Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Inception and Modernism

            In English this week we have been watching Inception and looking at how it embodies many modernist attributes. For starters, the dreams they are in feature persepectivism, for the architect puts their own spin on the dream world they build. Also, all of the dreamers who share the dream bring their subconscious into the dream through their projections. In Cobb’s case, Mol hangs heavy on his subconscious, and as a result she comes into any dream that he is a part of. In the dreams, Mol tries to ruin everything, which is symbolic of her role in Cobb’s life in the real world; she ruins everything by killing herself and blaming Cobb for it. Not only does this take herself from Cobb, it also makes it so Cobb cannot stay with their kids.


            Disillusionment also plays a large role throughout the film. When a dreamer who is not well-versed in the dream world is told that they are in a dream, the dream begins to collapse in on itself. This is an epiphany for them, when the wonderful dream world around them comes crumbling down, with them crashing back to reality where they cannot surpass regular human limitations. Also, when someone wakes up from limbo, they can experience disillusionment. The real world is a disappointment for them after having uncontrolled power and giving it up to return to reality. The realization that reality is not as great after an epiphany (realization that dream world can be much better) is a key theme of modernism, and is a major plot point in the film Inception. This link, among others, is why Inception is such a great example of a piece that embodies modernism.

7 comments:

  1. Nice Post. I hadn't realized that the dreams crumbling were an example of disillusionment, but it exemplifies it quite literally. The illusions, or dreams, dissolve as the characters realize they are not real, making the crumbling a visualization of the disillusionment.

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  2. Hey Jonathan. Isn't Inception great? It is such a cool movie that provokes thought and discussion. It is easy to talk about all of the modernist attributes in the movie. As you pointed out, perspective and disillusionment are two huge attributes right there. You clearly did a solid job finding examples of modernism in Inception.

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  3. Hey Jonathan. Isn't Inception great? It is such a cool movie that provokes thought and discussion. It is easy to talk about all of the modernist attributes in the movie. As you pointed out, perspective and disillusionment are two huge attributes right there. You clearly did a solid job finding examples of modernism in Inception.

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  4. Great post, Jonathan. I didn't really make the connection with disillusionment until now. I agree that returning to the real world would be a disappointment after being in a dream state, and they even mentioned that in the film.

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  5. I also observed that that Inception is a perfect example of perspectivism, as the dreams themselves are the embodiment of the architect's perspective. However just like some of these fine handsome gentlemen above me I had not realized that the dreams falling apart was a representation of disillusionment. Interesting.

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  6. As much as I would enjoy the epiphany to be happy, it almost always ends in the conclusion that life is awful and being in limbo can ruin realty by disillusionment. This is sad, but if I were given the option to do something like what they do in inception, I would try to restrict myself from dreaming too much because that would probably ruin my life.

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  7. Good point about disillusionment. Most of the movie revolves around the characters being confused AF and that sort of flew right over me. The movie does a great job not only showing that, but also disillusioning the viewer who has to really think to put the pieces together.

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