Nolan’s films stage the reversal where the manipulator becomes the manipulated.

Evidence

But Nolan’s remarks may only be another act of misdirection; and, if a century of cultural theory has taught us anything, it is that an author’s supposed intentions can only ever constitute a supplementary (para)text, never a final word. What are Nolan’s films about, after all, but the instability of any master position? They are full of moments in which the manipulator – the one who looks, writes or narrates – becomes the manipulated – the object of the gaze, the character in a story written or told by someone else. — Mark Fisher, Ghosts of My Life, 518

Categorization

• SEED: This reversal of master and mastered positions—writer becomes written, gaver becomes observed—could anchor an essay on how recursive control structures recur across Nolan’s films (Memento, The Prestige, Inception).
• XREF: connects to: Nolan’s films are duplicitous in both form and subject — Mark Fisher, Ghosts of My Life: Writings on…, 515; Film’s mimetic movements induce viewers to fall into step before any story registers — Theodor W. Adorno, The Culture Industry: Selected Essays…, 266

Broader Connections

• Film’s mimetic movements induce viewers to fall into step before any story registers #expands (0.72) — Theodor W. Adorno, The Culture Industry, 266