The Relationship Between Inception and Psychology, Movie Review Example

Even though the film Inception is science fiction, it is based on several psychological principles. Of utmost importance is the relationships the movie discusses between feelings in dreams and our actions in the real world (Johnson et al.). Through these means, Dom Cobb and his comrades attempt to extract memories of their enemies, including Japanese businessman Saito and his colleagues. As the story continues, it is difficult to keep track of how deep the team has gone into the dreams of these individuals and they become worried that they will become trapped in a dream world. This represents the uncertainty that we sometimes have when we are dreaming and the debate as to the relevance that these dreams hold.

Dreams are important hallmark of psychology as Freud describes dreams as the road to the unconscious mind. Since dreams are a consequence of neural connections that we are able to control, psychological principles dictate that it is possible to use emotions portrayed and images seen in dreams in order to gain a greater understanding about our conscious situation. In psychotherapy, clinicians use an individual’s interpretation of his or her dream to provide them with knowledge concerning their mental state (Oberst et al.). In this situation, dreams are representative of what we want them to be, and as a consequence, they represent our innermost thoughts.

While some individuals believe that dreams can be interpreted on the basis of individual symbols, it is important to consider that the relevance of an individual’s dream in one situation cannot be applied to a second individual’s analysis of a dream. Ultimately, the same symbol can mean very different things for two different individuals. It is necessary for each person to report the meaning of it separately to determine its context within the larger scope of the dream. In this instance, it is essential to consider the relevance of Don Cobb’s experiences while in the dreams of his enemies. Since Cobb is himself asleep, we can consider that he is not really inside the dreams of his enemies at all. Rather, he is in a version of their dreams that he would expect them to be. In reality, it would not be possible to be immersed in the dream of another individual because it is unlikely that we are able to perceive thoughts in the same manner that others can. However, we are free to imagine what their dreams would be like and can gain an understanding of others from our own interpretation of these thoughts.

This understanding of dreams and perception is relevant to the ending of the film. Towards the end, Cobb encounters his wife in a dream, which is an important moment for the viewers because we are able to gain an understanding of how her loss truly impacts him. Even though Cobb is aware that he is in a dream, he continues to engage in the same emotions he would with his life if she were alive. This demonstrates that he is unable to get over her death, as he continues to dream of her with such vivacity. Later, when we see that Cobb is trapped deeply within his dream, he ignores it in favor of living his former life with her. This is an important concept because it demonstrates that while Cobb appears to be mentally stable in reality, he is unable to cope with the latest changes in his life. As a consequence, he is unwilling to wake up to experience reality. In the clinical setting, Cobb is an individual that would benefit by being providing with psychotherapy because it will allow him to recognize the damage that some of his innermost thoughts cause him and will help him get past his grieving stage.

A major theme of the film is the ability of the characters to distinguish reality and dreams. We soon find that as the characters get deeper into the dreams of others, it becomes more difficult for them to understand where they are. As a consequence, Cobb uses a totem in the form of a spinning top to determine if he has returned to reality. If the top continues to spin, he is in a dream, while if it stops according to the normal laws of gravity and physics, he is in reality. Despite the existence of this tool, we notice that Cobb goes from concerned over the ability to distinguish between dreams and reality to a complete lack of caring as he is flooding with memories of his former life with his wife. This demonstrates that the boundaries between reality and dreams are less clear than we would like. In many situations, our dreams appear lifelike and we are unable to determine fact from fiction until we fully awaken. In this same manner, Cobb and his comrades were foolish to have tried to use indicators of whether or not he existed in a dream, because it is impossible to be certain. A top could obey or disobey physics in a dream, just as any other rule can; dreams are what our minds make them to be, so anything can happen.

This film was selected for analysis because it ties in closely with the understanding of psychotherapy and its relevance to clinical treatment. Dom Cobb is an individual whose profession is one that requires him to be deeply immersed in the dreams of others, yet he seems to not be able to perform these responsibilities adequately due his own subconscious conflicts. Therefore, Cobb represents an individual who would benefit by the clinical treatment in this manner. Unfortunately, his experiences in the film impact him in a manner that causes him to repress his painful memories deeper and deeper until he no longer wishes to exist in reality. In essence, psychotherapy is the opposite of this problem, and therapists work with individuals in order to allow them to understand the cause for this repression in addition to gaining knowledge of specific memories being repressed.

While there are many techniques that could be used to implement psychotherapy, the method most relevant to this film is the interpretation of dreams. It is clear from the images seen that while Cobb appears to be concentrated on his work life on the surface, he continues to be impacted by the death of his wife. However, we do not even learn that his wife existed in detail until he is in a deep dream level. At this point, the film appears to be less and less about Cobb’s mission and more about his attempt to return his life to what it was before her death. The most striking feature of Cobb’s dreams is that he tells his dream wife that he is unwilling to leave her, even though she tries to convince him that he must. In the deepest phase of the dreams, even his unconscious mind is unable to offer him appropriate advice, which contributes to his tendency to stay in a dream land.

Ultimately, the aim of psychotherapy is to increase the sense of one’s well-being, which is enhanced through dialogue, communication, and tracking of behavior changes. In Cobb’s situation, he would have benefitted by visiting a therapist early on his grief to prevent him from falling into his own mind. When Cobb is eventually woken up from his dream, it will be more difficult to provide him with treatment, and a thorough examination will be necessary to determine if the cause for his current experiences are a consequence of psychosis. However, if he is provided with a regular counseling plan and his progress is tracked over time, it will be possible for Cobb to recover in a manner that allows him to live a normal life again, which will include the ability to form new relationships with others.

In conclusion, Inception provides the viewer with a deeper understanding of psychological principles. Since dreams are an inherent part of the story, it allows us to determine the root cause of Cobb’s dreams and his resistance to reality. Ultimately, dream analysis can be utilized as a valuable means in psychotherapy, which Cobb would greatly benefit from to release his unconscious thoughts and begin to recognize them in reality. While it appears that Cobb was too trapped within his own mind at the end of the film to recover, this just means that he needs to be put on a rigorous therapy program to ensure that improvement will be seen.

Works Cited

Johnson, David Kyle; Irwin, William. Inception and Philosophy: Because It’s Never Just a Dream. John Wiley & Sons, 2011.

Oberst, Ursula E.; Stewart, Alan E. Adlerian Psychotherapy: An Advanced Approach to Individual Psychology. New York: Brunner-Routledge, 2003.