take a deeper look into. The way that we translate our ideas onto paper and have it mean exactly what we think is hard. Yet draft after draft we still cannot seem to find the right way to put our thoughts onto paper, which can make many writers want to throw a good idea into a trash can. Our ideas translate into detail and how we use our vocabulary to let our audience imagine what we are trying to describe. That is why most of the books that I believe that we have read in the class is to let us imagine and translate the text into our understanding. Inception is a movie that always keeps you wondering like a book so you end up wanting to know what happens, like “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” by Truman Capote at the end we wonder what happens at the end, “Where is Holly now?” That is our generations translation of a book that has you wondering what is going to happen and is a very big conversation starter. This just shows how far our ideas can be put in motion and have a translation that is possible to be made. It seems more interesting now that I see it this way because it makes me wonder how far is our, not only movie business, but society is going to put our ideas and show the public. To have the public not to take it in the wrong way because that is usually something we do not want to see. The idea of translation of ideas from mind to paper to movie has gotten the attention of many audiences. We always look out for what stands out and the idea of a dream within a dream is something we are interested in seeing.
I can concur that the movie did also present a different perspective on looking at our dreams and reality. In such a way that shows how one can be totally lost in a dream, while others live their lives in reality. I really liked how you incorporated our assignments and books that we have read in the blogging. Overall, I can agree that our generation today have a different perspective on life.
I agree about writing what we are thinking but it not be the same as what we wrote because they never sound the same. That is a good thought about the books and movie keeping us wondering what happens, but what is the creators wanted us to make our own ending? I am definitely interested in the idea of a dream within a dream.
Our generation like to make lots of changes. We are always curious what is going to happen next that’s is why people generate and translate the ending to be more interesting. I like how you made a connection Inception with ending of Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
The film inception was very interesting, in that it required analysis to understand. I think it’s one of those films that you have to watch many times to grasp the entire concept that the director wished to convey. I went on youtube and watched a video of the ending in addition to the film because it clarified a few concepts like whether or not the ending was reality or a dream. The movie was great especially since the very handsome Leonardo Decaprio was the lead; he made the movie more exciting to watch. When Cobb is found washed up on the beach and the men take him away and tell the old man he only had a pistol and a brass top, from that point on it is obvious that the top has some significance, and it did. It was on the table at the very last second of the film. When Cobb and Arthur are conversing with Saito about being hired for the protection of his mental secrets, Saito is very suspicious. This is apparent when he looks at the safe. At this point in the film, it is a bit unclear if Cobb is a villain or heroin. Then it is made clear that Cobb and Arthur are actually there to perform an extraction on him. The film was a bit confusing, but I find psychological thrillers very interesting. There were parts where we didn’t know what was reality, and what was a dream such as when Cobb returns to the room to steal from the safe, but the scene cuts to the men sleeping in a different room. The way that they can die in the dreams like by gunshot, and simply wakeup, leads me to question the deep psychological meaning of dreams. This is a really interesting concept to put in a film, something that evokes thought. The way in which Arthur and Cobb failed their “job audition” makes me wonder if what they are doing (going into people’s dreams) will be ever possible sometime in the future of mankind. The spinning top makes another appearance when Cobb is about to shoot himself, but is testing to see if he is in reality or a dream. In all of these dreams there are three subcategories. I thought the transitions between the three were really cool, such as when the van was freefalling so the people in the hotel experienced weightlessness. When Cobb saw his kids, I was waiting in anticipation to see if the top would fall or not but it was not shown, it looked like it was about to, but then the credits rolled. This exhibited that the top wasn’t a part of Cobb’s life anymore because he didn’t need it to validate a moment’s significance.
I agree that the film did show parts where the audience did not know what reality was. Also I think perhaps going into people’s dreams will be possible in the future, however; this is a scary concept. In addition I agree whether or not the top falls or not Cobb’s feels his life is restored.
I felt the same way to, in order to understand the concepts completely this movie must be watched several times. Also some of the parts of the movie had me on lots questions. Like you said the freefalling van and the imagination of whole movie itself was amazing.
I agree that we could not notice certain parts as reality and to see that our dreams could blend into our reality. We have to see the change and notice that this is just a translation of an idea that we had. I thought it was also interesting to see how it can effect lives of people.
I would like to first state that this movie was genius. I loved it from the beginning to the end. It left me always questioning if the object in the end fell or not in order to assume if he is stuck in inception or if he is really in reality. The movie gave me knowledge in the perspective of how we are to view our lives, and how we deal with them. It also led me to question if this is capable, to have a dream within a dream within a dream. It is pretty impressive to have come up with this idea for a movie. Nonetheless, an enjoyment to watch. Especially the characters were well picked and the movie overall, led me to realize that wondering, questioning, thinking, and plotting is never enough. It is something to be taken in with positive attitude and encouraged. This movie compared to the works that we have done in class have somewhat of similarities. That the thinking process and generating it into an idea, and how to think outside of the box and sometimes imagining is encouraged. That is where creativity comes in, how we were able to depict meanings that mean one thing to us and yet have other peers agree or disagree with their perspective. It was overall, a very pleasant day and an assignment to do. The connections were somewhat similar to our works, and overall I enjoyed it a lot.
At the end, I thought that he made it to reality but as a twist, he was stuck in one’s of his dreams. He was not able to escape his dream. He was not able to move on and held on the memories of his wife; therefore, it caused him his life without being able to see his real children.
The movie was genius, I wanted to know if the spinner fell as well in the end. In order to get the concept of the movie you have to have a positive attitude and open mind. I liked that you tied in the process of the movie to work we have done in class.
The movie was genius,the director and producers must have put a lot of thought into it. I really wanted to know if the top fell at the end or not too, it was a cliff hanger. I’d like to think it was reality, not a dream. That’s a very interesting connection you made, with the creativity aspect.
What you said about the movie in relation to our course work was exactly what I was trying to say. I think that thinking outside of the box was encouraged throughout this class. Doing that, when we share our ideas from what we read or saw that was being creative and original which was incorporated into the movie as well, to create a dream with originality – not from memories. I also question whether the dream stages are true, but I think they are. Maybe we should try? 😀
I agree with the point you make about the film being very similar to the coursework done in class. Oftentimes the essays we wrote in class required a lot of thought, planning, and careful execution. And oftentimes the ideas we write about were originally an abstract thought in our mind, and it’s amazing how one thought can turn into an entire essay.
The movie was done by a genius with the different special effects that can be done right not. We can all see that their are many ways that we could have perspectives of what can be reality and a dream in the movie, but most of the time we are notified by the characters in the movie.
Inception was an interesting movie. At first, I was confused what the movie was about because everything was everywhere at the same time. Inception is when someone plans an idea in someone’s mind without them knowing it. Through this, they are able to find other people’s secrets and steal information. The story is about a man named Dom Cobb who goes on a mission to be able to return home to his children. He struggles with the memories of his wife and tries to keep her alive in his dreams. His wife died because she thought that the real world was not real that she was still asleep; therefore, by killing herself, she will be able to reach the real world. She was not able to distinguish reality from her dreams.
I often wonder myself that if we are just living a dream. When one thinks about the universe, there are many questions that come to mind. Thinking and questioning what is real and what is not. What if we are living the second level of dreams and when we, ourselves, dream, we enter the third level of dreams. This theory can be possible, but there is not data and information. In CORE 001, I thought that when it comes the universe, people are such a small part of it. It is as if they are a piece of atoms. Therefore, there is the question that what human knowledge is real or not especially when it comes to numbers. How the numeric system did come to be and how is it proven to be right? Furthermore, just like Inception, dreams can be as real as numbers, because the realm of Heaven can never be proven right or wrong.
I agree the movie did take me a few times to really understand it since it was going back and forth from the different realms. I like that you brought up the idea of whether or not we are all living out a dream. It is definitely a possibility because like you said there is no way that it can be proven or unproven, like so many other things in this universe.
At the beginning it was a bit confusing because you did not know if we were in his dream or if this was real life; adding to our confusion was that dream withing a dream. After watching this film, I was also left with the question if this is real life or merely a dream we have been stuck in. It sounds weird but if we do not question it then who will?
Yes i agree, one can not tell whether they are in reality or a dream. What if we were all just a dream and i am only writing this as part of your dream to make you believe or as if i read this in my dream as just a coincidence that you wrote this for me in my dream. We can not see each other perspective, no matter how much you describe to me about your perspective and i can never fully understand it because i am not you, i dont understand whether you are real or not, or that i am dreaming or not either. As it was said in the film, they could feel the pain in their dream eventhough its a dream, but only wake up when they die. So i geuss the only way to determine whether you’re dreaming or not is to do what they did to wake up. But you shouldn’t do that because this definitely is not a dream, we are reality, the most real thing as real can be.
The movie can seem a little complicated the first time you see it, it was for me. I found that to make it very interesting to watch. The difference in the realms could have been a translation of ideas that the writer had. I like your last comment because everything we want to know can never be figured out.
It’s kind of hard to watch this movie as if it was my first time, because it’s like my fourth or fifth time, but I love how this movie starts. Right from the beginning, one can see a transition from old Saito and Cobb talking then to the “present”, as their actual age. I believe that this movie had a great catch to it where the viewer would keep watching. The whole concept of the movie was interesting. It was especially interesting because of the main topic, dreams. It is understandable if some people did not understand the ending of the movie; the movie had many things occurring. There were stages of dreams where you can get deeper into your subconscious and then if you die, you end up in the limbo stage. The movie was mind blowing. The fact that some of the information said in the movie could be real for example, being in a dream is a fast process and that’s why it’s an hour for every five minutes of reality. The movie can definitely have people question if one can really reconstruct one’s dream. Also, what is actually real? Am I in a dream?
As with translation, every stage of the dream was different. The team worked together to create the physical appearance of the dream even Robert had control of the dream. There was so much action happening because of Cobb’s subconscious that was bursting with memories of Mal. This problem put all of them in a lot of danger. On a side note, the movie is just interesting because of how they can manipulate a person through dreams because it feels real. Additionally, one gets to see from all perspectives on how they can control a dream. Therefore, it brings me back to the translation, in every stage there was a different aspect and goal. Unlike the other materials, we have watched or seen, this movie does not clear anything up for us. In the end, it leaves us to wonder if they or Cobb, really did wake up? In a sense, the movie allowed us to feel what they felt when they started experimenting with dreams. One can try to forget the experience of constructing their dream, but there is nothing like it in “reality”. I can almost understand how being stuck in a dream for so long could make us forget what is real.
If I have to think about the topics of our essay to the concept the movie, I would say that the purpose or something like that is similar. Each of the essay we’ve written asked us to write about different perspectives. The essays encouraged us to view certain perspectives and to analyze something like the narrator or the plot. Our last essay is creative. The fourth essay pushes us to use our imagination and to write what we see and what we think. In relative to the film, the film does not limit reality and dreams really. One creates what they want; nothing is created for us. There is not only one idea.
The movie does keep its audience interested; people want to understand their dreams. The movie was mind blowing especially with the time processing. Your middle paragraph is very detailed good job.
The movie Inception was a well scripted film starring great actors. The movie is a newer more complex version of the Matrix. Inception is mind blowing because it made dreaming within a dream reality. It made us think about if the world we are in is real or a dream constructed from our sub conscious. We were shown that you can get caught up in a dream and lose sight on what is a dream and real based on Molly Cobb’s wife. Of course there were consequences that they knew about when going into a dream, like if they died in the sub dream they would go into limbo. What they used to prove they were in reality was a totem which is something unique that no one else could have in their dream a spinner, die, or pawn. The way they come back to reality when in one dream is a jolt like falling or dunk in water.
In the movie if you did not pay close attention you would get confused about when they were in a dream. We have not seen a movie that made you think so much while being suspenseful with action. I learned that sometimes our sub conscious gets in the way of our real thoughts. Dreams can also be an escape to make a change or show us what we want. It is our own fantasy that we can live through. It was interesting to find out that five minutes is an hour in a dream; we could be asleep for few minutes and feel like it was longer. I really enjoyed the film a second time when I was actually able to understand what was going on.
It seemed like kind of a spin off of the matrix to me as well!, but inception was still original; it was a mind blowing film. wow, when you stated “you can get caught up in a dream and lose sight on what is a dream and real” made me think of a new concept the movie could’ve ben trying to portray. It could’ve been a commentary on the way in which people will make plans and goals in life and be so focused on the future that they lose sight of the present and what is reality, versus how they see the world from their one perspesctive. I think that if I was watching the film for the second time like you, I would understand it even better.
I have yet to see the Matrix but I completely agree that Inception is a well-scripted film with great actors whom made it seem real. It is also fascinating how the film leaves us with a lot of questions, mostly having to do if this is the real world or merely a dream that we have been in for a long time. This may be impossible but when you let your imagination run it takes you anywhere.
I agree that dreams are a way to show us what we truly want. Our subconscious holds things we want and desire, but don’t necessarily think of or notice. Well, that’s what I think. I like how I can kind of relate to the movie because I feel like dreams are long, but when you wake up, it probably was only five minutes.
I really enjoyed the film Inception. As we have discussed in class about perception the film Inception related to the overall theme of perception because a main idea of the film is; what is reality and what is merely a dream? For instance Dom Cobb gets hired by Mr. Saito to do a last job to get his problem with the US Government. The job is to plant a seed in a man’s mind so that he could think he developed the plan on his own. In the dream the man perceives reality yet it is merely a dream in which Cobb is navigating him though it. The film shows reality can be manipulated though dreams such as the man’s dream were.
In addition Cobb’s throughout the film also questioned whether he was in reality or in a dream. Taking into account is past with his wife and him currently being in three levels of dreams to accomplish his job reality must have been struggles. Also his emotions and guilt interfered with his reality and dreams. I wonder if dreams are merely dreams or have a meaning behind them. Overall I enjoyed the film and found it fascinating thinking about reality and dreaming.
I also find it interesting how reality and and dreams are so closely related. Our dreams are very vivid to the point that we do not know what is real and what is not. Besides confusing our dreams, it is faschinating how, after careful planning, our mind’s can be manipulated. You might have a point, our dreams might have meaning behind them.
Similarly to what you and Olga said, it is interesting how dreams and reality are closely related. The film does force us to question reality. I found it tricky too especially because dreams are usually from our subconscious. That’s why we dreams certain dreams, they often have a meaning to them.
It’s an interesting point you make about the manipulation of people through their dreams. I personally always considered dreams to be extremely abstract, and lacking emotion. However, as you said, emotions do play a significant role in our dreams as exemplified by Cobb’s guilt and emotions interfering with his line of work in the film.
I believe that a dream is just a dream or either things you’ve interacted throughout the day or have a deep thought about in your head all day. And there are nightmares where once you’ve been traumatized about certain things such as monster, ghost, demons, or horrible events that you can not forget about. So i geuss you can say that dreams are just merely dreams but also have a meaning behind them which the meaning is to mean that you should deal with your dream the way you feel you should.
The film inception is one that is profound, but can only be configured upon more than one viewing. I found the film to be extremely confusing; however, the idea behind it seemed to be thought-provoking. The film similarly parallels another film, “Waking Life”, in which the main character is trapped in utter lucidity. The thought behind both films is that life is all but a dream in which the physical elements of our environment are perceived in a linear way. However, when we are actually dreaming is when the manifestations of our subconscious have no physical limitations; our minds are truly free to put any thoughts into action. Both films state that life only really begins when we “wake up” from the dream that we know as life.
Inception had an interesting point in that the interactions that occur when we are “awake” can be planted as seeds in our subconscious. These seeds may or may not be metaphorically watered, however, they are planted nonetheless. The experience of having a dream that is seemingly arbitrary could be considered a universal one, and exemplifies the notion of “Inception”. The film is depicted in such a realistic manner, and it made me question whether the technology portrayed in the film could become a reality in the near future.
Dream. Dream itself is an mysterious series of thoughts, images and sensations that occurs while we asleep. The film was really confusing and it was challenging to understand as well. In my movie response I have made a relation with Matrix movie, and I like here how you made a connection with movie Waking Life.
The movie Inception was awesome. It had a whole bunch of detailed into the movie itself, such as its theme, story, moral. When watching the movie i feel as if the movie said everything i felt but could never put into words, when I have dreams. If it was possible to go into another person dream, then i believe that it would totally be possible to inception a person dream and make real life situation that a person will actually believe it happen and was not just a dream. The overall moral of the movie was that the complexity of an inception is so real that one can not tell the difference between reality or a dream anymore once they have lived in the dream world for too long, they believe that everything they see is a mere projection rather than what is actually there such as what happened to Cobb’s wife Mal and she suffered the consequences with her life. The ending of the movie was one of those ending where its believed that the audience decides what conclusion of the ending is or either to leave them questioned about what happened. What i believe happened in the ending is that Cobb was no longer dreaming, he woke up from his mission because more evidence points out that he woke up than him falling into limbo. As they described Limbo to be a place where they create it and not a dream that has already been created for them, and Cobbs appear to have remember what has happened and not just end up in the middle of a dream and not remember how he got there (as he described before to Adriade) that a person always end up in the middle of a dream not knowing how they got there. So therefore my belief is that Cobb was no longer dream and was actually home now even though they didn’t show the top stopping or not. Plus it is to believe that whether Cobb was dreaming or not, he jsut wanted to be home with his kids more than anything that he walked away from his spinning top not caring whether he is in a dream or not, but as long as he could be with his children in a dream or reality.
Christopher Nolan’s Inception was brilliantly thought out and very intriguing to watch. I have always been fascinated by the concept of dreams and the idea that there are different levels and aspects to the dream world was interesting. The movie was kind of all over the place jumping around from level to level and was a little bit confusing the first time I watched it. However, after the second time around I feel that I noticed more of the little details and understood it a lot better.
The levels of consciousness: sub-dream, dream, and reality was a creative concept for this movie. It is apparent in the film that subconscious thoughts can seep through to your reality and cause problems. For instance, Cobb’s secret about his wife’s suicide affects him the whole movie and interferes with his ability to do his job. However, at the end of the movie he is finally able to resolve these subconscious issues. I thought the ending was thought-provoking and really left the audience to wonder whether or not Cobb was still in a dream or in reality. My guess is that either way it really doesn’t matter because he finally gets to go home to loving children.
Inception is one of those movies that is made to force you to ask questions. Are we really here? What is reality? Are we actually just living in a series of dreams? Of course, the likelihood of life really being just a dream is slim to none, but it is good to take the time to think outside of the box. Too often people are rigid and don’t try to explore the other options there are in life. Inception is a good example of where your imagination can take you if you change your perspective.
We have talked a lot this semester about translation and different perspectives. We have compared text to film to see how different point of views change the outcome of the story and I think Inception is perfect to add to that list. I really liked the movie, it was a little difficult to follow, but once I understood the premise of the story line it became much easier to understand. I can’t help but wonder where this idea that reality is actually a dream came from. I may do further research into the subject to simply squash my curiosity. Overall, good movie.
Well there is a few things I would like to comment on the story and the special effects.
Story. It wouldn’t seem like much to ask for an original story these days, but the theatres are plagued by films that are based on other ideas. Inception is not inspired by anything except for the experience of lucid dreaming and dream incubation. It’s deep, innovative, and smart. Sometimes a little too smart that a second or third viewing helps clear things up. But it’s the world that Nolan has created around the concept of taking and planting ideas through dreams that’s truly fantastic.
Gravity-shifting. While the gravity-shifting hallway and room are not new concepts, it’s the most entertaining to watch so far. It is odd that one does not see more of it. No one has seemed to really capitalize on it until now. Integrating a fight scene into it is brilliant and doing it on such a large scale like a hotel hallway is fascinating. Bravo to production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas and special effects supervisor Chris Corbould for helping make this scene not just be a gimmick. These components really jumped out at mee and really made a good movie.