The most debated scene in Inception is without a doubt the ending. There are a hundred theories on how the movie ended and then some more. Some have even gone to the extent of saying that the whole movie was someone else’s dream. Some say that the spinning top was the totem of the audience and it was a sign to wake up and so on.
Of course there are the rest of them who are torn between whether the top keeps spinning or whether it topples over. My belief is that it definitely topples over. They clearly show the top losing momentum and shaking a little bit. That much hint is enough for me to believe that the top is ready to topple. For example, imagine a scene where a mad rabid dog is charging at a person and the next scene is blanked out. What could have happened?
An alien spaceship could have mysteriously landed on top of the dog’s head rendering it unconscious. Saint-Gobain could have set up a crystal clear glass front into which the dog would have crashed and the man would be safe. Or, the man might be from the wild wild west and he was waiting for the dog to take its final leap so that he could test his reflex and draw is gun and shoot a bullet through the dog’s open mouth.
Or, the most obviously outcome, without giving too much leeway to one’s imagination, would be that the dog charged and bit the man.
So when the top seemingly shakes, then I figure it is indeed about to topple and I will not read too much into it.
Anyway, regardless of what you thought, that is not the ending. Either option could be right, about the top toppling. How I read this is that, when Cobb sees his kids after such a long time, it does not matter to him anymore whether he is in a dream or not. He is so enthralled that the kids turn towards him, that he loses sight of the top and walks away to be with his kids whom he has missed so much.
So the debate on whether it is reality or not is unfounded here. Cobb has decided to just accept whatever this is as reality and just live in this moment. Maybe that is the lesson that the director intends – enjoy whatever comes your way and make the most of it. Don’t keep judging situations and whether or not it could really be happening. Dreams are anyway something that you cannot depend on, or trust, as seen throughout the movie, so just accept whatever it is that you are experiencing and enjoy it while it lasts.
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Tagged: ending, explanation, finale, inception, movie, story, theory
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2 Comments
Maybe Michael Caine set him up to put him out of his misery.
Quite possible… another reason why it could be a dream was coz the kids were at the same place, of the same age, and doing the same thing. But hey, maybe they didn’t have a life, y’know.