# Anyone else dislike dream sequences? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [July 18, 2022, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-dislike-dream-sequences/968170 "2022-07-18T21:28:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-dislike-dream-sequences/968170/21 "2022-07-19T02:41:59Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > > [@snowthx](#): > > > > I will go against the grain here - I love the dream sequence in _Office Space_, as well as the two in _The Big Lebowski_. > > I’m with you. I hate _bad_ dream sequences, but a well-done dream sequence can be a great addition to a film, either for comedy, for weirdness, or in rare instances, to drive the plot. > > The two you mention above are fantastic. Other good ones that stick out in my mind: > > - _A Christmas Story_ - “you’ll shoot yer eye out!” > - _Pee Wee’s Big Adventure_ - clowns operating on bicycles hits both comedy and weird > - _American Beauty_ - I thought the movie was overrated, but Lester’s dreams were crucial for developing his character > - _Raising Arizona_ - the dream at the end of the movie was a perfect conclusion. A happy ending with everything resolved would feel fake, but you still walk out happy. > - _Trainspotting_ - the toilet plunge is hilarious, and the dead baby crawling on the ceiling is a great depiction of the paranoia of a bad trip > - Pretty much every dream in the original _Nightmare on Elm Street_, although this might be cheating a bit since the dreams _were_ the plot > - The Red Lodge dream in the last original _Twin Peaks_ episode - this had to be the strangest thing shown on network TV at the time Dream sequences such as these where you _know_ it’s a dream are fine and I can enjoy them or not the same as any other type of scene in a film. But what I _hate_ and get really annoyed with are the “OMG how could this huge thing happen!? What will our characters possibly do next!?… Ha ha fooled you! It was all a dream and none of this happened.” That’s just lazy writing. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-dislike-dream-sequences/968170/22 "2022-07-19T02:48:42Z")
Two of _Star Trek: The Next Generation_’s mostly highly regarded episodes are basically dream sequences: “The Inner Light” and “Tapestry”. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-dislike-dream-sequences/968170/23 "2022-07-19T03:47:52Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > They’re usually a cheap shortcut Yep. > [@digs](#): > > And, yes, you feel cheated. Yep. > [@TroutMan](#): > > _Raising Arizona_ - the dream at the end of the movie was a perfect conclusion. This is a good one, because they make it clear it _is actually_ a dream. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-dislike-dream-sequences/968170/24 "2022-07-19T04:08:44Z")
Yes, I hate dream sequences, for many of the reasons mentioned here (and also because I’ve never had dreams that work the way those fictional dream sequences do). And yes, there are exceptions to the rule. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-dislike-dream-sequences/968170/25 "2022-07-19T05:14:50Z")
Another vote against dream sequences, especially if they’re purposely weird. Drug sequences too. I feel like they’re scenes where the characters have no stakes on the line. I like the sequences in the Big Lebowski now, but they frustrated me on the first viewing. I’ll go a step further and include plays-within-plays. I hate those murder mysteries where everyone is working on a holiday pageant and you know when they get around to the actual performance, the killer will be revealed. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-dislike-dream-sequences/968170/26 "2022-07-19T06:10:49Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > now a character’s gun falls apart and the bullets are apparently chocolate The bullets are melting into shit. > [@Dinsdale](#): > > WTF? It’s a dream. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-dislike-dream-sequences/968170/27 "2022-07-19T06:23:54Z")
When I’m dreaming, my innate reality-check is nearly nonexistent. Eminently strange things pass as normal without a second thought. Only after waking up do I realize the absurdities, if I happen to remember them. The floor plan changed after I turned my head. I’m not in school any more. My mother is long dead, isn’t she? On the other hand when I’m watching a show or movie my reality check is fully functioning. If we could record my dream and play it back to me it would simply be… _off_. You can’t translate dreams to the screen accurately - real dreams are _very weird_ without _feeling_ weird. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-dislike-dream-sequences/968170/28 "2022-07-19T11:03:40Z")
I don’t mind a dream sequence if it can be kept short and sweet and to the point–I’ll call it “economical.” It’s also easier for me to accept it if it brings the character a realization or an understanding of some problem and thus drives the plot forward in some material way. If it simply reinforces the point that the character is anxious about something, I’m not nearly as accepting. I think a good (that is, not lazy, to draw on a word already used in the thread) writer should be able to give that to us in waking moments. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-dislike-dream-sequences/968170/29 "2022-07-19T13:14:36Z")
I prefer ones used in comedies. **Young Sheldon** makes good use of them, as did **The Big Bang Theory**. Occasionally they work in horror but more often then not they’re just a cheap device. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-dislike-dream-sequences/968170/30 "2022-07-19T14:40:59Z")
When they are cheats (oh no how will they survive? Oh, the entire episode was a dream!) the writers should be beaten with reeds. But a well done “character revealing” dream can be fun. Like A Christmas Story\*, but also the WKRP daydream episode, and the ones where Gilligan dreams he’s debonair spy 014, or Dr Jekyll. Those can be clever. \*technically just a day dream. Ralphie was writing his dream, not having it generated by his subconscious. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-dislike-dream-sequences/968170/31 "2022-07-19T17:26:59Z")
A show that’s particularly good with dream sequences (like in so many other aspects) is the Simpsons. I’m thinking of the trip Homer and Lisa individually take while they are in isolation tanks, Homer’s chili trip, but most of all, I like Homer’s daydreams, my favorite being “the land of chocolate”: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ZOziWm_MJ9k/hqdefault.jpg "The Land of Chocolate - Simpsons Clip") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOziWm_MJ9k) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-dislike-dream-sequences/968170/32 "2022-07-19T17:39:49Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > but most of all, I like Homer’s daydreams, my favorite being “the land of chocolate” Yes, but IMHO dream sequences and daydream sequences are two separate things. The latter is totally acceptable (unless they’re trying to trick us into thinking it’s reality, which makes less sense than mistaking a dream for reality). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-dislike-dream-sequences/968170/33 "2022-07-19T17:41:53Z")
Well, damn. You beat me to it. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-dislike-dream-sequences/968170/34 "2022-07-19T18:13:17Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > But what I _hate_ and get really annoyed with are the “OMG how could this huge thing happen!? What will our characters possibly do next!?… Ha ha fooled you! It was all a dream and none of this happened.” That’s just lazy writing. That’s a fair point. I won’t give a blanket condemnation of the “fake-out dream,” but it needs to have a great payoff and be crucial to the story if they’re going to use it. Most of the time, it’s a stupid gotcha like you say. Ripley’s dream at the beginning of _Aliens_ is one of the few examples that I think works. Yes, it’s a gotcha in that you briefly believe she has a chest-buster inside her before the reveal. But it shows how her experience is still a constant source of trauma, and it sets the audience on edge. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-dislike-dream-sequences/968170/35 "2022-07-19T23:25:13Z")
Dream sequences as a way to illuminate a character are just a cheap crutch. First of all, dreams are meaningless IRL, so the use of a dream is just a cheap contrivance and just annoy me. It’s also a cheat: the audience gets involved and then gets the rug pulled out with the author being so proud about it. There are times when it does work, usually in comedy or when the dream is clearly a dream from the start, but most of the time it’s just lazy writing. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-dislike-dream-sequences/968170/36 "2022-07-19T23:29:05Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I hate, hate, hate them… This. For this reason: > [@madmonk28](#): > > …it’s usually lazy writing. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-dislike-dream-sequences/968170/37 "2022-07-19T23:41:16Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > Two of _Star Trek: The Next Generation_’s mostly highly regarded episodes are basically dream sequences: “The Inner Light” and “Tapestry”. I don’t think that really applies. Dream sequences are generally meant to be symbolic, to reveal the inner thoughts of the characters, fantastic and open to interpretation… These episodes don’t do that. “The Inner Light” is about forcibly implanted memories and the subjective experience of a life you never had. Just because it only happens within the mind doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a “dream sequence.” Tapestry is more of an examination of “what if” but with a magic spell. Neither really fit the mold of what we think of as dream sequences, I think you’re using an overly broad categorization. Anyway, yeah, I generally hate dream sequences. They’re awful when they’re a gimmick to fake you out - when you don’t know it’s a dream sequence coming in and that’s what creates the drama around what happens and then there’s no consequence to it. That’s a cheap trick and insulting to the audience. Dream sequences where you’re know it’s a dream sequence and the intent is to help the audience understand something can be okay, because that’s using a different sort of narrative format to tell a story, but… very few examples I can think of. Mostly that’s used badly too. If no piece of entertainment ever used a dream sequence again I don’t think we’d really miss anything. Writers would have to find more interesting and better ways to get their point across. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-dislike-dream-sequences/968170/38 "2022-07-19T23:47:25Z")
One I haven’t seen mentioned is the dream sequence from The Exorcist III. I think that it was well done. But they didn’t try to fake the audience out. They showed the good lieutenant sleeping in his bed before the sequence started. Though, similar to the Twin Peaks example given above, there is some question about how much of it actually happened. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/zN1UABKGq1M/hqdefault.jpg "Exorcist III Dream Sequence: Creepy & Unsettling") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN1UABKGq1M) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-dislike-dream-sequences/968170/39 "2022-07-19T23:53:14Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > For this reason: > > > [@madmonk28](#): > > > > …it’s usually lazy writing. IMHO the problem with some dream sequences isn’t that they’re lazy; it’s that they’re self-indulgent. The writer or the filmmaker wants an excuse to show us some weird, cool, edgy, imaginative imagery, but there’s no reason for the things they want to show us to actually happen in the story they’re trying to tell, so they make a dream sequence out of them. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-dislike-dream-sequences/968170/40 "2022-07-19T23:55:23Z")
I think that self indulgent writing is essentially lazy writing. Good writing kills its darlings. [https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-does-it-mean-to-kill-your-darlings#quiz-0](https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-does-it-mean-to-kill-your-darlings#quiz-0) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-dislike-dream-sequences/968170.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-dislike-dream-sequences/968170.md?page=3)