Inception: Nolan’s Deception

Inception: Nolan’s Deception

Disclaimer: This is one of my early papers. Feedback and thoughts are always appreciated.

The final ten minutes of Inception, directed by Christopher Nolan, are intense, action-packed sequences with fast pacing and an overload of information. The audience follows the characters through a complicated maze of dreams, watching Ariadne and the others successfully completing the Inception while wondering if Cobb will be able to find and save Saito. When Cobb finds Saito, he is an old man, yet he is able to convince Saito, he is dreaming. Consequently, they wake up on the airplane. Finally, the audience witnesses Cobb’s reunion with his children. Though it is a happy ending, we do not know if it is real. The question whether it is real or not is a hotly contested debate. In this article, I will attempt to make sense of the action-packed ending by dissecting the film with tools acquired through semiotic analysis.

Totems are objects utilized by the characters in the film to let them know if they are dreaming. Totems follow a Code, meaning “complex patterns of associations that all members of a given society [The Audience] learn” (Berger, 29). Totems are Icons, seeing that they resemble an object but do not act like they are expected to eg. a loaded dice (Berger, 4). The Index associated with the Totems is that of dreaming and reality (Berger, 4). Once the audience learned the Index (dreams and reality) associated with the Icon (Totem), the totem becomes a Symbol of truth (Berger, 4). By having Totems serve both as Icons associated with an Index to the characters, as well as serving as a Symbol to the audience, Nolan emphasizes the importance of totems to the plot.

While identifying the totem as an Icon and Symbol is helpful, it does not give us an answer to the ending of the film. To understand the ending one must understand the Latent Meaning, which Claude Levi Strauss defines as “what the text is about” (Strauss qtd. in Berger, 25). This is done through Paradigmatic Analysis: “a search for a hidden pattern of oppositions buried in it [Inception] that generate meaning” (Berger, 24). In Inception, the opposing forces are Cobb and his wife Mal. Cobb believes that he is in reality, while Mal believes it is all a dream. Cobb, therefore, is a symbol for reality, while Mal is a symbol for dreams. Accepting that the main struggle of the film is between Cobb and Mal, one can, therefore, claim that the latent meaning of the film is the struggle between reality and dreams. The struggle is displayed to the audience by having our main character Cobb constantly checking whether he is dreaming or not by spinning his totem.

The audience relies on Cobb’s totem, the spiral top, to distinguish dream from reality. However, the spiral top cannot be a totem seeing that it does not follow the code. The code includes a rule stating to never reveal how one’s totem works, which Cobb does when explaining his spiral to Ariadne (00:48 min.). Instead, Nolan uses Metonymy meaning “an associated detail or notion used to invoke an idea or represent an object” (Berger, 28), to create a totem for Cobb. When talking about his wife, Cobb tells Ariadne “In my dreams we are still together” (00:56 Min.). It is only in dreams that Cobb wears a wedding ring. Thereby dreaming and marriage are associated, creating a metonymy, as well as a totem. Seeing that Cobb does not wear a wedding ring in the final moments of the film, this indicates that Cobb is in reality. However, this is not enough evidence in itself. One could argue that Cobb does not wear a wedding ring in the final scene because he has come to terms with Mals death, after sharing one last moment with her in Dream Limbo. Therefore, while the evidence of not wearing a ring at the end seems plausible, we must find other pieces of evidence to support that the ending happens in reality.

The Intertextuality, referring “to the use in texts of material from other previously created texts” (Berger, 26), used by Nolan appears to signify the ending is real. Ariadne is named after Ariadne the princess in Greek Mythology who helped Theseus find his way out of the Labyrinth. Similarly, Ariadne helps Cobb navigate through the labyrinth of dreams. She serves as Cobb’s guide, thereby being a signifier for reality. Hence when Ariadne leaves Cobb behind in Dream Limbo, one worries whether Cobb will find his way back to reality without her guidance. When Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character is worried that Cobb won’t find his way out, Ariadne replies: “He’ll be all right” (2:15 hr.). One can interpret this as evidence that Cobb will and does find his way back, and that the ending is therefore set in reality. Again, this by itself may not be enough evidence. However, combining this with other evidence hints at the ending being set in reality.

Nolan has created a Hyperreality, meaning: “signs are more important than what they stand for” (Berger, 15). Cobb and the audience rely on signs to tell them what is real. The most important sign, in the end, is not the spiral spinning, but rather Cobb ignoring it. Instead of the audience realizing what Cobb’s action signifies, they focus on the totem. As discussed previously the totem will not reveal the truth, because it is not Cobb’s totem. By walking away, Cobb signifies that it does not matter whether he is dreaming or not. After having come to terms with his past all that matters to him is the reunion with his children. And therein lies Nolan’s Deception. The audience is lead to believe the film is about dreams versus reality when in fact it is about fathers trying to reconnect with their sons- Cobb trying to reconnect with his children and Robert Fischer trying to reconnect with his son Maurice Fischer (Cillian Murphy).

To conclude, there are signs signifying that the end takes place in reality, while others signify that Cobb is dreaming. This is Nolan’s intention, as he wants the movie to be ambiguous. Using Semiotic Analysis allowed to explore the signs and what they signify, yet one quickly becomes trapped in a hyperreality. Semiotic Analysis does not allow for a film to be ambiguous but rather attempts to give concrete answers, which is not possible for Inception. By focusing on analyzing signs one does not analyze the film for its cinematic art form or how the story is structured. Furthermore, even though the latent meaning gives insight into the films plot and main struggle, it does not tell us what the story is really about. At its core, the film is not about a husband struggling to let go of the past, nor is it about a character unable to distinguish dreams from reality. The film is about a father’s relationship with his children and is explored by following two fathers attempting to reconnect with their children.

Works Cited:

Berger, Arthur Asa. “Semiotic Analysis.” Media Analysis Techniques. London: SAGE Publications, 2014. 3–38. Print.

Works Referenced:

Inception. Dir. Christopher Nolan. Perf. Leonardo DiCaprio. Warner Home Video, 2011. DVD.

Zimmer, Hans. Inception. S.n, 2010. MP3.

“Inception.” IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.