Summary
- Inception is a process of planting an idea in someone's mind without them realizing it, using extreme manipulation and mind control techniques.
- Cobb and his team typically steal information from people's dreams, but Inception requires finding a safe within the dream that protects valuable information.
- In order for Inception to work, Cobb must establish trust with the target in reality so they won't reject him in the dream world, making surface-level trust a crucial component.
Christopher Nolan's Inception is one of the most mind-bending movies in his coveted filmography. The concept of Inception typically needs further study after watching the movie since there are several levels to fully comprehend what exactly is possible in the various dream worlds in the film. Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) takes on a job to plant an idea natively within the mind of Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy) that he should dissolve his dying father's company which would be financially prosperous to Saito (Ken Watanabe) who hired Cobb for the job.
Nolan explained Inception's ending was intentionally left as intellectually ambiguous, however, there are specific and concrete rules for the process of completing a successful Inception operation. Inception begins with a motive to change another person's way of thinking without them knowing that they have been tricked into coming up with the idea. It is a form of sophisticated mind control that emphasizes the significance of internal dreams and the subconscious mind in determining decisions and beliefs in the real world.
Inception Means Planting An Idea In Someone's Mind
In the movie, the notion of Inception is the process in which an idea is planted into someone's subconscious in order to make them believe that it was their own idea. It is a method of extreme manipulation used in Nolan's movie to get specific characters to do what others want them to do without feeling external pressure or persuasion from any outside party. This is contrasted by what Cobb and his team typically do, which is steal information from people while entering their dreams while they are asleep.
When Cobb typically steals information from another person's mind, he is able to find a safe house within the dream that safeguards a person's most inner thoughts and protected secrets. Cobb is able to perform the Inception operation by finding the locked safe within a person's mind that protects valuable information and placing new information inside of it. The safe is always found within the lowest level of the dream, which is why there are multiple instances of a 'dream within a dream' situation in the film. In order for Inception to work, the newly implanted information must be something that the person could actually conceive so it is believable on the surface.
How Inception Works In Christopher Nolan's Movie
In the instance of Cobb and Robert Fischer in the movie, Cobb must first get Fischer to like and trust him enough in reality so that the image of him in the dream world isn't met with hesitation or rejection. Once Cobb is able to establish a real-world relationship with Fischer, Inception becomes a possibility. Since there is a likelihood that Cobb will encounter Fischer in the dream world, surface-level trust is a crucial component of the Inception process so defensive projections of Fischer's mind won't try to kill him or view him as a threat. Christopher Nolan cleverly turns the dream world into a playing field in Inception through thoughtfully developed rules and limitations.
