Inception Film Theory: Cobb Is The Real Dream Target

What if there's more to Christopher Nolan's mind-bending thriller than it seems?

[kodyswenson]

His totem isn't the top. It's seeing his children's faces. That's why he was beyond happy when his children turned around at the end of the film. He knew he wasn't dreaming so he ignored the spinning top.

[hylianbatman]

This also adds to the theory that his wedding ring is the real totem

[kirschbaum]

Basically, Inception is paradoxical. A thought is planted in OUR heads, which is getting bigger and bigger and is trying to get us to more and more theories.
Inception inceptioned US!

[whoiamiamnot]

His Totem wasn't the top. It was his wedding ring.

[fjordlynn]

Taking this a step further, inception is a "dream" that we as humans watching it experience and we empathize ourselves into Cobb's role. As such, the real target of the movie "Inception, " is the viewer, who is also being asked if they want to end up old and full of regret.

[HoboDucks]

It is not a dream at the end because the director said that every scene that Michael Caine is in is the real world.

[KEVMAN]

Meaning: Whether it is a dream or not, Cobb has accepted it as his reality and doesn't care.

[TokyoBlue]

I like this theory, it makes a lot of sense. Michael Caine's character is the one who introduces Cobb to Ariadne, she's named after someone who helps lead the hero out of a labyrinth, they are trying to help him defeat his demon of guilt/regret. The French song used in the film translates to "I regret nothing."

[byrongotcha]

They needed those "kicks" to all happen at the same time in order to ride it all the way up from limbo 4 levels back up to reality. But when him and Mal killed themselves in limbo with the train they did not have repeated "kicks" so they should have only woke up 1 dream above limbo. So he was in fact still dreaming all along.

[NemosYouTube]

The true target of Inception... is the audience of the movie! The idea? This life is a dream.

[deporres.j]

Maybe cobb was dreaming more than we thought cause that shootout scene he didnt get hit at all when he was tryna get away in mombasa

[amm]

Came here after watching it on Netflix. My theory: the camera cut out before the spindle stopped in the last scene ... because what better ending is there than to leave the viewers in 'limbo' about Cobbs reality .... and so Christopher Nolan refuses to make a sequel for clarity. Well played, Nolan, well played. #inlimboforever

[masterchief]

I always believed that. Cobb was never hunted in his country. That was all the dream Part. He was just ashamed to visit his kids again because he blames himself for killing his wife.

[swrveGaming]

Like if you’re hear since Netflix added inception

[Dissection]

Mind blown, but it's still just a theory for me at this point.

[point]

Cobb never even got onto the aeroplane. He spun the top in the bathroom after meeting Yusuf in Mobasa. He was interrupted at that point and the top fell onto the floor. We don't know if that scene was real, therefore anything that happened after that point in the movie could be fake. He is still stuck under sleep induced hypnosis in a difty, filthy room in the backstreets of Mombasa.

[tonyatienza]

YES YES YES YES... I came up with this theory years ago and so glad you put it on youtube. THIS IS EXACTLY HOW IT WENT DOWN! Just like Shutter Island misdirection. This movie is one of the most intelligent and mind blowing of our generation. Loved your explanation. ARIADNE was the skilled extractor/Inception(ist) with the help of Michael Cain (Grandfather) and possible MAL - who is now in the REAL WORLD... (Or she is dead, and Michael Caine is trying to bring Dom back) Either way.... Look at the movie AGAIn, and watch Ariadne as she is playing "Mr. Green" on Dom and always there snooping and knowing the hidden truths...

[t-n-jayala]

So Cobb as in "Cobb webb". Becoming free from entanglement. He is free from the proverbial labyrinth as you said in the video.

#datAshtho

[xscale]

Earlier in the film we twice see how long the top spins in Cobb's real world. 18 seconds each time. In the last scene the top is still spinning after 44 seconds. So even if it were to fall during the end credits, there's no question that Cobb is dreaming here. The actual questions Nolan's asking are who performed Inception on Cobb, what idea did they implant and why?
We see Cobb find Saito in limbo. But then we see Saito reach for his gun ... and Cobb has already told us that, heavily sedated as they are, guns don’t kick you out. They send you deeper. We don't know that Saito and Cobb are in limbo either. We only know they are in a dream level below the one with Mal and Ariadne. When old Saito spins Cobb's totem and shoots Cobb, that's what sends Cobb to limbo where James says, in a house on a cliff, "we're building a house on a cliff".
That’s how Saito's phone call can eliminate Cobb's murder conviction. Doing that is impossible in real life. Saito's problem was that he didn’t know the physical properties of Cobb's totem — how long it spins. Which is why the idea he implants in Cobb is to care more about seeing the children than checking the totem.
Still think the ending is ambiguous? I'm not surprised. Nolan has implanted the idea in your head that the ending is ambiguous ...

[arczero]

BROOO Also the line Eames says when Fisher teams up with them. "He's breaking into his own subconscious." EVERY LINE OF DIALOGUE explaining dream mechanics and persuading someone applies to Cobb as well. Bravo I knew this movie was too straightforward.