The
chosen film for review is Inception which is directed by Christopher Nolan.
Prior to watching, I have heard good reviews about this movie and wanted to see
for myself. After seeing the film for the first time, I was impressed not only
with the design but also the deeper meaning and context shared by the film.
Here, the film presents the context of how Dom Cobb engages in ways to
infiltrate the subconscious using dreams. During the course of the film, they
agree to engage in the practice of ‘inception’, where they have a difficult
task of planting a specific concept to one’s subconscious. A good way to
describe the relationship with the real and dream world comes from the time
difference. Here, Rivera (2012) provides that “In Inception, in a dream, time is
slower: days can pass there in what amounts to only a few minutes or an hour in
the conscious world” (p.1). All these features equally give readers the
viewpoint of reality and dreams and the overall question as to whether Dom Cobb
story is an overall dream in the end.
Connecting
the film to a branch of philosophy, Inception arguably relates to the branch of
metaphysics. Specifically, this branch deals with how people perceive reality
and the corresponding features that influences this part. Specifically,
philosophers who can be attributed to the question of reality would be Plato,
Rene Descartes and David Hume. All these thinkers have sought to understand the
features of reality and how to effectively address the question as to whether
we are not dreaming. Specifically, Rivera (2012) contends that “Descartes’
solution to the problem of dreaming versus reality was to argue that “our
memory can never connect our dreams with each other and with the course of
life, in the way it is in the habit of doing with events that occur when we are
awake” (p.1). However, this perspective remains to be different from the film
since the characters demonstrate awareness and also the ability to fabricate
dreams based on specific components. Arguably, the approach taken by the film
challenges the notion of Descartes of how to distinguish reality and
dreams.
Overall,
the film ‘Inception’ was effective in helping create the realizations about its
relationship with philosophy. In particular, it highlights the study of metaphysics
and the manner that people find connection to the general features that depict
reality. Since this film focuses on areas related to dreams and subconscious,
it gives viewers an impression of what influences our perception of reality and
whether or not the world we are currently living in is real or not. For my
part, the film was effective in helping highlight the argument concerning
metaphysics. In particular, it gave a good impression how the question of
reality might be challenging especially in determining whether the world we
live in right now is real or not. “By supposing we can think we’re dreaming
whether or not we are, Inception makes dreams nearly indistinguishable
from reality” (Rivera, 2012, p.1). Arguably, the ability of this film to create
such perspective influences my viewpoint about reality and how this film
highlights its purpose and value.
To
conclude, my experience watching the film was a good exercise to connect my
understanding to philosophy. The ability of the film to establish philosophical
relationships to audiences influences appreciation and value to the genre
(Irwin, 2011). For my part, this was a valuable activity to help identify the
philosophical features and questions that influence my life today. In
particular, the question of reality and dreams, though difficult to establish,
creates opportunities to recognize my personal viewpoints and shape my
perspective of how I view reality. In my opinion, this overall exercise
provides a deeper meaning in my ability to relate classroom discussions and the
relevance of philosophy as a continuously evolving discipline.
References
Irwin, W. (2011). Inception and Philosophy: Life is But a Dream. Psychology Today. Retrieved
from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/plato-pop/201111/inception-and-philosophy-life-is-dream
Rivera, H. (2012). Inception. Philosophy Now. Retrieved from
http://philosophynow.org/issues/88/Inception
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