Question: Seems like a petty, trivial question, but it has been bugging me. Throughout the film, events that are taking place on one level have a profound impact on the the level below. One example is the scene with Arthur fighting the with the 'bad guys' while floating without gravitational pull. This is a result of the van being in mid air in the 1st level. How come Nolan chose this approach? It's like saying that if we sleep during a flight, we will definitely dream that we are in the air. Or if we get slapped while dreaming, we will be tossed aside aggressively. We all know that is not the case. There isn't such a direct connection between what happens in reality and what happens in a dream. Seems to me that Nolan traded the integrity of the whole dream eco system for some stunning visuals. Or am I very wrong?
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Answer: Dreams can be and are often influenced by what's happening around us. There's been plenty of research on the topic and some interesting findings. Yes, Nolan exaggerates it for the purpose of drama, but it's based on reality to some extent. You also have to remember, the film's rules establish that the deeper levels of dreams are quite different, what with time being greatly extended, the subconscious playing a bigger role, etc. So it'd stand to reason that smaller things in the level above would have a large and consistent impact on lower levels, since it'd be messing with your mind. Also, and most importantly... it's a sci-fi movie. It can alter the rules of reality a bit for the sake of the story being told.
TedStixon
Thanks a lot TedStixon. You've put my mind at ease :).