I had a dream last night that I want to recount to you. It took place in Chicago, a city where I have never been, but with which I am familiar because of its depiction on TV and in movies. In the dream I lived in a high-rise apartment, but I had moved from the side of the building that featured a view of the city to the other side of the building where there was no view. I was walking down a boulevard with one of my colleagues who I invited to my home to work on a research project. I was trying to write down my phone number for her so she could contact me, but the color of the ink in the pen and the color of the paper on which I was trying to write were similar, so it was difficult to see what I was writing. Additionally, I had difficulty remembering my phone number. Walking along the boulevard (I think I was on the median strip) who did I spot in her green Porsche convertible? It was Oprah Winfrey who was on her way home from work. It was about six o’clock when I spotted her; that’s how I knew she was on her way home after work. I recall that the Porsche was not a new one. It was a 911 and about 9 years olds. It was a warm sunny day, which might explain the convertible top being down, making Oprah so easy to spot. Oprah – that’s interesting, I think. I have to admit over the years I have had successive dreams of Oprah, some of which I have recorded. I recall when my book was about to be published that I dreamed Oprah and I met at Sara Beth’s a restaurant on the Upper East Side of New York to discuss my appearance on an upcoming show. It was kind of a pre-interview. I don’t know why Oprah Winfrey repeatedly shows up in my dreams. I’m not a fan, although I admire her greatly. I’ve seen her television program, but I don’t watch it regularly. In fact I probably haven’t seen it in a year. I know enough about dreams to realize that Oprah is a metaphor; she’s standing in for something or someone else. I won’t go into a deep analysis of my dream, although over the years that I have been doing dream research, I’ve learned much about dream analysis and can usually apply it to my own dreams with some success. It’s important to point out that even though Oprah appeared in my dream, she appeared as an expedient substitute for someone or something else. Like all media figures that appear in our dreams, she is convenient. And, that is one of the roles that media figures play in our dreams, as a replacement for something or someone else that is perhaps more meaningful. I also want to point out that when celebrities appear in our dreams, according my research, they invariably are our friends. In other words, while we recognize them as celebrities, they lose their celebrity status in our dreams. Oprah. A green 911 Porsche. A well-known NYC restaurant. These are the things from our everyday lives—what Freud called day residue—that show up in our nocturnal world.
2 comments:
I had a dream a few nights ago that featured Leonardo DiCaprio and Justin Timberlake for no apparent reason. Though I have not gone through their possible meanings for popping up in my dreams, I thought it was important to comment that I regularly have dreams featuring celebrities or figures whom I have never met before.
Perhaps my love of celebrity news and everything surrounding the entertainment world surface in my dreams because I have become obsessed. Or maybe my dreams are trying to tell me something I haven't figured out yet.
I find this dream of yours very interesting regarding Oprah Winfrey. Although I can rarely recall my dreams, I have spoken to many that can, and often times they consist of one or more celebrities. Although I only remember a few of my dreams over the years, I have definitely had some that included Oprah as my friend as well.
I think this is due to the fact that I used to watch her show regularly in high school. I still follow her today, but I do not have the time to tune into her show on a daily basis. I think that if I were to really try and focus on my dreams and remember them, then I would have a similar experience to yours. I have been to Sara Beth's in NYC as well!
After hearing about many of my friends dreams and partaking in the the dream assignment for this course, I've found that more often than not, celebrities appear in our dreams and we form imaginary social relationships. Thus, I would agree with your theory that what happens in our real life somewhat parallels what goes on in our nocturnal life.
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