3 Ways That Inception is Postmodernist?

Inception is a (2010) film directed by Christopher Nolan and follows Dominik

Cobb played by Leonardo Di Caprio as he attempts to pull off a heist within the
mind of an important business CEO along with a group of other characters in
hopes to win back his freedom and see his family again. Like most other Nolan
films, Inception has a wide variety or themes, timelines and story arcs that we the
audience attempt to keep up with as the film progresses and looks at the human
sub-conscience and how are dreams can impact our daily lives, but how much of
Inception can also be argued to apply to
Postmodernism too?

One reason can be the films heavy usage of

Intersexuality, which can be defined as “the point
where two works of art overlap. In terms of film, it's
where a movie overlaps with another work of art…”
(Bryan, 2003) in relation to Postmodernism, it is used
as a way to show that “it's clear that no text exists in Fig 1, Inception, (2010)

isolation and that works of literature can only be created

using stuff that already exists” (Rahden, [unknown]) and Inception does this a
few times, one of the more obvious examples being the character of Ariadne who
in the film is responsible for being the “architect” in the dream, or rather the
person who designs the spaces and areas the dream will take place in. In relation
Fig 2, Ariadne, (2010)
to Intersexuality, Ariadne is also the name of the
daughter of King Minos from the greek mythos of the
Minotaur, in the myth she is the sister of the hideous Minotaur and
also a small love interest to the character of Theseus, the hero whom
comes to slay the beast. The film references this strongly in the
opening scene, when Ariadne is asked to design a maze for Cobb to
show him how good of an architect she is, but also arguably through
her characterisation throughout the film, as both mythos Ariadne and
Inception Ariadne are heavily empathetic with some of the more
serious or ugly features in the stories, as Mythos Ariadne pities the
Minotaur and visits him despite his temper and hides appearance and
Inception Ariadne investigates and helps Cobb understand his issues
and guilt over the death of his wife, which becomes a tension point in
the films plot.
Fig 3, Bacchus and Ariadne, (1523)
The film isn’t original in using Ariadne as a character, and fans who know the myth
can use intertextuality as shorthand to understand the character of Ariadne and her intentions throughout the
film, making it easier to sympathise with her and use her mythos characters story as a way to plot out her
own arc.

Another way is through the films usage of Hyper reality, which can be defined as “a special kind of social
reality in which a reality is created or simulated from models, or defined by reference to models” and
therefore hard to distinguish between reality and in relation to Postmodernism hyper reality is defined by
Baudrillard as “something which replaces reality with its representations…where reality has been replaced
by false images, to such an extent that one cannot distinguish between real and un-real” (Mambrol, 2016)
and within Inception this is played most strongly with the films concept of dreams, in which the characters
drift in and out of each others consciences which creates different layers, times and sub plots for the film that
the audience has to keep track of. Nolan uses this concept to his advantage, making the audience question
everything they see and not believe anything as real by creating a realistic looking simulation of the real
world with only a small number of tricks to allow the audience to tell the difference.

Lastly is through the films characters, especially Cobb played by Leonardo Di Caprio. Inception has a lot of
morally grey characters and through the film Cobb can be argued to blur the line between a good and a bad
guy by movie standards, as at the beginning we see him wanting to get back to his family and the guilt over
the death of his wife, standards that would put the film in line more with Modernism
and its distinguishable good and bad characters, however as the film progresses we
begin to discover that Cobb is also a liability and an issue for the team as he is
partially responsible for the death of his wife and also for bringing problems into the
dream world that is making is difficult to complete the heist. Both of these features
make Cobb a morally grey character, more in line with Postmodernist ideals, that
contrast the Modernist idea of “that old- timey Enlightenment-era notion that we all
shared values, approved the same truths, and agreed on the facts” (Livini, 2018) so
he doesn’t share the same feelings and ideas that other protagonist in film should,
that he should be a morally good character who just wants to help and succeed,
instead Nolan made a more realistic character who reflects the audience and isn’t
immune to mistakes that makes the film feel more grounded and real. Fig 4, Cobb, (2010)

In conclusion Inception incorporates different elements that can be argued to make the film more
Postmodern, through its storytelling, characters and themes. Nolan creates a more diverse film by adding in
Postmodern nuances, that although could be argued to make the film more gritty and depressing also make it
more realistic and grounded despite is stranger premise.
 Illustrative Bibliography

Fig 1, Inception, (2010), [Film Poster], URL: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/, (Accessed:

12/10/19)

Fig 2, Ariadne, (2010), [Film Screenshot], URL: https://inception.fandom.com/wiki/Ariadne,

(Accessed: 12/10/19)

Fig 3, Bacchus and Ariadne, (1523), [Oil Painting], URL: https://eclecticlight.co/2016/05/06/the-

story-in-paintings-ariadne-on-naxos/, (Accessed: 12/10/19)

Fig 4, Cobb, (2010), [Film Screenshot], URL: https://inception.fandom.com/wiki/Dominick_Cobb,

(Accessed: 12/10/19)

Bibliography

Livni, E, (2018), Everyone hates postmodernism—but that doesn’t make it wrong, URL:
https://qz.com/1388555/everyone-hates-postmodernism-but-that-doesnt-make-it-false/, (Accessed:
12/10/19)

Mambrol, N, (2016), Baudrillard Concept of Hyperreality, URL:

https://literariness.org/2016/04/03/baudrillards-concept-of-hyperreality/, (Accessed: 12/10/19)

Robinson, A, (2012), Jean Baudrillard: Hyperreality and Implosion, URL:

https://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/in-theory-baudrillard-9/, (Accessed 12/10/19)

Bryan, K, [Unknown], Intertextuality in Film: Definition & Examples, URL:

https://study.com/academy/lesson/intertextuality-in-film-definition-examples.html, (Accessed: 12/10/19)

Rahden, A, [Unknown], INTERTEXTUALITY IN POSTMODERN LITERATURE, URL:

https://www.shmoop.com/postmodern-literature/intertextuality-characteristic.html, (Accessed: 12/10/19)