One of the many exciting things about the puzzle movie “Inception” is that there isn’t one way to solve it.
Since its July 16 release, this thriller about thieves who enter people’s dreams has been endlessly debated. Before we get into the theories, a quick primer: Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Cobb, a dream thief who is hired by a mysterious businessman. Instead of stealing an idea from a sleeping subject, however, he is told to plant one. This heist in reverse will involve orchestrating dreams within dreams, as well as keeping Cobb’s own subconscious at bay. (His guilt over his deceased wife, played by Marion Cotillard, tends to seep into the dreams he’s infiltrating.)
“Inception” is intricately constructed, yet also exhilaratingly open-ended. You can read it many different ways. Is the entire enterprise a meditation on the film-making process, with Cobb and his team of dream constructors serving as stand-ins for a film production crew? Is it all a big joke, a lark that writer-director Christopher Nolan plants in the audience’s head in order to make us squirm? Is Cobb actually dreaming the whole time, or do the ambiguous final seconds return him to the “real world” within the film?
How you answer these questions depends on much more than what you saw. It also has to do with who you are – on the values, experiences and worldview you bring to the viewing experience. Which begs the question: Should Christians have a common interpretation of “Inception?”
I know that my own reading of the film is rooted in the Christian tenet of forgiveness (warning: spoilers ahead). As the movie proceeds, the thematic weight shifts from the heist itself to Cobb’s struggle to come to terms with the guilt that has been plaguing his subconscious. “Inception” ultimately is about achieving psychological – if not narrative – resolution, and I believe that goal is only achieved if Cobb is fully awake in the movie’s final seconds. In other words, in order for Cobb to genuinely, authentically forgive his wife and himself – to be redeemed - that spinning top has to fall.
Would you consider this a “Christian” interpretation? Or does it simply make me a cock-eyed optimist?
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Comments (14)
If I wanted to view it through a Christian lens, then I think the most interesting perspective is that in the Christian metaphysical view there IS another, "greater" or "more real," reality awaiting beyond death.
Taking the point of view that life itself is a kind of dream and we will eventually wake up is not a particularly unique or novel way of relating to the afterlife, but it is one that is rarely explored in any serious sense. In particular, it raises the important question of the significance of our actions in our mortal lives. The movie itself touches upon this dilemma, that if we truly believe that there is a greater reality awaiting us, what is there to hold us to this earth?
http://sinema7.net/2010/07/tot...
One thing I've noticed in reviews for Inception is the widespread captivation with the spinning top. Made me think of Satan's "spinning top" in an old Keith Green song:
Oh, my job keeps getting easier
As day slips into day
The magazines, the newspapers
Print every word I say
This world is just my spinning top
It's all like child's play
You know, I dream that it would never stop
But I know it's not that way
Still my work goes on and on
Always stronger than before
I'm gonna make it dark before the dawn
Since no one believes in me anymore!
With that being said, Christians should absolutely not have a common interpretation of a film (but it's not a sin if they do). It's a film that is open to interpretation, therefore, it's subjective (like most art) and will be experienced differently by each individual. As to whether or not your perspective, is a Christian interpretation....it doesn't have to be (since there are elements of forgiveness and resolution in many religions and/or philosophies), but it could be and that's just fine. Still, your interpretation is open to interpretation.
I appreciate your thoughts--and your resolve--on this, Luke. But I like to know what's going on culturally. I have seen this movie, and I went into it thinking it was going to be a great "worldview" movie, and it didn't disappoint. That's sort of how I classify movies: great from a worldview stance, or just crap and a waste of time. Inception was great from a worldview stance.