Originally Posted by
Naya
What still confuses me is that I thought there was a scene where Cobb confirms he's not dreaming using his top; because it falls, we wasn't dreaming.
I think you have that backwards (that's like a quadruple negative)
. If the top does NOT fall then he's dreaming. If it falls, then he knows he's in reality, or at least his reality. Since he and Mal are the only two who can identify the totem by weight and feel, (and Mal's dead) then he alone knows if it's his totem or not.
Short answer: if it kept spinning, never wobbled, etc., then he was in someone's dream.
Originally Posted by
Naya
What I wish we had seen more of was Ariadne's totem. I knew it was a hollowed pawn from a metal chess set, but ... what was it supposed to do in the dream that differed from real life?
You just said it. It was a hollowed out pawn that she made. Only she knows how the weight of that pawn, the feel of the surface (didn't she carve something into the side too?) and the intricacies of that. It's unique to her and her alone, since she created it, and since she alone knows the properties (since no one else has touched it) then they can't PROJECT those properties to her totem.
Short answer: If she was in someone's dream, her totem would be messed up. Just like the loaded die would feel weird, the top would keep spinning/feel different.
Originally Posted by
Naya
If the theory presented by Hal in the link Rich provided, wouldn't she have created her totem while in the dream? I'm guessing she already had her totem and just created another one to satisfy Cobb. But I still want to know its way of defining the line between dream and reality for Ariadne.
Huh? She knew nothing about the dreams or totems, she was pulled into this by Cobb & the team. Remember when she was like "OMG we're dreaming? And then got jacked?" The next time she wanted to know if she was in a dream she'd look down at her totem, feel it and know immediately if she was dreaming or not because she and she alone knew how that totem felt and someone else wouldn't be able to project it correctly.
Originally Posted by
Naya
One thing to note is that she puts it down after hollowing it out, and then pushes it and it tips over. What the hell does that mean? Based on the theory of "whole movie is a dream" from Rich's link, that's what her totem does when she's dreaming. Wtf does it do in real life?
Perhaps it falls a bit differently now that it's hollowed out? Since she's the only one who knows it's weight, etc., then maybe she knows the force required to push over a hollowed out pawn vs. a non hollowed out one. Just speculating here, but it makes sense...
Originally Posted by
Naya
The reason I want to know this is it might tell us why there was a point in the movie where Cobb spun his top and it fell. So then based on the theory from Rich's link, if the entire movie was a dream, then Cobb's totem didn't work at all anymore. It couldn't tell the difference between dream and real life. So then that means the final scene of the movie didn't matter. It didn't matter if the top fell or not; but that's only if the whole movie was a dream, proving Cobb's totem invalid.
Perhaps I'm misinterpreting something, but I think you've got the whole point of a totem backwards a bit. It's a reference point. Something that the person can use to figure out if they're in a dream or not. Gordon-Levitt's loaded die is a good example: "Only I know the weight and feel of this, you touching it would defeat the purpose". So he takes it out of his pocket and if he was in a dream the dreamer would project the properties of a die to him, since it looks like a regular die and only he knows it's loaded, weighs differently, etc. If it feels differently he knows he's in a dream. If it weighs the same then he knows he's in reality (or his own dream, right?) Aagh..I just confused myself
The point is, the top wobbling (and falling...apparently you can hear it fall either right before, or right after the credits roll) is an indication that Cobb's not in a dream. But it leaves it up for speculation. I think the chemist (or someone) has a line about the top that it will never wobble, it'll just keep spinning forever, and at the end it clearly wobbles...even if the screen goes black before it falls.
Anyway, great way to end it...leaves you requiring a second (or third) viewing, that's for sure!
Originally Posted by
Naya
The totem works in that it proves to you that you are not dreaming or that you're in your own dream. The totem works against the "trick" when you're in someone else's dream because they don't know your totem.
I'm not sure about the "you're in your own dream" line...I thought I had it all figured out until thinking about that. I know the point is to identify if you're in someone else's dream, but perhaps someone can clarify this. I'm out of time here @ work...damn writeup is taking a lot longer than I thought it would!
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