Was Batman...Inceptioned??

Hello all…It’s been a crazy month, trying hard to complete the third and final part of the trilogy, but I am just not able to do so. Probably, this part is so close to my heart that there are umpteen thoughts in my head, but nothing coming on to the paper. So I decided to take a break, yeah… just like Nolan does in between his Batman movies to give few other gems(The Prestige, Inception). I thought, why not write about my favourite director himself- an ode to him in my own way. A tribute to the parallel world he created in all his fan’s mind- The Nolan’s Universe. So this story might (naa..it will) sound preposterous to you, but that’s been my exact intention in writing this piece. I know I am being ambitious, but for once, I wanted to get inside Nolan’s intricate brain and wanted to think like him. It all began when I read this particular blog, which ponders about a possibility of a fictitious situation where two of my favourite movies(Inception and Batman Series) are in fact related to each other through a common thread(star cast). Then it pushed me into thinking, if it were true, how would the story be? So…Here we go..!!

Alfred , the dutiful servant, epitome of loyalty, he was the driving force behind batman and he completed the Batman. Since he brought up Bruce Wayne, he was the only one whom Batman trusted on blindly….But...Hold on a second!! Wait…Is he really ??!

My crazy, bored “beautiful” mind thinks he is not!! Well…Alfred to me was like this cunning uncle of those 80’s-90’s heroine with great inheritance and property on her name left by her deceased parents who died (in a car crash of course!!). But the smart dady’s always put a clause in their will that the inheritance will be realised only when she turns 18. So the evil uncle of hers, treats her like a princess till she’s 18 and when she’s past that age, usually the knight in shining yellow pants and multicolour shirt reveals the wicked intentions of her uncle thereby kholofying the heroines aankhein. Ok….Now where the hell are we..??!! We were talking about Alfred being the evil guy…right? Why do you guys let me wander..Anyway coming back to the point! 

Michael Caine(Alfred) as any Inception fan would know…is Leonardo’s (Cobb) guide/mentor/father(Miles) in Inception. He was the one who thought Cobb the tricks of the trade about how to manipulate and steal or incept ideas from/into the minds. So Inception was all Cobb’s show about how he does this impossible feat of implanting an idea as his final ticket to redemption and reunite with his family. But, Nolan being Nolan and in his universe what he did in his trilogy of Batman movies is showing an Inception of an idea on The Batman himself- and you very well know who’s capable of doing it??! Yep...!! The genius Alfred/Miles himself.

So what Alfred managed to do in this three part series is a strategic Inception of an idea in Bruce Wayne’s mind. You ask me what the idea is. “Making Bruce Wayne believe that Wayne Enterprises no longer needed him, so that he on his own foregoes it all to Alfred”. Smart eh! He made sure that in the first level of the dream, Bruce is made to believe that he’s above all the normal human beings and he had special powers, and hence had to safeguard the interests of this make belief city called Gotham (designed by Cobb....probably ;) ).  By the end of the first movie, he is convinced that he had super powers (really?) by defeating an antagonist(Ra's-Al-Ghul) who trained him to overcome his fears but wanted to ruin his city. Wayne Enterprises is a thing of past for him, he is a full time protector of the city.

In the second part, then Alfred pits him against an antagonist who’s no match in terms of physical prowess and agility, but who can mentally tear his opponent to pieces by killing his self-confidence. This is where Batman starts doubting himself. The Joker made sure he destroyed Batman’s personal life by leaving him all alone with huge baggage of past regrets, by making sure his childhood love is no more and he is indirectly responsible for it. Hence, the strategic feeling of guilt being implanted in his mind, another master stroke from Alfred-the wicked man.

It was all one!!

The third part is where it all culminates in to reality, the lower most layer of the dream. This is where he’s pitted against an antagonist who is superiorly powerful than him in terms of physical and emotional strength. He made sure that Batman had to come out of his temporary exile, so that he could save his city one last time from the bad guy. Now, if we dwell deep in the Nolan universe, wee see that Bane (or Tom Hardy) is the forgerer or impersonator of avatar’s-Eames in Inception. So the theory,  that he impersonated all the antagonist- Ras-Al-Ghul, Scarecrow, Twoface, The Joker himself and he chooses the last layer of dream to take his original form doesn’t sound all that ludicrous, does it? And to top it all there's Mal(Marion Cotillard) who reprises her role of playing around with the protagonists emotions, this time she was even successful to an extent with the batman. Now..Could it get any better than this eh?! In the end, the might Bane incepted the Batman making him realise that he’s no more worthy enough to either protect the city or run Wayne Enterprises, there by going into a self imposed exile and foregoing everything to his (so-called) trusted butler Alfred and finding a suitable substitute for himself. Take a bow Alfred, and Christopher Nolan, you can join him too!!

PS: Thanks to Nolan for repeating his star cast in a strategic way, there by buying me some credibility on this story. Wait…or is it all a grand scheme?!! Probably his next movie would answer it.