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so what are their jobs anyway?
Some rambling, idle thoughts about extraction teams in Inception.
In Inception, Arthur's job is point man. This seems to refer to two different forms of 'taking point': he's got an analytical and a combat role on extraction teams, and in both cases he's supposed to be out in front, taking the greatest risk of physical harm. I think Cobb's role as extractor puts him at added risk of psychological harm.
He does the primary research and analysis for Cobb's team, drawing on (one assumes) computer and investigatory skills and a network of contacts. We also see him acting as Cobb's bodyguard, a distraction, and holding the line against projections. First one in, last one out? (Arthur as ex-Marine would make so much sense, will have to expound on this later).
Cobb's role as extractor parallels Arthur's double role as point. He's the idea man, responsible for finding the jobs and sketching out an initial approach. And he's the key team member in dreams, the one who actually performs the extraction, and the one who really gets inside the target's subconscious.
If you add to that Cobb's former role as architect, they'd make a solid two person team. I kind of imagine Cobb bringing a potential job to Arthur with a vague idea of how they can run it. Arthur then does the research and presents a variety of options to Cobb, who fleshes out a plan while Arthur tests it for weaknesses. For most jobs, all they'd need is each other.
So then you have to ask yourself, if Cobb is both extractor and architect, and Arthur is researcher and muscle, what was Mal responsible for?
The constantly reiterated two-halves-of-a-whole, Mal&Cobb-ness of the movie, combined with what little we can infer about Mal from Cobb's memories and her shade, makes me think that maybe she was also extractor and architect. We know Mal built extensively in limbo. We can maybe infer from her shade that she's a good psychological operator. That could just as equally be a reflection of Cobb, though.
Regardless, Arthur's presence makes it obvious what Mal wasn't: point man. Otherwise Mal&Cobb would have had no need of him.
There's also the matter of Cobb incepting Mal - did he have more skill as an extractor? Or did he just hang on to reality that much harder? Other possibilities include Mal as chemist, forger, or jack of all trades.
Mal as forger is interesting, if you believe that Cobb dreams the whole plot of Inception. It bolsters the 'Ariadne is Mal' theory, and adds an interesting layer to Mal as shade. She was a forger but Cobb remembers her in one form. He's pinning down her memory - making it easier to hold onto? A kind of denial of Mal's full self that the movie constantly gets up to.
Mal as chemist makes sense as well, though I'm kind of reticent about it because it puts her in a support role. While a chemist is necessary to extraction, zie is not quite as central to the actual job. Mal's pushed out of the spotlight enough, amirite? One interesting possibility is Mal as psychitrist/chemist, making her Cobb's equal or superior to Cobb in extraction, and an essential part of a formidable and independent three person team.
All of this really makes me curious about Cobb's background. How is he a skilled architect and extractor? Apparently the best in the business, even. These are such disparate skill sets. You're kind of forced to take the position that he came in with one set, and picked up the other while exploring dream sharing technology. It's unlike Arthur's analyst/soldier combo, which could easily come from being in the military, where that primary/secondary skill set isn't so uncommon.
One angle that seems likely is that Cobb was an ambitious young architect before he got into dream sharing, and had a bit of business ruthlessness in him. It's easy to imagine Saito becoming a good extractor, and he and Cobb really connect - they have a kind of understanding that none of the other characters seem to. Ariadne comes to know Cobb, but it's Cobb and Saito who have the beginnings of a relationship of mutual respect and understanding. By the end, with Cobb coming for Saito in limbo, it's got a kind of brothers in arms quality to it. They aren't friends and won't be friends, but they can rely on each other mid-crisis. It's fun though that one of the best ways to dig deep into the Inception characters is to treat them as parts of Cobb's subconscious, reflecting different aspects of his character.
Aaaaand I've gotten completely off track now, haven't I?
So yeah. It seems to me that the core of an extraction team is: extractor and point man, with an architect and a chemist in a supporting role. From the Cobol job we know that an on-call chemist like Yusuf isn't common. Yusuf was around during Inception because he was building a new compound, and because the job was complicated enough to require extra bodies. Having a chemist of your very own though, would ensure a reliable supply of somnacin. Reliability is great in crime! From the Cobol job we also know that Nash went into dreams with Cobb and Arthur, to keep control of the top level dream. I'm thinking that Nash was a bit of a rare bird, because it would make a lot more sense for the architect to build the dream levels and then depart, in a solidly supporting role. But--
We also know that there's a certain amount of flexibility in the make up of teams, and in how jobs overlap. Eames is a forger (infiltration specialist?), an idea guy, and has a damn fine grasp of how the human mind works. Cobb of course, has been an architect and extractor at once. And being that extraction is a field that requires small teams and involves high risk, overlapping skill sets would be so very important. You'd want the best specialists you could find, but you'd also want team members who could step up should they be killed. Over specialization would absolutely mean death for extraction teams.
And ok, I think that's enough rambling for now.
In Inception, Arthur's job is point man. This seems to refer to two different forms of 'taking point': he's got an analytical and a combat role on extraction teams, and in both cases he's supposed to be out in front, taking the greatest risk of physical harm. I think Cobb's role as extractor puts him at added risk of psychological harm.
He does the primary research and analysis for Cobb's team, drawing on (one assumes) computer and investigatory skills and a network of contacts. We also see him acting as Cobb's bodyguard, a distraction, and holding the line against projections. First one in, last one out? (Arthur as ex-Marine would make so much sense, will have to expound on this later).
Cobb's role as extractor parallels Arthur's double role as point. He's the idea man, responsible for finding the jobs and sketching out an initial approach. And he's the key team member in dreams, the one who actually performs the extraction, and the one who really gets inside the target's subconscious.
If you add to that Cobb's former role as architect, they'd make a solid two person team. I kind of imagine Cobb bringing a potential job to Arthur with a vague idea of how they can run it. Arthur then does the research and presents a variety of options to Cobb, who fleshes out a plan while Arthur tests it for weaknesses. For most jobs, all they'd need is each other.
So then you have to ask yourself, if Cobb is both extractor and architect, and Arthur is researcher and muscle, what was Mal responsible for?
The constantly reiterated two-halves-of-a-whole, Mal&Cobb-ness of the movie, combined with what little we can infer about Mal from Cobb's memories and her shade, makes me think that maybe she was also extractor and architect. We know Mal built extensively in limbo. We can maybe infer from her shade that she's a good psychological operator. That could just as equally be a reflection of Cobb, though.
Regardless, Arthur's presence makes it obvious what Mal wasn't: point man. Otherwise Mal&Cobb would have had no need of him.
There's also the matter of Cobb incepting Mal - did he have more skill as an extractor? Or did he just hang on to reality that much harder? Other possibilities include Mal as chemist, forger, or jack of all trades.
Mal as forger is interesting, if you believe that Cobb dreams the whole plot of Inception. It bolsters the 'Ariadne is Mal' theory, and adds an interesting layer to Mal as shade. She was a forger but Cobb remembers her in one form. He's pinning down her memory - making it easier to hold onto? A kind of denial of Mal's full self that the movie constantly gets up to.
Mal as chemist makes sense as well, though I'm kind of reticent about it because it puts her in a support role. While a chemist is necessary to extraction, zie is not quite as central to the actual job. Mal's pushed out of the spotlight enough, amirite? One interesting possibility is Mal as psychitrist/chemist, making her Cobb's equal or superior to Cobb in extraction, and an essential part of a formidable and independent three person team.
All of this really makes me curious about Cobb's background. How is he a skilled architect and extractor? Apparently the best in the business, even. These are such disparate skill sets. You're kind of forced to take the position that he came in with one set, and picked up the other while exploring dream sharing technology. It's unlike Arthur's analyst/soldier combo, which could easily come from being in the military, where that primary/secondary skill set isn't so uncommon.
One angle that seems likely is that Cobb was an ambitious young architect before he got into dream sharing, and had a bit of business ruthlessness in him. It's easy to imagine Saito becoming a good extractor, and he and Cobb really connect - they have a kind of understanding that none of the other characters seem to. Ariadne comes to know Cobb, but it's Cobb and Saito who have the beginnings of a relationship of mutual respect and understanding. By the end, with Cobb coming for Saito in limbo, it's got a kind of brothers in arms quality to it. They aren't friends and won't be friends, but they can rely on each other mid-crisis. It's fun though that one of the best ways to dig deep into the Inception characters is to treat them as parts of Cobb's subconscious, reflecting different aspects of his character.
Aaaaand I've gotten completely off track now, haven't I?
So yeah. It seems to me that the core of an extraction team is: extractor and point man, with an architect and a chemist in a supporting role. From the Cobol job we know that an on-call chemist like Yusuf isn't common. Yusuf was around during Inception because he was building a new compound, and because the job was complicated enough to require extra bodies. Having a chemist of your very own though, would ensure a reliable supply of somnacin. Reliability is great in crime! From the Cobol job we also know that Nash went into dreams with Cobb and Arthur, to keep control of the top level dream. I'm thinking that Nash was a bit of a rare bird, because it would make a lot more sense for the architect to build the dream levels and then depart, in a solidly supporting role. But--
We also know that there's a certain amount of flexibility in the make up of teams, and in how jobs overlap. Eames is a forger (infiltration specialist?), an idea guy, and has a damn fine grasp of how the human mind works. Cobb of course, has been an architect and extractor at once. And being that extraction is a field that requires small teams and involves high risk, overlapping skill sets would be so very important. You'd want the best specialists you could find, but you'd also want team members who could step up should they be killed. Over specialization would absolutely mean death for extraction teams.
And ok, I think that's enough rambling for now.
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