“Inception” and the Real World
by Rev. Murray Speer - August 6, 2010
The current number one film at the box office is Christopher Nolan’s “Inception”, starring Leonardo Dicaprio and Ellen Page. In addition to being a well-crafted, fast-paced story with superb performances, it’s also an interesting look into how we each craft our own reality and choose the world we’ll live in.
In the movie, experts can build a dream world in their own minds, and introduce an unsuspecting dreamer into that world. They then enter this world themselves, and interact with the dreamer and his or her subconscious. The goal is to extract secrets for corporate espionage or military intelligence.
The leader of a small band of dream-builders, played by Leonardo Dicaprio, is haunted by memories of his dead wife. She intrudes into his dreams while he’s working, and interferes. Meanwhile, in his own private dreams, he has constructed a mansion of memory that prevents him from moving on in his life. Under artificial stimulation, his dreams consist only of his own happy memories, and he is no longer able to sleep and dream naturally.
The film raises questions that we should all take very seriously. Of course, no such technology exists in our world. We can’t go for a stroll in another person’s subconscious and extract secrets. But, is it too far of a stretch to say that some of us live in a reality that we have constructed for ourselves, where we see only happy memories, or a perfect future, while ignoring the pain and uncertainty all around us? I suspect this happens more than we might like to think.
The character in the movie struggles to keep only the happy memories, and to lock away his pain, regret, shame, and fear. But those less-pleasant feelings find creative ways to rear their heads and threaten him. Ultimately, they threaten everything he has been working for. This is the danger of seeing only the positive. The truth is that these feelings exist, and must be felt.
Each character in “Inception” who travels into the dreamworld has what they call a “totem” - a small, unique object that is entirely familiar to them but has never been touched by another person. By weighing it in their hand, they can tell whether they are in fact back in the real world.
For those of us who are Christians, this is the role of the cross. It reminds us that we are not living in a perfect dream world, but in a world that contains pain, and shame, and fear - it is, after all, a symbol of violent and public death. By looking at it, or holding it in our hands, we know that this is God’s world, not one that we have built for ourselves. It reminds us that God does not run away from the world. It tells us that the only way to find God is to love the world that God loves.
Whether we are Christian or not, whether the cross has this meaning or not, there is an important message here for us. We can’t help ourselves by turning away from our pain, and we can’t help the suffering world by tuning it out. It’s only by waking up and taking a real look around that we can start to change anything.
In fact, we can choose the reality we want to live in. We can choose to gloss over the pain and confusion of life and pretend that everything is okay. Or, we can choose to look closely at the pain that surrounds us and get to work trying to make a real difference. For me, I want to live in a world where things aren’t perfect, where people aren’t running away from suffering, and where I know that I’m not just dreaming.
by Rev. Murray Speer - August 6, 2010
The current number one film at the box office is Christopher Nolan’s “Inception”, starring Leonardo Dicaprio and Ellen Page. In addition to being a well-crafted, fast-paced story with superb performances, it’s also an interesting look into how we each craft our own reality and choose the world we’ll live in.
In the movie, experts can build a dream world in their own minds, and introduce an unsuspecting dreamer into that world. They then enter this world themselves, and interact with the dreamer and his or her subconscious. The goal is to extract secrets for corporate espionage or military intelligence.The leader of a small band of dream-builders, played by Leonardo Dicaprio, is haunted by memories of his dead wife. She intrudes into his dreams while he’s working, and interferes. Meanwhile, in his own private dreams, he has constructed a mansion of memory that prevents him from moving on in his life. Under artificial stimulation, his dreams consist only of his own happy memories, and he is no longer able to sleep and dream naturally.
The film raises questions that we should all take very seriously. Of course, no such technology exists in our world. We can’t go for a stroll in another person’s subconscious and extract secrets. But, is it too far of a stretch to say that some of us live in a reality that we have constructed for ourselves, where we see only happy memories, or a perfect future, while ignoring the pain and uncertainty all around us? I suspect this happens more than we might like to think.
The character in the movie struggles to keep only the happy memories, and to lock away his pain, regret, shame, and fear. But those less-pleasant feelings find creative ways to rear their heads and threaten him. Ultimately, they threaten everything he has been working for. This is the danger of seeing only the positive. The truth is that these feelings exist, and must be felt.
Each character in “Inception” who travels into the dreamworld has what they call a “totem” - a small, unique object that is entirely familiar to them but has never been touched by another person. By weighing it in their hand, they can tell whether they are in fact back in the real world.
For those of us who are Christians, this is the role of the cross. It reminds us that we are not living in a perfect dream world, but in a world that contains pain, and shame, and fear - it is, after all, a symbol of violent and public death. By looking at it, or holding it in our hands, we know that this is God’s world, not one that we have built for ourselves. It reminds us that God does not run away from the world. It tells us that the only way to find God is to love the world that God loves.Whether we are Christian or not, whether the cross has this meaning or not, there is an important message here for us. We can’t help ourselves by turning away from our pain, and we can’t help the suffering world by tuning it out. It’s only by waking up and taking a real look around that we can start to change anything.
In fact, we can choose the reality we want to live in. We can choose to gloss over the pain and confusion of life and pretend that everything is okay. Or, we can choose to look closely at the pain that surrounds us and get to work trying to make a real difference. For me, I want to live in a world where things aren’t perfect, where people aren’t running away from suffering, and where I know that I’m not just dreaming.
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