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Part of the reason I can't get into Inception is that the premise is that the protagonist is a man who drove his wife crazy. On purpose.

I know that everyone's happy place is Arthur/Eames, but I will be 100% honest. In any other movie, Cobb would have been the villain.

This movie tried to turn him into a sad, sympathetic character, and instead whenever I think about it, I have to warp the movie into a feminist retelling where Mal is right and Cobb is asleep. Otherwise I just want to scream.

Crossposts: http://girl-wonder.livejournal.com/275396.html

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

aria

My headcanon is that absolutely Mal is right and Cobb is asleep, because otherwise I CANNOT HANDLE THAT MOVIE.

From:

katewrites

IS IT POSSIBLY BECAUSE THE PREMISE IS, "I DROVE HER NUTS, BY TAKING AWAY THE ONE THING SHE THOUGHT SHE COULD COUNT ON TO TELL HER WHAT WAS REAL OR NOT, BUT I DID IT BECAUSE IT WAS THE ONLY WAY TO SAVE HEEEERRRRRR."

Dear Dominic Cobb.

Saving your wife. UR DOING IT WRONG.

No Love,
Me

From:

surexit

Okay, I was going to comment and say that I didn't think that that was an entirely fair reading, and that it wasn't intentional, but your comment over on LJ (the second one down) made me go, "Oh, right, yeah, massive breach of trust."

I still think it's possible to read sympathetically: he did a very bad thing because he believed it was the only way, and he's been suffering for it since, but yeah, his wife suffered for it because she fucking well died, which rather takes precedence over his pain, so he's definitely more of an arsehole than the film makes him into. :(

From:

katewrites

Yeah, I mean a huge thing is that he breached her trust and then the whole movie is one long epic ode to manpain. (But... he feels so bad about it!)

Also, he never really acknowledged that it was something he probably shouldn't have done. Instead, he's just really sorry that taking away his wife's ability to make rational choices led to her doubting reality.

Sadface, Dominic Cobb. I cry a single sparkling tear that your guilt manifested into a cray-cray harpy-woman who wants to run you over with a train.

From:

surexit

Yeah, you're right, he actually takes on no blame. He takes on plenty of guilt to add to his epic manpain, plenty of 'OH I HAD TO DO THIS BUT GOD WHAT TERRIBLE CONSEQUENCES' but no actual blame.

Yeah, I really never looked at it like this. Mal's really unfairly treated by the narrative, and since she's one of the only two women, that fucking sucks.

I would enjoy a feminist retelling where he's actually asleep and she's right.

From:

katewrites

YES. EXACTLY. He's very epic about his guilt and how SAD he is and how not having his kids because everyone thinks he killed his wife is such a huge WEIGHT. However he's never like, well, incepting my wife led to her insanity. That's kind of on me.

Yeah. At first it seems like, "Well, this is just his perception of Mal, so not really who she was" except then you realize that as the protag, we're supposed to be relatively on his side. So we're supposed to be hoping he survives the encounter and gets his kids back.

So, essentially, we're supposed to accept his narrative as the narrative. We accept that he was right to pull her out of limbo, that she must have been somewhat like what he sees her as now.

I think I really can only read feminist stories in this universe.

From:

surexit

He's very rarely more than a throwaway line in any stories I've read, but you may have now POISONED my enjoyment of the film/fandom.

I really want to find the fic that must exist where Mal is right. Someone must have written it.

From:

katewrites

I'm so sorry! I am sadface at having poisoned anyone's experience.

Here's some good Mal-is-right fic that is Eames/Arthur ftw:

http://airgiodslv.livejournal.com/535615.html

And a really good rec list:

http://jenna-marianne.livejournal.com/5625.html