Inception: According to Jaja

If you've been under a rock lately, then you must not know that Inception is the most talked about movie this summer. Mind-boggling, mind-blowing, confusing, amazing, awesome, I don't get it.. just some words that were used to describe the movie. I'd go into a synopsis mode but I really want people to just go and find out for themselves. Anyway, the whole thing clicked in my mind days after I saw it. And I really wanted to go out and talk someone's ear off about my realizations, or epiphany. Haha. And I thought it was decent enough that I want to post it here.. so, here goes:

Janis Devicais to Kate.e.Schultz

so i saw inception, right? okay, glad we got that part right. haha.

anyhoo, here is the basic premise:

leo dicaprio (cobb?) is the extractor, joseph gordon levitt (arthur?) is the architect, ellen page (sp?) (ariadne) is another architect i guess, and then there's the chemist guy (the one who made that chemical that made then sleep deeper or something), and the other guy, i think he's called the forger coz he becomes someone else in the movie, and then the chinese(??) guy saito.

- the dreamer is where they house the situation, i guess, and that is where the architect builds the.. well, whatever it is. (see how i think this is better if i just told you in person? it can get confusing coz i feel like im rambling here.) and then of course you know about the target and he fills up the dream with projections of people or situations, whatever.

- i learned in a sociology class that when we dream, it is an overflow of our subconscious. everything in our dream is something that we have already laid eyes on in real life. so if for example you're in a dream where you think you may not know the place, the elements of the dream are random stuff you've "experienced" already.. the fire hydrant, a random person walking the street, a garbage can, a roof, wall paint, etc. (it was easy for me to understand the projections part of the movie because of what i learned in sociology class haha!)

- you can tell who's dream a particular level by who's staying awake. in the rain dream, that indian/arab/asian (im so bad at profiling haha) had to stay away because it was his dream. the hotel scene was gordon-levitt coz he was the one dreaming it, and im not sure if the snow scene was the target's or the forger's dream. anyhoo....

- they have totems right? i think (from what i understand) the totems are used so that they can tell if they're still dreaming or already back to reality. you have to design your own totem so that you are the only one familiar with it's elements, i guess so that there's a personal connection.. i never really understood why you're not allowed to touch someone else's. anyhoo, i think the totem's purpose is how it's used. i guess the mentality is that for example, leo's totem. he'd spin it and if it topples over then he's in the real world. because in a dream, he can will it to keep spinning and it will keep spinning. just like the scene where the forger "dreamed" of a bigger gun to shoot the bad guy on the roof. and ariadne's totem is supposed to topple over if she wills it in her dream, because in real life, she would not be able to. or is it if she topples it over it'll go back.. or something like that. you get the idea, right? i hope so.. i hope i'm not confusing you already..

- the timeline of the dreams are exponential,, three seconds in real life is 9 minutes in the first dream, 81 hours in the second dream.. iono if i did the calculations right, but i think it's pretty much like that..

okay, so here's my interpretation of the ending and whatnot.. (iono why i even enumerated those above.. i guess coz i figured it out too, or understood it.. whatever.. haha!)

- so the ending is pretty much leo finally sees his kids right? and then he spins his totem and walks away. so the audience is left thinking whether the totem stops spinning or not. and of course, i didn't want to commit to a conclusion. i didn't commit because i thought that that would separate the positive thinkers from the cynics. (i just don't know which one would be which).

- ooh quick trivia,, did u know that when it's reality cobb is wearing his wedding ring, and during the dreams he's not? that.. or is it the other way around? i don't remember.. haha!

- anyhoo.. there's this phrase i always use when debating with people: [blank] is relative. for example,, height is relative, craziness is relative, beauty is relative. you know what i mean, right? like height is relative to what you're comparing something with. i can say you're tall, but you're only taller compared to everyone who's shorter than you obviously.. does that make sense? when people say i'm  crazy, i say.. craziness is relative.. i'm only crazier than the rest of people you've met, otherwise you'll say "you're as crazy as" or "not as crazy as".. does that make sense really? i REALLY hope so. or when people who are skinnier than me say that they're fat. then i say if you're fat, i must be a whale. coz fatness would be relative to whatever or whoever her idea of skinnyness(is that even a word??) DOES THIS MAKE SENSE?? ugh, i feel like im confusing you even more.. bear with me.. or just pardon my ramblings.. haha!

- now, last sunday (i promise this is related to the movie), i had my friend owen fix my computer at his house. my roommates were there, plus danny. my computer stuff wasnt done yet but everyone else wanted to leave. i didnt drive to the house so i had two choices: sleep over owen's house and have his fiancee drive me home very early the next day.. or ask danny to give me a ride home. i asked danny and he said fine, nbd. when we were driving home, i didnt want to sit on the front passenger seat of his car.. just because. you know.. hehehe.. but he insisted so i'm like, fine. but i wouldnt look around his car, i only stared outside the window.. even though we were talking. because i did not want to see the new stuff in danny's car. places in his car where my stuff used to me.. ignorance is bliss, you know? haha. he dropped me off, walked me inside the apartment, whatever. when he was walking out, he saw me through my bedroom window and he decided to scare me. i opened the window to yell at him (after screaming like a mad woman of course) and then we ended up talking for maybe an hour or two. i was sitting on my bed, then he was outside standing and leaning on my window sill. we had so much fun, we were joking around, and laughing and doing stupid stuff (like walking down as if if you're on an escalator, whatever.. haha.) like old friends. and then when he decided to leave, i told him: you know the drill, right? let me know when you get home so i know you got home safe. he said: call or text? i said: call, because i don't want you to waste your text messages on me. (he only has 400 a month). so then he called. and we ended up talking some more, maybe almost an hour. about his graduation, life, whatever. and then we hung up and i went to bed. the next night, he messaged me on gchat (which is awesome btw. haha) but i was already asleep. so i woke up in the morning with a message that goes "something" like this: are you still awake? do you think that you and her (dont want to say her name) can be "friends" or at least be civil. no need to answer now, just something to think about. so that brought me back to reality. and then my phrase clicked. and in an inception-like manner, everything came flooding back to me.. reality and all that stuff, and my phrase ____ is relative, which led me to the conclusion. what if.. reality is relative.

- to bring it all in.. TA DAH!! what if reality is relative? what if our reality is what we make of it? in imdb, the kids of cobb were credited as two people, a younger and a slightly older boy and girl. what if, cobb spun his totem but didn't bother to find out if it would stop spinning or not because THIS IS THE REALITY he wants to accept. that he is back home with his kidsand he can see their faces. we do know that when these con artists were building the dreams, they're dreams, not memories. because they mentioned in the movie that you should never bring memories into dream.. or something like that. cobb didnt care to see if his totem will stop spinning or not because this is what he's been waiting for.. it could be the reality or a dream where he can construct again and made a dream with his kids on it (is that clear to you?).. because in the beginning he was also an architect but he could not construct because he brought mal's memory along with him. that is why he did not allow himself to see the maze the other architects were making so that mal would not know and sabotage their plans.. remember that part?

- in my personal experience.. i "thought" i am where i am with danny now.. i am at peace with where i am, and also happy with the fact that i did not lose a friend.. that the person that i once had as a bestfriend is still a friend to me (because i hate cutting people out of my life). and that's all there is to it. but i also choose to disassociate (is that even a word) myself with "him with her" with aspects like i dont want to see them together, photos in fb (i havent visited his site in months), comments, anything.. (get it?). because in my reality, i am at peace with who i am and who he is now.. without that other aspect of him. i am not disillusioned, i don't think so.. i just chose to accept a reality that will keep me from getting hurt again.. and to not associate myself with the reminder that i was "dumped" for danny to be with someone else. i know i always tell myself, that you cannot pick and choose aspects of a person's life.. that you have to accept everything about everyone.. but in this case my reality with danny is something that i built for myself.. because it is easier than a contant painful reminder of what happened to me.

(sidenote, i make it sound like what happened to me and him is a big deal,, because it kinda is.. he was my first love, heartbreak, everything, whatever may be. it's not even about him as a person but just the whole situation in general. so yeah.. haha.. but i'm soooo okay now..)

so people might say that i'm living in a dream world, or that i need to wake up and smell the coffee.. but in fact. this is my reality. =/

on a happier note.. that is why inception clicked to me and i was so proud. haha. i never thought i'd pull a life experience out my butt to be able to understand a movie.. but there goes.

OMG, this is soooo long.. i told you. i warned you. this is embarrassing. haha.

now, i really have to watch inception again. grr.. but i'd have to go with someone who doesnt mind a movie talker. so i can draw up conclusions and such.. hahahahahaha!!

inxs: this gave me a headache trying to put my thoughts to words.. everyone knows thinking is faster than talking.. or even typing. haha!

i hope this didnt give you more headaches.. just a clearer understanding.. well, at the very least it didnt confuse you more..

ttfn!

....and cut.

That was my whole epiphany thing. I hope it doesn't get me too confused when I reread this in the future. And with that in mind, I can't wait for it to come out in DVD.