A Mid-Summer Night's Dream...

'Inception' was not what I expected. Despite its rather weak opening sequence, 'Inception' is one of those films that become progressively better as the narrative continues to unfold, allowing it to adequately fit itself into Christopher Nolan's repertoire and stay true to his artistic vision, further legitimizing his role as an auteur. So what are the achievements of this particular film?

Before assessing how, 'Inception' satisfies its role in fiction, I would first like to discuss the role of a story. Stories have been means of keeping history, instilling fear, and inspiring hope. A story exists on three fundamental levels. Each level engages a different combination of senses and thought processes, provoking predictable reactions from audience members. The first level I like to refer to as the "crust". This is where all the characters and events exist within the story. The crust engages the audience merely for entertainment value, I suppose you could also view this level as a lure. Something like, special effects would also be categorized into this plane. Further into the story, we have the "mantle". Here, we are able to discuss the events and characters of the story in terms of their cultural references and sociopolitical connotations. Most film studies center around these concepts, due to their socially applicable nature. Things you could analyze on this level in addition to the events and characters of the story would be lighting, object placement, shot types, various kinds of editing, such as sound bridging or cross-cutting. Typically, one would refer to such concepts as part of the misc-en-scene. Further down the rabbit hole, we have arrived at the "core". The core consists of the themes or messages that the auteur is attempting to communicate.

Now, the role of fiction, some would claim, is the idea of creating a fallacy in order to perpetuate a deeper truth, a truth we wouldn't otherwise have access to. From what few works I have seen of Nolan's, I would suggest that he is taking the role of fiction and applying it thematically. In films like, 'Memento' and 'The Dark Knight', we are offered a fallacy within the universe of the narrative to convey Nolan's message, which is most apparent in 'The Dark Knight'. The characters of Alfred and Gordon, hint at the idea that sometimes, the truth is not good enough. That sometimes people deserve better.

The core of 'Inception' exhumes this concept phenomenally. The final scene when the character of Cobb's spinning top continues to spin as he exits the frame represents the reality (or lie) that he deserves. Thematically, 'Inception' follows his previous films, thus, reinforcing Nolan's place as an auteur.

My problem with Nolan's most recent work, is that it follows a very literal and linear narrative, especially for a movie supposedly based on dreams. If anything, it is a heist movie with mind-blowing sequences in place of what it should of been: a psychologically complex investigation into dreams and an exploration of the relationship between consciousness and subconsciousness. Nolan has been able to dazzle us with his work, but can he make us feel? In addition to my desire for a psychologically complex narrative, I would challenge Nolan to develop some emotional connection between the audience and his characters. His half-hearted characters, though interesting, fail to draw any real connection or raise any concerns from the audience. Despite these drawbacks, 'Inception' is the rare summer blockbuster that stimulates our senses as well as minds.

The deadTree

My Environmental Literature class required a creative component for our final project. I decided to try my hand at digital painting. My sister gave me a brief tutorial of Photo-shop (in like 5 minutes) and even some tips of the trade, like "consume crazy amounts of caffeine."

My philosophy on the subject of 'art' stems from the foundation that Ayn Rand molded. I believe she once said something along the lines of "Art is a recreation of reality according to the artist's metaphysical value-judgments." I would add to that requirement that art must also challenge the moral fabric of the audience, in order to reinforce their moral code, or break them. Depending on how the audience engages the material, determines whether or not the subject under scrutiny is in fact 'art'. Art lies in the perception. With that being said, I think you will gain a better understanding of what I was working to achieve.

Some of the most controversial topics today involve the environment and abortion. A lot of the decisions we have made did not fully capsulize our interests, due to a misunderstanding of what our interests truly are. Leading us to devastate landscapes and civilizations. There are six sacks representing the mythical sixth day of man. I chose a bright color for the fetuses, contrasted with the dark background, in order to draw immediate attention to the sacks. They are sprouting from a dead tree to symbolize our interdependence with nature and draw a possible trajectory for our current state of environmental awareness. Expect me to update this with newer versions as I get the hang of this digital painting thing.