DO I LIE TO MYSELF TO BE HAPPY? BUDDHIST AND PLATONIC THEMES IN THE FILM, INCEPTION

1. DO I LIE TO MYSELF TO BE HAPPY? BUDDHIST AND PLATONIC THEMES IN THE FILM, INCEPTION Basa De Pedro Go Hernandez Trinidad Villavecer

2. What to you are the central themes in Plato’s allegory of the cave? What are the ways by which the film closely resembles the allegory of the cave? Conversely, what are the ways by which the film differs from it? • One of the central themes in Plato’s allegory of the cave would be the discovery of reality. Because of the excessive stay of the prisoners inside the cave, they are forced to believe that what they are currently experiencing would be considered as their reality. When one prisoner finally is finally set free, he discovers that there’s more to the world than just mere shadows. He is now enlightened of what the world has to offer. • Inception resembles the allegory of the cave in some ways. One of these would be how the characters are stuck in a false reality. Inception depicts that the characters are stuck in a dream wherein they have to go back to reality. As for the allegory of the cave, the prisoners are blinded by the shadows for so long. Furthermore, confusion is present within the characters of the film as well as the prisoners in the cave. For the film, the characters are confused whether they are living in a dream, or are they already living in reality. As for the allegory of the cave, the free prisoner now questions reality. • And for the difference of the inception and the allegory of the cave, it differs in the context of dreaming. Inception can be compared to a dream within a dream. But for the allegory of the cave, they were always awake, it’s just that they were blinded for such a long time of their concept of reality.

3. How does the mind separate false reality from true reality? Enumerate instances (key scenes) where the film clearly delineates “false” reality from “true” reality. • At first it is hard to determine reality from a dream or false reality because the mind doesn't notice it instantly, but once we realize it we know if we are in reality or not because in dreams we can create anything we want and control it as we please, in reality things happen as it is and we have no control over it. A good scene in the movie that determines reality from a dream is when cobb returned home and saw his children, he spinned his totem but we didn't really know if it stopped, but it is reality because it is shown that inside a dream cobb is wearing a ring in his left hand while in reality is not wearing a ring and as he entered the airport he has no ring in his left hand. Also, one of the scenes in the movie that represented a false reality from true reality is when Cobb and Mal were trapped in the dream world for 50 years.

4. If someone can infiltrate your dreams in order to make you behave a certain way, do you really have free will? Is free will that easily manipulated? • As argued by Rene Descartes, if a person is capable of having doubts of existence of things by experience, then there really is freedom for disbelief, this now constitutes to the free will. Free will is defined as a freedom of choice by us humans which are not determined by prior causes or divine intervention. If there would be someone or something that would influence our decisions then there is free will. In the film, Cobb’s group tried to influence the dream of a Japanese businessman Saito and the son of his ailing competitor Maurice Fischer. • Nowadays, free will is easily manipulated. There could be multiple reasons which influence a person’s decisions. They want people to see them highly and it influences the way they decide on things. With the rise of social media, a person wants to have a good social status through the pictures they post and the status they write on their walls. These are updated through social media websites like facebook, twitter, instagram, etc. and these influence the free will of a person.

5. Discuss how Cobb’s actions follow closely either some of the 4 Noble Truths or all of them. • First Noble Truth: Human existence is characterized by suffering This was shown when Cobb and his wife stayed in limbo recreating their memories and trying to make that their reality. However, as they woke up, Mal believed that limbo was the true reality and that the real world for her was a dream. She was convinced that she was still dreaming so she decided that committing suicide was the way to escape from the real world. The death of his wife caused Cobb to be guilty thus, living his life with regret for what happened to his wife. Also, he continued to dream about his wife and their memories when they were together. 2. Second Noble Truth: That there is a cause for suffering The cause of Cobb’s was the death of his wife, Mal. He was blaming himself on why her wife died and why his family cannot be whole again. He was suffering because he wanted his wife to be with him together with their children. That is why in his dreams he always sees his family together and complete.

6. Discuss how Cobb’s actions follow closely either some of the 4 Noble Truths or all of them. 3. Third Noble Truth: That there is a way out of suffering through the elimination of its cause Cobb was given an opportunity by Saito to do a big mission for him, which is to undergo inception in Robert Fischer’s mind. Saito can use his power to free Cobb from his charges (eliminate the cause) to be able to fly back to Los Angeles and finally be with his children again. To finally let go of his regret in Mal’s death and live a happy life, he realized that has to accept it, change, and move on. Cobb has to defeat this regret in order to be free. As Mal was constantly persuading Cobb to be with him, Cobb realized that he fulfilled his wedding promise of growing old together as they spent fifty years together in their shared dream and finally admitted it to Mal. He told Mal that he had to let her go, finally defeating regret and letting his happiness triumph.

7. Discuss how Cobb’s actions follow closely either some of the 4 Noble Truths or all of them. 4. Fourth Noble Truth: That there is a path leading to the cessation of suffering There is a way to achieve a suffering’s end. In order to realize this path from suffering to happiness, we must be filled with wisdom, ethical conduct, and meditation. This path to happiness and end of suffering is called the Eightfold Path. Comparing Cobb’s actions to end his suffering, he had wisdom (right intention), ethical conduct (right speech and right action), and meditation (right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration), thus he realized that he needs to end his suffering. Cobb had wisdom because he finally accepted that Mal was just a projection and that his intention to let go of her was for his own good, to live freely and away from regret. As for ethical conduct, he spoke of the truth to Mal, without using violence or harsh words in order to be free. And lastly, he was able to meditate and concentrate, allowing him to realize the truth of his sufferings and its causes, and that he needs to eliminate this suffering in order to achieve joy.