# "It was all just a dream!" AAARGH! (spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 25, 2007, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-all-just-a-dream-aaargh-spoilers/397469 "2007-03-25T21:48:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-all-just-a-dream-aaargh-spoilers/397469/61 "2007-03-31T18:46:06Z")
That _Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge_ story had an “it was all a dream” ending that was pretty well done. I may have missed it in the thread, because I was a little surprised not to see it already mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-all-just-a-dream-aaargh-spoilers/397469/62 "2007-03-31T18:48:45Z")
[QUOTE=Bill Door] That _Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge_ story had an “it was all a dream” ending that was pretty well done. I may have missed it in the thread, because I was a little surprised not to see it already mentioned. [/QUOTE] Yup. You missed it. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-all-just-a-dream-aaargh-spoilers/397469/63 "2007-03-31T21:33:47Z")
Otto Yes, I must apologize for accusing you of revealing a plot ending. The thread itself did have a spoiler warning. :smack: Even though I now know the clever ending to “ **Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla** ”, I can still enjoy the musical and comedic stylings of Mitchell and Petrillo. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-all-just-a-dream-aaargh-spoilers/397469/64 "2007-03-31T22:31:45Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] You know what I hate? Dream sequences in fiction. Almost always they’re just self-indulgence on the part of the author. If we don’t know as we’re reading them that someone’s dreaming, they’re lame for the reasons already explained in this thread. They’re a cheap way for the author to play the “Ha ha, gotcha” game, to get a cheap reaction out of us without having anything happen for real to justify it. [/QUOTE] What’s even worse is that dream sequences are almost never **realistic.** I mean, to the best of my recollection, I’ve never had a dream that my waking mind could confuse with real life. Have you? In dreams, things just happen, one after another. The laws of physics and causality are suspended. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-all-just-a-dream-aaargh-spoilers/397469/65 "2007-03-31T22:42:56Z")
[QUOTE=wolf\_meister] Since this is the SDMB (populated by some very cultured, worldly and intelligent folks), I’m surprised no one has mentioned the term for this plot device - _deus ex machina_ - a Latin term which literally translates into “god from a machine”. In Greek tragedies an irresolvable situation was brought to a conclusion by a god (or goddess) descending onto the stage (by means of a crane) and setting everything right. [/QUOTE] The Superflu caused so much pain, oh! And with evil a raging volcano Flagg’s triumph seemed certain Until King rang the curtain By pulling a _deus ex ano!_ :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-all-just-a-dream-aaargh-spoilers/397469/66 "2007-03-31T22:46:25Z")
Sometimes it’s done well. Examples: _Time Bandits:_ At the end we find out it’s all just a dream . . . only, not **really**. . . _Top Secret:_ Val Kilmer is arrested by the East German police. He passes out under torture and dreams he’s still in high school and there’s about to be a test he hasn’t studied for. He wakes up and he’s still being tortured. He smiles and gasps, “Thank God . . . it was just a dream . . . just a dream . . .” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2007, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-all-just-a-dream-aaargh-spoilers/397469/67 "2007-03-31T22:51:00Z")
Slightly off-topic, but just once I would like to see a virtual-reality movie where the characters are **not** at any point uncertain whether they are experiencing virtual reality or real reality. That plot device was done to death the first time it was used (either in _eXistenz,_ _The Thirteenth Floor,_ or _The Matrix_ – they all came out in 1999). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-all-just-a-dream-aaargh-spoilers/397469.md?page=3)