The Ethics of Reality in Inception

One common thread in many viewers’ reactions to Inception has been to view the film’s ending as an endorsement of the belief that what ultimately matters is what we believe to be real, our own reality, not what is actually real.

Whether or not Cob’s totem topples is irrelevant–so this line of reasoning goes–as long as in his reality he is able to go home to his children and forgive himself for his role in his wife’s suicide. While the moving image of Cob hugging his children in the final shot of the film and the reality-blurring dream-worlds plot might seem to support this interpretation of Inception, if we carefully consider one of Cob’s driving motivations we can see that Nolan actually challenges the idea that there is no significant difference between Cob’s dream and reality.

The final shot of the film is of Cob hugging his children, which is a reminder for the viewer that Cob’s story is not only about seeking forgiveness for killing his wife; it is just as much, if not more, about his efforts to return home to his children. If the film ends and he is dreaming still, then in reality those children will remain fatherless. It does matter whether or not Cob is dreaming because Cob is not the only person in the world. Cob has an obligation to his neighbors and particularly to his children, an obligation to love them, to live with them in community, as we all do. In this sense, the only way in which it would not matter if Cob is dreaming is if he is the only person alive, or if we assume that he has no obligation to love people in the real world. There is noevidence for the former in the film, and as Christians we must reject the latter, as Nolan does.

Nolan clearly points to the ethics of living in the “real world” early in the film when Cob visits his father in France. Please excuse my paraphrasing here; I don’t have the script in front of me and have only seen the film twice. But as I recall the scene, Cob tells his father that he needs an architect because Mal won’t let him build anymore. His father replies something to the effect of, “Come back to the reality.” And Cob responds that “reality” is that his children do not have a father. If we keep this scene in mind, the end of the film takes on a new significance. There is a real ethical difference between the dream world and reality. While Cob might experience both worlds the same, in reality there are two young children who deeply miss their father, and if Cob remains in the dream until he goes insane, then they will never have their father back.

Christians often speak out against what they perceive as the “postmodern” view that reality is entirely subjective, that all truths are relative to the individual. While it is true that these are important issues for Christians to consider, Inception reminds us of another aspect of total relativism: because we live in a world with other people, it does matter what is real and what is true, because our lives and actions affect those around us.