Faith in Film, Week 7

Tonight we tackle the world of dreams with "Inception," a fascinating film that came out in 2010. It comes from director Christopher Nolan, and it was incredibly well received by critics and audiences. It got an 86 percent critical score and 91 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, which is pretty outstanding.

It was also a big player during awards season, nominated for eight Academy Awards and winning four for its technical presentation. And this was a labor of love for Nolan, who began working on the screenplay after seeing "The Matrix" in 1999 and presented an 80-page treatment to Warner Brothers in 2001. He worked on it for nine to 10 years before finally making it into a film, and I think that dedication to story and craft shows.

But what the film really boils down to (aside from a controversial ending that had people talking for years) is an exploration of the weight of grief and loss. Many of Nolan’s films have similar themes. By worldview he’s somewhat of a Secular Humanist — with his films often depicting the inherent goodness of mankind and our ability to be our own saviors. That was an especially present theme in his take on Batman, and in “Interstellar.” But Nolan's work also often explores existential, ethical and epistemological themes such as subjective experience, distortion of memory, human morality, the nature of time, causality and construction of personal identity. “I'm fascinated by our subjective perception of reality, that we are all stuck in a very singular point of view, a singular perspective on what we all agree to be an objective reality, and movies are one of the ways in which we try to see things from the same point of view,” he said.

In "Inception," we see the central character, Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), really haunted by past events. He goes so far as to build a sort of memory palace with moments for which he wants to make amends, something that we all recognize is impossible. But that's the power of grief and guilt.

I found some fascinating quotes on guilt and what it does to us. Robert South said, “Guilt upon the conscience, like rust upon iron, both defiles and consumes it, gnawing and creeping into it, as that does which at last eats out the very heart and substance of the metal.” Dave Grohl, the musician and artist who was a part of the band Nirvana and is the front man for the Foo Fighters, said, “Guilt is cancer. Guilt will confine you, torture you, destroy you as an artist. It's a black wall. It's a thief.” That one certainly resonates, too, as you can see what guilt is stealing from Cobb. It’s stealing his present and his total focus. As an artist, guilt prevent Cobb from being able to build the worlds in his dreams, too. Finally, the philosopher Platus said, “Nothing is more wretched than the mind of a man conscious of guilt.” We see that throughout the film, too. Cobb’s mind is dangerous — to him and to others. His guilt has manifested into this unstable and often violent projection of his wife that attacks him and others who share that space.

And the trouble with Cobb’s guilt is that he can’t really make amends. His wife is gone and he can’t really seem to get past that easily. Even following the scene we watched, he sadly acknowledges that even in the dream it isn’t her, just a projection of her in his mind. And we see he built this memory place as a way to hold on and revisit these scenes in his life that he wants to get right, because it’s the only way he can think to assuage his guilt. It’s ultimately a sad story — though some might have a different take on the ending, which we’ll get to in a minute.

But as Christians, we, too, can be weighed down by guilt. And it can, as it was for Cobb, be related to broken relationships that we can’t heal in this time and in this world. But what can lift that burden is a sense of being forgiven, which can only really come through Christ. The Bible talks frequently about the power of feeling forgiven in Him, and how that can free us from the guilt and burden of our sins. Psalm 103:12 says, “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” Seeking God’s forgiveness and redemption can free us of those burdens and give us a clean start. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” God doesn’t want us to live as slaves to guilt; He wants us to experience freedom and forgiveness in Him, and more importantly the freedom and forgiveness that can only come from Him.

Discussion Questions:
1. Did this film work for you, why or why not?

2. We see Cobb working in dreams and talking about the idea of being able to implant an idea. What do you think of the concept of Inception? Do you think it works?

3. Throughout the film we see Cobb pressing and taking risks, seemingly because he’s driven to get back to his kids. As the film progresses, we see that the root of Cobb’s behavior is a deep and underlying sense of guilt. How does guilt impact our lives and our actions? What makes guilt such a powerful emotion?