The Answer To Inception’s Ending

Date: Aug 2, 2010 | Author: Josh Tyler | Category: Sci-Fi

If you’ve seen Inception then you probably walked out wondering whether Cobb’s totem spun off the table or not. If you haven’t seen Inception yet, don’t worry. It’s a movie so wonderfully dense and complex that it’s almost impossible to spoil. But for those of you who did and have still been wondering, we may have a clue which will help you figure out whether the top spun off to indicate Cobb was in reality, or kept spinning to indicate he was really trapped in another dream.

One of the big reasons many have theorized that Cobb might still be trapped in a dream revolves around the appearance of his kids. We see them throughout Inception, but only through the lens of Cobb’s memory of them. When we see them that way, they always look the same. They wear the same clothes, they have the same haircut. Yet in reality it’s been months or even years since Cobb saw them, yet at the end of the movie when he’s supposed to see them in reality… they look exactly the same as they did in his memory. Specifically, they seem to be wearing the same clothes. If they’re wearing the same clothes as they are on Cobb’s dream, then that means they aren’t real and he’s still dreaming. Except it seems they aren’t wearing the same clothes.

Though it may look like the same kids at the same age wearing the same clothes at the end of the film, IMDB confirms that two different child actors of different ages played Cobb’s kids in the movie. And more importantly Inception costume designer Jeffrey Kurland insists in this interview that though you may have thought their clothes were the same, they weren’t. He says, “the children’s clothing is different in the final scene… look again…”

I’m sure the debate will rage on, but this seems to lend a lot of creedence to the notion that Cobb is in reality at the end of the film. If he isn’t, how do you explain his kids change of clothing? I can’t. For me, this is the answer I’ve been looking for. What about you?

Comments

rui

Nice JT, I was thinking the same after I saw the movie, if Cobb's dream's children's clothes were the same at the final scene, it was a dream.
I dont remember childrens clothing but with al IMDB and Jeffrey Kurland stuff, is clearly that Cobb isnt dreaming.
I dont realy like happy endings, but maybe there is something else hidden in the others wtfs of the movie that change the end completely.
Just 2 more words: thanx Nolan
- rui
  
  And i forgot to tell, i dunno who's behind this, but Jeffrey Kurland made a nice move: there is lack of children screencaps in the internet, this is going to make some-bait-eaters (me) to watch the movie again.
  - http://www.cinemablend.com JT
    
    On my second viewing I watched their clothes closely and to me they looked the same, but obviously I missed something. No reason Kurland would lie.
deadtosin

Another thing…as the tops spins in the dreams, it spins plumb and doesn't waiver, but at the end before the screen goes black, the top goes off balance losing its plumb…it will fall.
Paul G

on I09 someone said that his wedding ring is his totem. In his dreams he wears in in reality he doesn't.
Jay

he's still in a dream except he should be in a next level because saito didn't kill himself in time before the van hit the water. and how could cobb's father be waiting for him at the airport on such short notice? so i assume everyone is still on the plane asleep and their brains are fried cause they have been in a dream for so long. i'm not sure this is the right answer, i don't know if anyone has the right answer that's what makes the movie good.
- http://twitter.com/hale18 matt hale
  
  Im sure it wasnt short notice since they been planning the heist for awhile and his dad knew he be in america either way. Just cause they dont show him telling his father to be there doesnt meen it doesnt happen. We dont see them going to the bathroom so does that meen they never go.
Getbent

Hmm. I thought his kids were his totem. If he sees their faces, then he isn't dreaming. He wanted one last look before he ran, but never got it.
DL

See when i watched the movie i noticed that in the scene where cobb tested the drugs he dashed to the washroom to spin his totem, but in his rush he dropped it instead, so he never figured if he was dreaming or not, and from that point on in the movie he did not spin the totem until the final scene. although granted it did waver in the final scene, as another poster said, which i agree to (how stayed perfect in the dreams). i still think it is interesting that we saw him wake up from a supposedly deep sleep (where people come to live their dreams) and did not see his totem fall for the rest of the movie. did anyone else notice this?
- akim2034
  
  Wow I didn't think of that. Do you think that Cobb was actually in Mall's dream? The totem he used was actually Mall's to begin with…
akim2034

His kids were definitely not wearing the same clothes in the final scene. Cobb's son, James, also had longer hair in the last scene.
Architect

The Inception was made to Cobb. The inception of the film is the moment when the seed was left in his mind. He then believes he is dreaming since the beginning which then make he finally believes that when he woke up in the plane he is in the reality. The Architect (Ariadne) is the key. She is a lot more skilled than Cobb, she knows how to manage gravity (so the totem) and made Cobb and all spectator believe that the inception mission to Fischer was the reality. Observe also that Ariadne learned a lot about Cobb’s psychology and Limbo, she is the only one allowed or that had succeeded to enter his Limbo so whenever she got that she would be able to architect the “reality” Cobb was looking for.
Skarue

The movie was awesome, but the ending makes You think, doesn't it?:)Check out my interpretation of the ending at http://www.inceptionending.com.nu/
PS: Sugest this page to Yours friends if You can!:)

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