I would say dreams are often based on anxieties but I don't see it as a hostility of the dreamworld towards the dreamer. I think it comes naturally from how dreams are put together - through associations and our schemata.

So let's say you dream about being on a beach, it's peaceful and it's a glorious day, but nothing's happening (and that can't last for a long time in dreams). You are watching waves, and one of them seems to be... you don't know... maybe triangular? What could it be? A shark!!! But you are on the beach and the shark is in the water, you are safe, aren't you? What could go wrong? Oh, you remember, your sister is in the water, swimming. You have to save her.

Processing anxieties and looking around for threats sounds natural.

And when we go lucid and know nothing can harm us, there are still our insecurities, our lack of confidence, our lack of healthy self-love, bringing on the dream police or the hostility of the dreamworld.

Another thought:
When I talked about dreams with my husband, he said that all of his dreams feature "friction". Not hostility or something obviously negative, but an invisible force working against him, preventing him from doing whatever he wants to do. Like he wants to catch a train and there is suddenly a fence between him and the platform. Or similar things.
And I would agree that most dream stories are built like that - you are trying to do something but there are some obstacles. You work around them but something else happens, preventing you or distracting you from doing what you want.
Maybe this is how we see action stories in general? There's a hero and there are obstacles to overcome or enemies to beat. And our brain uses this general template to make dreams engaging.


It would be interesting to know how people dreamt in the past when the world was a much more dangerous place with more imminent threats.