Albert Huang
Mr. Robbins
Period 5
3/14/15
Strength of the idea In the conversation defining the all-time greatest director in the movie industry, several names, may never be absent. Among those that legend isn’t a powerful enough word to describe their merits, one name has appeared like the transit of Venus. It’s never as magnificent as the darkness of an eclipse, but has attracted countless followers with its distinctive glamour. It’s always close by the orbit of our lives, but yet so far away that not even the greatest artist could capture all the mystery. He is not a legend, but he is special. He is not obscure, but he is profound. His name, much more than just a combination of letters, is a beam of light that so many are trying to pursue, …show more content…
With 800 million box office and high evaluation, “Inception” could be considered one of the most successful movies ever made. However, despite the profit and award, the movie proved an assumption. The core value and attraction of the film is not CGI explosions and classical heroic acts like other films, it’s the highest subject explaining human behavior and emotion, the most obscure science among all: philosophy. The philosophy of Inception adopted ideas from a variety of prominent philosophers. The main theme, dream and reality, came from ancient Chinese philosopher, Zhuangzi. He explained in his book that one day he dreamed himself as a butterfly, and he cannot make sure whether it’s that he had a dream about butterfly, or a butterfly had a dream about human life. (Rosenstock). The simple idea leads to profound discussion. In his “allegory of the cave,” Plato suggested a thought experiment: what if several prisoners were held in a cave from the start of their lives, and coaches and people go through the cave behind them, so that all they can see is the shadow of the world? Naturally, they would assume that what they see is the real world. Eventually, one prisoner is released from the cave. Can he believe that the real world is colorful, three dimensional with communication and relation? If he was to believe the real world, will the other prisoners believe that when he tells them the story? What is the strong proof that our world we see right now is “real,” and we are not looking at some projections? We could be only projections in others’ dreams, and the world could just be a simulation where neither us nor the universe really exist. (Rosenstock) The discussion of this type of questions makes the movie much deeper and more artistic, more touching and more attractive. More importantly, the movie didn’t set up a one-answer moral lesson to the audience; the open ending made it so
Mr. Robbins
Period 5
3/14/15
Strength of the idea In the conversation defining the all-time greatest director in the movie industry, several names, may never be absent. Among those that legend isn’t a powerful enough word to describe their merits, one name has appeared like the transit of Venus. It’s never as magnificent as the darkness of an eclipse, but has attracted countless followers with its distinctive glamour. It’s always close by the orbit of our lives, but yet so far away that not even the greatest artist could capture all the mystery. He is not a legend, but he is special. He is not obscure, but he is profound. His name, much more than just a combination of letters, is a beam of light that so many are trying to pursue, …show more content…
With 800 million box office and high evaluation, “Inception” could be considered one of the most successful movies ever made. However, despite the profit and award, the movie proved an assumption. The core value and attraction of the film is not CGI explosions and classical heroic acts like other films, it’s the highest subject explaining human behavior and emotion, the most obscure science among all: philosophy. The philosophy of Inception adopted ideas from a variety of prominent philosophers. The main theme, dream and reality, came from ancient Chinese philosopher, Zhuangzi. He explained in his book that one day he dreamed himself as a butterfly, and he cannot make sure whether it’s that he had a dream about butterfly, or a butterfly had a dream about human life. (Rosenstock). The simple idea leads to profound discussion. In his “allegory of the cave,” Plato suggested a thought experiment: what if several prisoners were held in a cave from the start of their lives, and coaches and people go through the cave behind them, so that all they can see is the shadow of the world? Naturally, they would assume that what they see is the real world. Eventually, one prisoner is released from the cave. Can he believe that the real world is colorful, three dimensional with communication and relation? If he was to believe the real world, will the other prisoners believe that when he tells them the story? What is the strong proof that our world we see right now is “real,” and we are not looking at some projections? We could be only projections in others’ dreams, and the world could just be a simulation where neither us nor the universe really exist. (Rosenstock) The discussion of this type of questions makes the movie much deeper and more artistic, more touching and more attractive. More importantly, the movie didn’t set up a one-answer moral lesson to the audience; the open ending made it so