I think Arthur totem (and Ariadne's) can do both too.
In the real world, Arthur's die should fall on the same number every time. It should feel right.
If he's the dreamer, then he would be able to influence the die to fall on whatever number he chooses. It should feel right.
If he's in someone else's dream, he may or may not be able to influence what number it falls on (I'm still undecided on that), but even if the dreamer knew it was a weighted die, they'd only have a 1 in 6 chance of guessing the number correctly. If they didn't know it was weighted, then it should turn up a random number each throw. Either way, the dreamer still wouldn't be able to replicate the weight/feel of that particular die (and whatever Arthur has done to make it specific to him).
I've always been of the opinion that if it was your own dream, you'd know anyway. That is likely why Dom was the one who knew he and Mal had to get out of Limbo; he was the dreamer and she was the subject. The fact that he was able to incept her supports this idea, since the person on whom dream action (extraction, inception, or the other unmentioned possibilities) is performed is the subject
( ... )
This reminds me that I've been meaning to rewatch the film specifically to identify the ring-moments...
But if you know you're dreaming when it's your own dream, why then was Dom so scared of losing his sense of reality?
I had wondered if Dom maybe didn't have a totem of his own - maybe it was Mal's idea, but she was the only one who had one, and Dom didn't start using one until after he realized that it did work when he incepted her in limbo. And at that point, he just adopted hers like the film says.
Dom questioned reality because he had been in limbo, and it plays merry havoc with your sense of perception. We saw what happened to him and Saito; they were almost amnesiac. My theory that on some level the dreamer always knows they're dreaming if it's their dream comes from the fact that Dom did, eventually, realize that he and Mal had to get out. However, he was fooled for a long time, and is understandably more than a little paranoid about it now. Hence the use of two totems
( ... )
Comments 5
(The comment has been removed)
Reply
In the real world, Arthur's die should fall on the same number every time. It should feel right.
If he's the dreamer, then he would be able to influence the die to fall on whatever number he chooses. It should feel right.
If he's in someone else's dream, he may or may not be able to influence what number it falls on (I'm still undecided on that), but even if the dreamer knew it was a weighted die, they'd only have a 1 in 6 chance of guessing the number correctly. If they didn't know it was weighted, then it should turn up a random number each throw. Either way, the dreamer still wouldn't be able to replicate the weight/feel of that particular die (and whatever Arthur has done to make it specific to him).
Reply
Reply
But if you know you're dreaming when it's your own dream, why then was Dom so scared of losing his sense of reality?
I had wondered if Dom maybe didn't have a totem of his own - maybe it was Mal's idea, but she was the only one who had one, and Dom didn't start using one until after he realized that it did work when he incepted her in limbo. And at that point, he just adopted hers like the film says.
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment