Inception - Was Mal Right the Whole Time?

So I have watched the film again and I honestly don't know why i didn't see this the first time, but I now believe that Cobb's wife was right the whole time, and that when she killed herself, she just went up another level. He was the one that was sick in the head about reality, not her.

This is a pretty good description here.

http://techland.time.com/2010/07/19/...ive-dead-both/

this is a comment left by someone on the bottom of the page.

1. In the ending Cobb is still in a dream.

2. When Mal and Cobb killed themselves to wake up from the 50 year dream, they only went one level up.

3. To have a 50 year dream you would have to be several levels deep.

4. Mal knew this and tried to convince Cobb. Cobb lost track of how deep they were.

5. Mal killed herself and went another level up. She is not dead.

6. Cobb believed she was dead and she was not. She only went up one more level.

7. Cobb's reality is a dream. There was no Cobalt company after him. Everyone in the movie were Cobb's projections. He was alone in the dream that he thought was reality.

8. In some cases I believe Mal went back down in the dreams to convince Cobb again. "You know were to find me. You know what you have to do."

9. Upon returning home, the kids are in the same pose, same clothes, and have not aged a bit. Cobb had been gone several years by this time.

10. How did the father know that Cobb would be on that flight AND that his charges would have been fixed. He was in Paris remember.

11. How would a foreign Japanese business man just make one phone call and have charges dropped in a matter of minutes. Yeah right?

12. The Mombasa fight scene was way to dream-like, Cobalt agents comming out of no-where and the narrow escape was all to dream-like.

13. If Mal is still alive and staring at Cobb's sleeping body, you would think she would be able to "kick" Cobb out of the dream. However, he is many levels deep and the kick needs to come from the bottom up. He is trapped.

14. The top not falling over or falling over is irrelevant. It is not his Totem. He abandoned his real totem and picked up Mal's after she died. Believing he was in reality, he started using it.

15. Cobb is trapped in a dream that he believe is reality. Mal was right and is alive with the real kids in reality.



Read more: http://techland.time.com/2010/07/19/...#ixzz22IBivf7D

Meh, worst possible outcome is he'll have a lifetime with the kids in his dream then another lifetime with the kids AND Mal in reality.

The thing is Cobb doesn't care any more what's real .

Originally Posted by Uber Mind

The thing is Cobb doesn't care any more what's real .

I agree. Pretty much during the whole movie he was satisfied to meet Mal even knowing it was just a dream. In the last sequence he then realizes the experience to meet Mal in the dreams wasnt a fulfiling experience after all. But I think he wouldnt have no problem in living in a dream again, the same way drug addicts abandon their addictions for some months only to get back to using drugs. But to me the point is not if it is real or not. The ending opened the possibility to fill in the gaps the way we prefer. There will be people who will believe in either possibilities. Nolan wanted us to fill in our heads with thoughts about the movie after we watched it. I think no real conclusion can be made wether it was a dream or not. I dont think the evidence posted in the op solves the mistery.

The whole movie was basically a mind :wub anyway.

LALALALALALAALA COBB WOKE UP AND EVERYTHNG WENT A-OK.

Originally Posted by saxdude

LALALALALALAALA COBB WOKE UP AND EVERYTHNG WENT A-OK.

Thats what I thought until I watched it again.

Originally Posted by EireEmerald

Thats what I thought until I watched it again.

Originally Posted by saxdude

LALALALALALAALA COBB WOKE UP AND EVERYTHNG WENT A-OK.

According to Michael Cain, the actor of the father, Nolan intended the ending to be reality.

“[The spinning top] drops at the end, that’s when I come back on. If I’m there it’s real, because I’m never in the dream. I’m the guy who invented the dream.”

Source.

The kids' outfits are also slightly different, I believe they are wearing different shoes. Also, in my opinion the top is wobbling at the end like it is about to fall over.

I was under the impression that the top falls over at the end

Nah, he is still in a dream, as he has been the whole way through the film. Mal is no longer in a dream, she realized they were not in reality yet.

For me, it's pretty obvious what happened at the end. Everyone focuses on the top not falling over (because of the editing) but that was just Nolan trolling the audience. The point is that Cobb overcame his guilt. I think getting anymore deep into understanding it is unnecessary.

And obviously Cobb cares what's real or not. He's obsessed with knowing that throughout the whole movie.

Originally Posted by Lord Rahl

For me, it's pretty obvious what happened at the end. Everyone focuses on the top not falling over (because of the editing) but that was just Nolan trolling the audience. The point is that Cobb overcame his guilt. I think getting anymore deep into understanding it is unnecessary.

And obviously Cobb cares what's real or not. He's obsessed with knowing that throughout the whole movie.

Yes, he cares but he was happy to keep his memories alive and would meet Mal in his dreams even though he knew she wasnt real. I agree with the guilt issue.

Originally Posted by Lord Rahl

And obviously Cobb cares what's real or not. He's obsessed with knowing that throughout the whole movie.

disagree.

when he puts down the totem, he ends up going outside to be with his kids, ignoring the totem. i don't think that would be the action of somebody who cares about whether or not he's in the real world, rather it's the action of somebody who has made a decision to accept the world he is in as his reality, one where he can be with his children without anybody else getting in the way.

at least that's how i see it. it's kind of bittersweet.

To be frank, I think this discussion, regardless of which side is right, highlights how, in an age of rushed action films, this movie stuck out as a really good and intelligent one.

No, that would defeat the purpose of the main plot.

The only reason Cobb knew that inception was possible is because he had done it/experimented with Mal. This would eventually lead into the whole Fischer thing with the goal of implanting an idea in his mind. It wouldn't make much sense (and a good story) if it turns out that Cobb was just dreaming all along.

Also, if you look at the cast list in IMDB, the kids were cast twice by two different person (3 years old & 5 years old) in the movie. So the argument that the kids look the same is not valid.

After the Prestige, the seemingly perpetual spinning top is obviously just another Nolan's idea to screw with the audience.