DO I LIE TO MYSELF TO BE HAPPY? BUDDHIST AND PLATONIC THEMES IN THE FILM, INCEPTION

INTFILO EF

MEMBERS

Ralvene Villareal Patricia Bernales Diane Veronica

Virtucio

Khristofer Leo Rea Christopher John

Zulueta Selena Kay

Galeos

What to you are the central themes in Plato’s allegory of the cave? What are the ways by which the film closely resembles the allegory of the cave? Conversely, what are the ways by which the film differs from it?

RECOGNIZING BELIEFS AND TRUTH

http://blogs.plos.org/scied/files/2013/09/truth_425x320.jpg

RECOGNIZING BELIEFS AND TRUTH

What do you believe is true?

What do you know is true?Is there a difference between belief and truth?

INCEPTION AND ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE

The film and allegory resembles in having a false reality.

SIMILARITIES In Plato's allegory of the cave, the prisoners were trapped

inside the cave for as long as they can remember. Here, they only see darkness which led them to believe that darkness is the only thing out there. In the film Inception, Mal has been stuck in the dream state for what seems like a very long time and forgets what being awake feels like. She had trouble distinguishing dream from reality. The people in the cave were like Mal. They refused to believe what reality is because of their initial knowledge of “reality.” They refused to open their minds to any ideas stating otherwise. They believe what they believe in. Moreover, the prisoner who was able get out of the cave resembles Cobb in a way that he too was able to go back to reality instead of being trapped in a dream.

DIFFERENCES One difference is that the prisoners

never knew about the life outside the cave; Mal, on the other hand, has known reality, it was just that she was trapped deep in her subconscious that she cannot differentiate dream from reality.

WHERE DOES KNOWLEDGE COME IN?

Knowledge: Information and skills acquired through

experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject.

What is known in a particular field or in total; facts and information.

How does the mind separate false reality from true reality? Enumerate instances (key scenes) where the film clearly delineates “false” reality from “true” reality.

How did false reality and true reality exist? False reality is the world created inside a dream by a known dreamer from the movie "Eames: If we are gonna perform Inception then we need imagination." This statement is pertaining to false reality and that is inception, where inception is only possible if imagination is present.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3-a58Wt2tk

KEY SCENES

Cobb spins his totem and it will continue spinning he is in false reality but if his totem stop spinning he is in true reality

KEY SCENES

Saito knew that he was in a dream because of the texture of his carpet which is polyester but in reality his carpet is wool.

KEY SCENES

Arthur explained to Ariadne the importance of totem to determine true reality from false reality

For a mind to distinguish false from true reality there should be sufficient training on dreaming using the machine, though for the case of Mal and Cobb, it was different. Mal gave away her sense of reality and exchanged it entirely for the false reality that she had always wanted and cannot differentiate fantasy and reality so she chose to end her "dreaming" but in fact she was already in the true world or true reality and she died for real.

If someone can infiltrate your dreams in order to make you behave a certain way, do you really have free will? Is free will that easily manipulated?

We do have free will but the real dilemma here is how we put it to use. Will you let others get in your head? (Figuratively!) Because if the mind would be completely infected, it would be hard to get back to what you originally believe in. As what was said in the film “An idea sticks, it is highly resilient and contagious. Once fully formed, it is fully understood.” Still, the individual is he who rules it, either he’ll let other people dictate his actions, or be his own mind and allow no one to take control with the exception of himself.

IN RELATION TO THE FILM Free will cannot be easily manipulated, it

would need a lot of expertise because for one reason, there are events that already happened before someone could infiltrate your dreams; and so, there would still be a connection between your past and how you would be manipulated.

Discuss how Cobb’s actions follow closely either some of the 4 Noble Truths or all of them.

FOUR NOBLE TRUTHSSUFFERING

Cobb was able to break free from the false reality. He knew there was something wrong though it was “perfect.” So he accepted to go back to reality and accept everything the real world has to offer including its flaws and the suffering it gives. His suffering is caused by his deep love to his wife that lead him to be obsessed with the idea of inception. And his way out of suffering is also the idea of inception – by planting an idea to Fischer so as to abide to his agreement with Saito.

The four noble truths talk about how all people, no matter how rich or poor, suffer pains and afflictions and that people suffer these afflictions because they keep traveling through the endless cycle of rebirths, or reincarnation. These rebirths were caused by mankind’s desires for different things. Cobb was able to break free from the false reality. He knew there was something wrong though it was “perfect.” So he accepted to go back to reality and accept everything the real world has to offer including its flaws and the suffering it gives.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCTAJ00nIlI Also, human existence is characterized by suffering. Cobb

experienced suffering because of the guilt he experiences whenever he see the projections of his wife and whenever he remembers his children with his present situation as a murderer. There is a cause for suffering. The cause of Cobb's suffering was his decision to plant an idea into his wife's mind. It made him feel the guilt and he was charged with murderer. The only way to end the suffering is to end his desires. Cobb was able to remove the guilt after he told Mal the truth and let go of her. He was able to clear the murder charge by accepting Saito's offer. There is a path leading to the cessation of suffering. The ending off the film showed the end of Cobb's suffering as he reunites with his children.

REFERENCES http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inception http://faculty.washington.edu/smcohen/320/

cave.htm http://www.princeton.edu/~

achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Allegory_of_the_cave.html

http://www.buddhanet.net/images/4n_title.gif

http://dejareviewer.com/2013/03/12/movie-matchups-inception-vs-mary-poppins/

http://collider.com/new-inception-images-posters-christopher-nolan/inception-movie-image-29/