I couldn't find this anywhere on the forums, so I'm commenting it here so we can discuss, because i'm extremely confused.
As of Cobb's obsession with Mal's projection, he would ALWAYS have the ring whenever he was inside any dream. When he was outside at, what believe of, as the real world, he didn't have the ring in his finger. At the end of the movie, he didn't have the ring in his finger. So, is this an explanating fact to all this dreaming or not confussion?
EDIT: Just made another search on the forums, and found people talking about this. Is there any clean explanation of this? An idea with arguments? I read the finger thing on imdb.com and its been confusing me since then.
in Shuter island there are some parts that Dicaprio´s caracter wears a ring at some point and in that same scene, like 3 seconds after, he doesn´t wear a ring
Anita18 wrote:I think most of us here have settled on the ring as being the audience's totem - meaning, the end is "real" since Cobb is not wearing it.
No, Iv settled with Nolans explanation saying that it doesn't matter whether its real or not. Its not the point of the story. So lets stop these threads shall we. Listen to Nolan.
Anita18 wrote:I think most of us here have settled on the ring as being the audience's totem - meaning, the end is "real" since Cobb is not wearing it.
No, Iv settled with Nolans explanation saying that it doesn't matter whether its real or not. Its not the point of the story. So lets stop these threads shall we. Listen to Nolan.
Well I don't think the middling details of whether the end is reality is the point of the movie either, but it's what most people like to talk about because it's the most obvious thing.
Myself, after my last viewing of Inception, I've acquired a strange fascination with Magritte's surrealist artwork. I think a lot of the unsettled feelings one gets from viewing a Magritte painting is very similar to the unsettled feeling one gets at the end of Inception. It feels real, but something is off, and I think you could talk for a long time about the reasons why.
Anyway, Nolan says he DOES have an answer, because the proper approach to ambiguity means that he goes at it with an answer in mind, but adds ambiguity through the POV of the character. Given the ring is a fairly consistent visual aid, I think Nolan's posturing that the end is reality.
I was one of the first to post the Ring Theory on this forum. For me, I'm not considering it as a totem but a film-making device.
And yes, the basic theory is that...
He wears the ring in dreams and not in the real world. Thus, if you follow this theory, the entire sequence starting from the wake up in the plane, is reality. There will be people who argue that you never get a clear enough view of the hand in the last moments but it doesn't matter because the whole entire thing is, again, a sequence that begins from the plane through to the end. Not to mention the fact that if you watch the film and pay attention to nothing else, and I mean nothing else (which is what I did in the theaters on one viewing), but the ring, you'll notice that it is glaringly visible even when the attention is not in his hands (it can be seen in all types of framing). You can't miss it in the end.
And yes, Nolan said he would like people to stop trying to figure it out and just let the experience wash over you but leaving a movie in ambiguity can only cause desire in people to try and figure it out. That's just how it is. Furthermore, even if it's not the point of the story, even if he says it doesn't matter, it doesn't mean there isn't an answer. Plain and simple.
If people want to debate about it--let them. It's their experience of the film and they should be able to enjoy it anyway they see fit.
AaronFaulkner wrote:If people want to debate about it--let them. It's their experience of the film and they should be able to enjoy it anyway they see fit.
Thanks for this.
There are a lot of threads on the Inception board and many of them are very, very long. As a newcomer (someone who doesn't enjoy the cinema experience and prefers to wait until the DVD release to watch a film) I've been completely put off posting any questions or thoughts about the film because of what can sometimes appear to be the antagonism shown by regulars to people coming to post on 'their' forum. The number of comments I've read that say "we've discussed this" or "it's been posted before" or "This. Thread closed." surprised me. I thought the point of fan forums was to increase membership. New members simply cannot invest the time reading pages and pages of discussions to ensure they don't retread ground that somebody with thousands of posts to their name has had months to come to a conclusion about (and perhaps got it wrong themselves on occasion). It's very gratifying to see someone wanting to promote discussion instead of suppressing it.
Personally I didn't think the ring was necessary to define what was a dream and what wasn't. I like the idea of it being the viewer's 'totem' but I have to admit I didn't notice it at all when I saw the movie and I think I had a good handle on what was real and what wasn't. I'm only aware of the 'Ring Theory' because I've read a few threads here.
Incidentally, I joined up because, after watching Inception, I learned that Nolan was also the director of Memento (which I loved) and The Dark Knight (which bored me rigid, though possibly due to my own baggage and it perhaps deserves a second watch). I've since watched The Prestige (which I also thoroughly enjoyed) and think I may be turning into a Nolan fan.
AaronFaulkner wrote:If people want to debate about it--let them. It's their experience of the film and they should be able to enjoy it anyway they see fit.
Thanks for this.
There are a lot of threads on the Inception board and many of them are very, very long. As a newcomer (someone who doesn't enjoy the cinema experience and prefers to wait until the DVD release to watch a film) I've been completely put off posting any questions or thoughts about the film because of what can sometimes appear to be the antagonism shown by regulars to people coming to post on 'their' forum. The number of comments I've read that say "we've discussed this" or "it's been posted before" or "This. Thread closed." surprised me. I thought the point of fan forums was to increase membership. New members simply cannot invest the time reading pages and pages of discussions to ensure they don't retread ground that somebody with thousands of posts to their name has had months to come to a conclusion about (and perhaps got it wrong themselves on occasion). It's very gratifying to see someone wanting to promote discussion instead of suppressing it.
Personally I didn't think the ring was necessary to define what was a dream and what wasn't. I like the idea of it being the viewer's 'totem' but I have to admit I didn't notice it at all when I saw the movie and I think I had a good handle on what was real and what wasn't. I'm only aware of the 'Ring Theory' because I've read a few threads here.
Incidentally, I joined up because, after watching Inception, I learned that Nolan was also the director of Memento (which I loved) and The Dark Knight (which bored me rigid, though possibly due to my own baggage and it perhaps deserves a second watch). I've since watched The Prestige (which I also thoroughly enjoyed) and think I may be turning into a Nolan fan.
I think the wedding ring could just be a continuity error.
It isn't as if Inception doesn't have enough of them, already.
Perhaps they're more continuity 'discontinuities', that is, treat them as reminders that things may not be as totally real as they appear.
I noticed just today, for example, at the end when Cobb picks up his daughter, we look away and... when we look back it's his son he is holding.
Or, early on, when he takes that phone call from the children, he picks the phone up, stands up, turns, and should get wrapped in phone cord.... but isn't.
Or, like, when Cobb and Arthur exit Saito's helicopter, which one is in front?
ETC!
