Running Point

[fae_boleyn]

OK, so, I keep seeing meta posts for various fandoms, but I have never done one. So here's my first try, for Inception - specifically on Arthur, everyone's favorite point man.

I'm not going to talk about his clothes or personality - both of those have been done, and by people with much more skill than I have. This one is about Arthur's job and what, exactly, it is that a point man does. Fandom seems to focus primarily on the research component of his job, probably because that's what we see mentioned explicitly in the film. After all, when Cobb tears into him on the first dream level, that's the thing he's so ticked off about, Arthur missing something in his research. I'm not going to say that's not a huge part of his job; it is, and I'm not about to argue that. I think that two parts of his function as a team member - especially the second of the two I'm going to bring up - are overlooked, though.

OK, so, we know that Arthur is a BAMF. Anti-gravity scene, anyone? However, it begs the question, why didn't Arthur go all the way down with them? Why not train Ariadne or even Saito to know when to drop the team so that they could have all the heavy hitters in the final level? Yes, I know that both Ariadne and Saito proved themselves, but no one could have known this during the planning stages. The answer for this lies in Arthur's job title. He's the point man. This is not a function invented by Mr. Nolan - at least not to the the degree of, say, an extractor. It's a military term. "In modern military parlance, to take point, walk point, be on point, or be a point man means to assume the first and most exposed position in a combat military formation, that is, the lead soldier/unit advancing through hostile or unsecured territory." The quote is from Wikipedia, but it makes my, er, point.

In the military, a point man's job is to be the guy most likely to get killed. He goes first, and presumably is the last one out of there if there's a retreat. With the way dreaming works, it's sort of the opposite. Arthur is the one left behind alone in the unsecured territory of the dream, to keep security back and get everyone out again. I think this is also what he was doing when he was captured in Saito's dream at the very beginning of the movie. It explains why they have him as a hostage - at a guess, he was outnumbered, because as good as he is, numbers overwhelm even the best.

I think other people have seen this one, I mostly discussed it because I find it interesting and also this is about Arthur's entire job. But the one that surprised me, that I didn't see until I'd watched the film a few times, is one I don't think I've seen brought up. During the planning of the inception, I was a bit bothered by the fact that, except for suggesting the musical trigger, Arthur basically has no ideas during the entire plan. You would think that even if it's not his primary job, his experience in dreamshare would give him ideas that he could suggest. Cobb's lack of ideas as compared to Eames' - and it is Eames who comes up with the whole plan, with some tweaking by Cobb (the positive angle) - makes sense because even though Cobb is the extractor, Eames is the one who tried a professional inception before. Cobb's inception of Mal was very much an amateur job in the sense that it was him grasping at straws to get the both of them out of limbo and not a carefully structured scenario like the Fischer job was meant to be and Eames' botched try probably was.

At first I thought Arthur's lack of ideas was for a reason similar to Cobb's; he knows extraction, but inception is something different. However, when I watched the pre-job planning yet again (it's my favorite sequence, I've watched it more often than the rest of the film) I noticed what it is Arthur does during the planning. He tends to poke holes in everything. I imagine this is part of where fanon!Arthur's asshole behavior comes from, but I don't think it's a personality trait. I think it's part of his job. Note that none of the things he criticizes are just for the hell of it. Even the "Might? We're gonna have to do a little better than might" line isn't really about slamming Eames' idea.

What Arthur is doing is what he does during the entire planning session. "How do you translate a business strategy into an idea?"  and "How do we get out? I'm hoping you have something a little more elegant in mind than shooting me in the head." Snark aside on the second, both of these have something in common with the first line I quoted. Arthur is troubleshooting, for lack of a better term. He's finding all the flaws in the plan, and rather than trying to solve them all - which even though I believe he does have imagination, would not be a fair task - he points them out to the group at large. Yes, he's usually addressing Cobb or Eames, because it's usually one of them outlining things. But it's discussed in the group, where everyone can put their two cents in, which is the idea. He's kind of like an editor, I guess, in that he looks at the 'draft' of the plan and points out flaws and errors for the creator to change. (No, not all editing involves the editor rewriting things; trust me, I was a copy editor and I know this. Sometimes you just point stuff out and possibly suggest a change, but leave it up to the writer.)

So basically, Arthur does research, handles security while his teammates get the information - or plant it - and seeks out potential issues with the plans for each job. The first everyone knows about, the second is probably obvious, but the third can be easily misinterpreted as him just being a jerk. "Thank you for your contribution, Arthur."  Technically, Eames, Arthur is contributing. He just has a different role to play.

If you got this far, thanks for reading this ramble, and I hope I wasn't too obvious about things.

Comments

[ebilgatoloco.livejournal.com]

Okay, this was very helpful because I also think he's more than just research. However, where does the whole fandom obsession with him being obsessed/paranoid about personal information come from? He seems way too relaxed in the movie to be that type of person. I'm not saying the doesn't have concerns about him identity, but in most stories I read he has all sorts of fake personas. That seems more like something Eames would do, not Arthur.

But whatever.

[epithalamium]

I agree with all this wholeheartedly. The first time I watched the movie, I was really sort of, 'This stick of a bloke is the point man?' but you could see from the start where they do the Cobold job that it's Arthur who more or less takes care of the orchestration of the technical aspects of their work. As opposed to Nash who still isn't sure what he's doing yet or Cobb who obviously has issues, Arthur is competent and cool. I'm glad Cobb has him, or Cobb will probably be dead.

I think that's the point Eames made in the Mombasa scene, 'Ah, he's the best. Just not a lot of imagination.' Arthur's job is different, is what he's saying. On the other hand, Eames likes teasing everyone, especially Arthur, who has this 'cool face' on. XD

[a-singlenote.livejournal.com]

This is awesome, it helps so much to know his character more... Thanks so so much for posting dude!! It's great :)

[avaserenity.livejournal.com]

Well looking at the literal military definition of a point man I think it does really fit Arthur. In the context of him and Cobb on a two man job Arthur would be the "first one in and last one out" because he has to keep the projections away from the extractors. Going by that it make sense that he pokes holes in the plans because he will be the one playing 1000 Ways To Die with a mark's vicious subconscious.

I think his perceived lack of imagination is just his subtle nature.

This is awesome! I love character discussions.

[scratchywilson.livejournal.com]

I really like how you've talked about your perception of Arthur and his job, it's all laid out very well. JGL was quoted somewhere (character bio/notes? I can't remember) that he conceived of Arthur as the producer to Cobb's director. In essence it's not his job to come up with the plan, but to make it a reality.

I think Arthur and Eames have two very different kinds of imagination. Eames is more of what we think of when we think imaginative, e.g. coming up with how to translate a business plan into an emotional concept. Whereas Arthur thinks creatively within the constraints of the situation, e.g. they're in zero gravity and he needs to engineer a kick, so he pulls a MacGyver.

[traincar.livejournal.com]

Thanks for reading my mind.
LOL in all seriousness, this is exactly how I feel about Arthur's job. Nice work.

[haltlos.livejournal.com]

Oh I just love you for writing this! Because it bothered me that Arthur's somehow considered to be a bit of an ass even though I always thought he was just very precise and straight forward (both traits I hold in high regard).
It's funny how fanon turned him into a somewhat obsessed human version of an encyclopaedia. (Fans are crazy, but shh don't tell anybody! lol)
As Eames pointed out Arthur's a stick in the mudd which is basically what a point man has to be: A no-nonesense attitude with thoroughly prepared knowledge of the job and its details. He's not the creative mind and he doesn't have to be. A character like that is a healthy contribution to a team of crazy people (Cobb's Mal-issues, Eames as a forger, Ariadne as a newbie, Saito's megalomania, etc.)

[louis-lombardi.livejournal.com]

I love this! Incredibly accurate and factual! Arthur is a pretty laid back and cool dude for someone who props the team up during 'combat'. Arthur was kept on the 2nd level because that's probably the one where everyone is most vulnerable: Yusuf was just supposed to move them around a city, but in the hotel everyone is stuck in an easily exposed room. He's creative enough to come up with paradoxical architecture too, and he smiles and helps the noobs as best he can (unlike Eames who predominantly ignores Ariadne and Saito. I mean, he checks up on Saito when he's wounded, yet still forces him to play a part in combat).

Now if we can only get someone to explain all these fics that think Eames is BFF4EVAR with Yusuf and Ariadne!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_profiterole_/]

Troubleshooter, I like this idea. :-)

[keelain.livejournal.com]

Hey yeah, I was totally kind of weirded out that a "smart" guy like Arthur didn't really say anything important during the planning phase. The only part where he shows off his skills I guess is when he does it flippantly when suggesting what type of aircraft they would need for the job.

[buffyfan145.livejournal.com]

This is such a great post and I agree completely about Arthur's job responsiblites and I'm glad you went more into detail!!! :D

The first part you talked about I totally saw as well. Probably from me watching things that deal with the military (or sci-fi/fantasy shows/films really) and knowing people in it, I figured Arthur's role was more like a 2nd in command behind Cobb. That all just makes sense about him being the one left behind in the 2nd level of the dream.

Then the 2nd part you brought up about him finding the errors in the planning stages makes SO much sense!!! :D I don't know how I missed this the 1st time. LOL ;) Reminds me a lot of my teachers/professors in school/college that give "constructive criticisim" which is to help us make up better work and to get our work done properly. At first it does come across as being mean, but it's just to help make sure what we're doing is the best we can.

[sandie-eggo.livejournal.com]

This is a well-written little introspective on Arthur's character.

I myself have used the word 'logistics' to explain Arthur's role. He takes the ideas and 'realistically' finds a way to make them happen. I also see Cobb and Eames getting caught up in the ideas/tricks to perform inception and not necessarily considering the feasibility of how everything is supposed to play out, and that perhaps is where Arthur comes in.

I also agree with some others who have commented that Arthur is not as unimaginative or uncreative as he is sometimes made out to be. His role, specifically for Inception just wasn't about using those kinds of talents (except when he came up with zero-gravity dropping, but that just adds to the point). He was also quite adamant that inception was impossible in the first place (which may have also played into the criticism of "we're going to have to do a little better than 'might'").

Anyway, enough rambling, just wanted to say that I enjoyed reading the discussion.

[nemesister.livejournal.com]

Great post, it all seems so clear now.

I remember someone observing that Arthur gives Eames completely undeserved shit all through the film and this proves some personal issues or whatnot. I immediately thought he absolutely does not. He asks a couple of fair questions and even hands out compliments. As you say it's his very role to ask all the critical questions he can think of. (And apparently to give everyone feedback, or might that be a personality trait?)

[bennet-7.livejournal.com]

I agree so freaking much. This troubleshooting aspect of Arthur's job is something I'm paying attention to in a fic I'm writing - Ariadne realises that it's Arthur's job to keep Cobb and Eames on track and imagine all the ways a job can go wrong.

and it is Eames who comes up with the whole plan, with some tweaking by Cobb

I've seen people saying this while defending Eames's intelligence and I certainly agree that he came up with the psychological aspects of the plan, but I think that, based on what we know of Arthur's skill set and breadth of knowledge, when it came time to translate those concepts into a plan of action - like kidnapping Fischer - Arthur probably played an equally great, if not larger role. Like, I can see him experimenting with different kicks and figuring out how they were going to grab Fischer.

And it's nice to see someone else who doesn't take Eames's snark about Arthur having no imagination as canon. I'm currently compiling a lengthy bit of meta about the costumes and one of the things I'm highlighting is just how creative Arthur's outfits are. Clearly he has an imagination - it just works differently to Eames's.

[helenvalentine.livejournal.com]

Here from inception_daily, and all I can say is yes. Though I've never actually thought of it as troubleshooting, that is what he does, and he's very good at it. And I'd say that's a pretty important part of the picture [granted, I am speaking from the perspective of an editor and a general worrywort].

It does, in a way, take a type of imagination to do Arthur's job -- he has to imagine everything that could possibly go wrong, and ways to prevent those things from happening. It's just a more logical, structured sort of imagining than what, say, Eames does.

[izi-sunshine.livejournal.com]

I've read three really long Inception metas in the past hour so I can't and won't even try to say anything else except YES. YES, YES, YES. I hate that fandom tends to overlook characters the way it does. I'll just point out something that left me a strong impression.

Technically, Eames, Arthur is contributing. He just has a different role to play.

And again, yes. This got my attention because recently in psychology class we were talking about the different kinds of people in the ~group. One of the said kinds is the one that is often criticizing. Although it is mostly refered to as annoying, it plays an important part, namely pointing out the flaws which is of great importance, especially in order for a plan to work. So yes, Arthur might not be giving ideas but he is making sure that the others' ones will work.

[ninja-orange.livejournal.com]

this is a brilliant post! I like to think of Arthur as a bit of an engineer. Maybe he doesn't have the type of imagination that comes up with the big picture of Inception in the first place, but he engineers a solution to their problems and figures out the weak points before anyone gets killed.

[der-jemand.livejournal.com]

Thank you for wirting this, it's great! (And it remindes me of the reasons for me falling for Arthur (and Eames and Arthur) after reading too much fic... If this doesn't make sense I'm sorry, but my English sucks, basically I want to say thank you!)

Oddly enough I figured the second part (maybe because I'm used to snark and pointing out flaws in plans), but failed to see the military aspect of things. It absolutely makes sense!

[omnicat.livejournal.com]

Nicely put! I'd read about JGL saying Arthur was the producer to Cobb's director, but that's kind of an abstract concept to me. Laid out like this, it's a lot clearer. :)

I've always been confused by Eames's claims that Arthur is such an unimaginative, uptight drag, because that's not how he came off to me at all, but something dawned on me when I read this post and the comments above mine: Eames is probably just not used to working with someone who does what Arthur does. I got the feeling that while Eames certainly appreciates Arthur's lookout and researcher roles, he dismisses his additional contributions as troubleshooter like it's a character flaw. Hence his "he's the best at what he does, BUT he has no imagination"; he doesn't put the third task Arthur takes on on the same level as the other two. Arthur's insistence on not leaving anything to chance probably flies in the face of Eames's own, more fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants way of doing things.

See, I always thought Eames was being too matter-of-fact about it for his little snubs in the convo with Cobb to be pure snark, but when you consider how both their individual personalities, strengths and skillsets must inform their roles in mindheist operations and writing style of execution, it makes a lot more sense to me.

[sparrow-hubris.livejournal.com]

I love this post!


I was also convinced that Eames remark was just assy because they all had a history together and seem to get along. I mean Eames didn't sell Cobb out to Cobol for being in Mombasa after all though he could have. My friends and I are snarky bitches too, so it seemed like normal banter to me.

I think the buddy buddy Yusef stories come from the fond inflection Eames displays when telling Cobb about the Chemist. He gets this almost giddy laugh. But I see that more as amusement because Yusef is a bit eccentric. I mean the man very clearly calls himself brilliant (the ego I swear) when explaining that his sedative doesn't effect inner ear function. I think that Eames has picked up on that and is amused by him.

And I personally think Arthur's snark about being impressed was a near genuine compliment. Eames' response to it doesn't seem guarded, hurt, or retaliatory at all. It's simply banter, because they're two dudes, and that's how dudes act. They don't put a hand over the other one's and go "sweety, you did a great job there." Ya know? (Though in my own fic I make Eames' response more bristly because it fit my prompt)

I'm linking you to a really fantastic Meta I read that is nearly head canon for me. I think you'll like it if you haven't seen it before. It explains more Eames than Arthur, but there are some very good observations about Arthur in it.

Arthur/Eames relationship

Also I fully agree with everything you said about Arthur's job on point as well as poking holes in the plan. He's practical. And being devils advocate simply limits the mistakes that can be made.

[hanasyoubu.livejournal.com]

Hi! I can't even remember how I got to this post, but I'm very glad that I got here. Great post! Thanks for writing it!

Your post reflected pretty much exactly how I see Arthur's job, as depicted in the movie. I only have a casual acquaintance with fandom these days, so I was very surprised by how Arthur and his job (and Eames, too, actually) are often characterized when I checked out some Inception fics a couple months back.

Funny enough, due to the nature of my job in RL, the last point you made about Arthur's role, about him playing the skeptic in the planning stage, is among the first things I noticed about him. Personally, I believe in team work situations there has to be someone to play the skeptic, and it's an essential part of the team work process. I totally agree with what you said! :)

Another thing I noticed, but can't check now as I don't have the Inception DVD at the moment, is Arthur seems to be the designated person who handles the PASIV (whenever he's present in a scene), and I think there is at least two occasions where he was shown working on an opened up PASIV, looking like he was doing some sort of machine maintenance. I'm not particularly familiar with the US military system, but I quite like the idea that maybe Arthur was originally a military engineer of some sort (electrical, maybe?) and that's how he got involved in the dream sharing project and met Mal & Dom in the first place.

Anyway, I just wanted to say WORD to your post, but ended up rambling at you. I hope you don't mind. :)

[stungunbilly.livejournal.com]

It's interesting to read this essay, because all of this seemed completely obvious to me. You linking the misunderstanding of it to fanon!Arthur seems spot on, and I'm laughing at myself for not realizing that someone could easily miss all of it. I took it for granted that anyone could see it.
Derp. Thanks for posting!

[lunaticv.livejournal.com]

thank you! that was very enlightening!
i've always wondered too, why was it mostly eames coming up with the plan. so, this is really helpful^^
and now that u mentioned it, i wondered too, why ariadne actually came alng to the lat level. she seemed pretty useless to me there.
but then again, you can't actually leave ariadne in the first or second level alone, since she won't be able to guard the -sleeping- bodies, eh?

btw, i just want to point out that your background and font colors are kinda hurting the eyes (like, black lines appear in front of my eyes after reading, just like after u look at the sun or something overly bright). but maybe that's just me, with my awfully terrible eyes. no offense meant^^