LD in Mainstream Media

Hey there.

I'm interested in references to Lucid Dreaming in mainstream media like books, music, films, video games, etc.

Can you give some examples you know of? I think it would be interesting to see the way LD was depicted in those formats and we could make a list of all of them. I wonder how many references are out there. Hope you can contribute with them. Personally i don't know many but if some people give examples we might get a nice list.



The reference i know of:

Recently on the game "Dragon Age: Origins" (a great game btw, i would guess it will be the game of the year) i discovered, to my amusement, that there was a thing similar to LD depicted there.

In a part of the game you discover that the magic that mages use comes from a place called the Fade which is the place where you go while dreaming. Later on, you can, inclusively, play in that realm in a kind of Lucid Dream induced by one of the demons that you faced and that demoted you of the interest in real life by making you get asleep and imprisioning you in that Realm. To get out you have to explore different dreamlets and even morph yourself inside of them until you find the demon that caused you imprisonment and kill it! Was a really nice idea of the game producers.


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List made out of everyone's contribution so far:

Art:

- Painting "The Nightmare" by Henry Fuseli

Book:

- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Movies:

- Dreamscape
- Groundhog Day
- Open Your Eyes
- Paprika
- The Good Night
- The Matrix
- The Science of Sleep
- Vanilla Sky
- Waking Life
- What Dreams May Come (Seems to be more related to Astral Projection)


Music:

- Lucid Dreams by Franz Ferdinand

Video-Games:

- Dragon Age: Origins
- Lucidity
- Yume Nikky

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Hope you can help and thanks for your contributions ^^.

The movie "Waking Life" as well as the movie "Vanilla Sky" starring Tom Cruise.

The song 'lucid dreams' by Franz Ferdinand, awesome song by the way.

How about the matrix. "There is no spoon".

Thanks for the contributions. I will make a list by editing the original post. Hope more people contribute too.

Edit: Ah, forgot to add the game Yume nikky. Added it now.

I heard somewhere that Alice in Wonderland was based off of a LD, gosh I would like to see more LD movies! All of the craziness of them-but it'd have to be a very vivid epic one.

The Xbox Live Arcade game Lucidity.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lucidreamsavy

I heard somewhere that Alice in Wonderland was based off of a LD, gosh I would like to see more LD movies! All of the craziness of them-but it'd have to be a very vivid epic one.

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Don't know if it was based on a LD but i searched a bit and found that at the end of the book Alice awakes (she was either just dreaming or LDing xD) and tells her sister of what had happened in her dreams. I guess that would count as a reference as well so i'll put it here too. I have searched for some more references and found some other that i'll add soon.

There was an episode in one of the Star Trek series involving lucid dream: http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Lucid_dream / http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Waking_Moments_%28episode%29
(I haven't seen it)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MindDaguerreotype

There was an episode in one of the Star Trek series involving lucid dream: http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Lucid_dream / http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Waking_Moments_%28episode%29
(I haven't seen it)

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Wow, that's cool, i had no idea LD was referred in Star Trek . There seems to be a lot of references to LD around Oo.

Edit: Crap, can't edit the original post anymore. Didn't know this had a Editing limit. I'll repost it here with the new stuff added.

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List made out of everyone's contribution so far:


Art:

- Painting "The Nightmare" by Henry Fuseli


Book:

- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll


Movies:

- Dreamscape
- Groundhog Day
- Open Your Eyes
- Paprika
- The Good Night
- The Matrix
- The Science of Sleep
- Vanilla Sky
- Waking Life
- What Dreams May Come


Music:

- Lucid Dreams by Franz Ferdinand


TV:

- Episode 14 from the 5th Season of Charmed
- Episode 13 from the 4th Season of Star Trek
- Star Trek


Video-Games:

- Dragon Age: Origins
- Lucidity
- Yume Nikky

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i've seen what dreams may come and it seems more closely related to LDing than AP. like his world is made of paint, and he sees a bird as is like "can I make it fly?" and he does and he changes its color and shape and everything.

In Charmed there is an episode called Sand Franscisco Dreaming where they have to go to sleep and consciously face their nightmares so I guess that would be lucid dreaming.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bewareofit1505

i've seen what dreams may come and it seems more closely related to LDing than AP. like his world is made of paint, and he sees a bird as is like "can I make it fly?" and he does and he changes its color and shape and everything.

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Oh, ok. I didn't see it yet, i just read in a website that it was more related to AP. I'll change it then. Although i can't edit my first post because the number of editions possible seems to have been exceeded i'll change the last post i made with the actual list.

The movie "Ink" takes place in a dream world. It's a really good movie, I highly reccommend it. Please, check the trailers (here and here) and let me know what you think about it ;].

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MichalZitek

The movie "Ink" takes place in a dream world. It's a really good movie, I highly reccommend it. Please, check the trailers (here and here) and let me know what you think about it ;].

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I watched the trailers, seems an interesting concept. Although i can't see it now i think i'll try to get it and see it in the christmas holidays. Thx for sharing.

Updated List:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

List made out of everyone's contribution so far:


Art:

- Painting "The Nightmare" by Henry Fuseli


Book:

- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll


Movies:

- Alice in Wonderland by Disney
- Dreamscape
- Ink
- Open Your Eyes
- Paprika
- The Good Night
- The Matrix
- The Science of Sleep
- Vanilla Sky
- Waking Life
- What Dreams May Come


Music:

- Lucid Dreams by Franz Ferdinand


TV:

- Episode 2 of the 3rd Season of South Park
- Episode 14 from the 5th Season of Charmed
- Episode 13 from the 4th Season of Star Trek
- Star Trek


Video-Games:

- Dragon Age: Origins
- Lucidity
- Yume Nikky

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If you don't think it's redundant you can throw in the disney Alice in Wonderland because she is lucid at the very end of the film.
A SouthPark episode

I just woke up so I can barely string two words together, let alone remember my other finds. When they come to me I'll update.

I wouldn't consider The Nightmare lucid dreaming. "They" believe he meant to represent sleep paralysis, but it's really got nothing to do with LDing.
I feel the same way about Groundhog Day. But, just my .02

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shift

If you don't think it's redundant you can throw in the disney Alice in Wonderland because she is lucid at the very end of the film.
A SouthPark episode

I just woke up so I can barely string two words together, let alone remember my other finds. When they come to me I'll update.

I wouldn't consider The Nightmare lucid dreaming. "They" believe he meant to represent sleep paralysis, but it's really got nothing to do with LDing.
I feel the same way about Groundhog Day. But, just my .02

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Thanks, added your suggestions. Watched that part of South Park. That series' corrosive humor always amuzes me xD.

Well, that paint from what i read represents sleep paralysis with the possible HH related (in this case the Old Hag). SP isn't necessarily related to LD but it is a possible consequence of the WILD attempts so i included it here because it is closely related to WILDing.

In the case of Groundhog Day which i already watched, there is a series of identical False Awakenings experienced by the protagonist which give him the possibility to attempt different experiences throughout the same day. He inclusively kills himself in one of those FA along with the groundhog (this was funny, lol, as the FA made him go crazy). Whatever he did he would awake again in exactly the same day. Until, one time he awakes and, after going through the same day he awakes again and the day is different from the one being repeated.

You could make several interpretations of this: either he was asleep the whole time and LDing and at the end of the movie there was just a transition to a different dream (he never awake up in fact), or he got stuck in some kind of time loop that he couldn't control and for some reason broke off at a certain point, or some unknown force was forcing him to repeat the day until he realized the errors in his personality, corrects them and only then that same force unleashes the brake on time.

From watching the movie it seems that the 3rd possibility is the one that the movie pretends to pass to us. But that doesn't mean that the 1st possibility isn't correct either. It's just a matter of interpretation and imagination.

If you remember more references to LD in other stuff feel free to post :).

But at no point throughout the movie does he say "Oh wait, this is only a dream." Instead, he behaves as though he is trapped in reality, with his behaviors frantically trying to score the reality he wants. Even if it is a ridiculously intense series of FAs, he is by no means lucid.

It's one of my favorite movies, and though we can relate to the concepts (FAs, the opportunity to use control to shape the world around you) I don't believe it is related to LDs at all.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shift

But at no point throughout the movie does he say "Oh wait, this is only a dream." Instead, he behaves as though he is trapped in reality, with his behaviors frantically trying to score the reality he wants. Even if it is a ridiculously intense series of FAs, he is by no means lucid.

It's one of my favorite movies, and though we can relate to the concepts (FAs, the opportunity to use control to shape the world around you) I don't believe it is related to LDs at all.

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I see what you mean. As it was controversial i removed it from the list.

Sliders Season 3 Episode 28 The Dream Masters.
:bowdown: Awsome show!!! Awsome episode!
Its all about Lucid dreaming and shared dreaming

Did noone think to mention "A Nightmare on Elm Street"?
Who can control a dream better then Freddy?

There is a series of fantasy books called the Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan where lucid dreaming is a big part of the story line, and dreams are constantly used for meeting up with others.

Ahah, so many references this list is growing nicely. Seems that there a lot of references to LD around.

It really sucks that i can't edit my earlier posts and have to repost the list updates though =S.


Updated List:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

List made out of everyone's contribution so far:


Art:

- Painting "The Nightmare" by Henry Fuseli


Book:

- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
- "The Wheel of Time" series written by Robert Jordan


Movies:

- A Nightmare on Elm Street
- Alice in Wonderland by Disney
- Dreamscape
- Ink
- Open Your Eyes
- Paprika
- The Good Night
- The Matrix
- The Science of Sleep
- Vanilla Sky
- Waking Life
- What Dreams May Come


Music:

- Lucid Dreams by Franz Ferdinand


TV:

- Episode 62 "Shadow Play" from the "Twilight Zone" Series
- Episode 5 "The Dream Masters" from the 3rd Season of Sliders
- Episode 2 "Spontaneous Combustion" from the 3rd Season of South Park
- Episode 14 "Sand Francisco Dreamin'" from the 5th Season of Charmed
- Episode 13 "Waking Moments" from the 4th Season of Star Trek
- Star Trek


Video-Games:

- Dragon Age: Origins
- Lucidity
- Yume Nikky

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Not sure if this should be included in your ever-growing list, but it's an old Twilight Zone episode entitled "Shadow Play" featuring a very young Dennis Weaver who plays a man condemed to the electric chair in a recurring dream.

He also knows it's a dream, so by definition he must be lucid.

And for the very vigil people out there, you may have noticed a small clip of it being played in the Times Square sequence at the beginning of Vanilla Sky.

peter pan has all the hallmarks of lucid dreaming as far as im concerned lol
;]

The movie Mirror Mask.

Inception, of course.

The game Psychonauts is all about dreaming.

Has anyone seen the bonus disk to Inception? It's very good, Stephen LaBerge is interviewed in it along with many others.

Can someone explain to me how dragon age origins is about lucid dreaming?

Long time i didn't update this thread, let's ressurect it xD.

Don't see very well the relation between peter pan and lucid dream. From what i remember they didn't have to sleep to get to neverland. They went there flying.

Updated List:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

List made out of everyone's contribution so far:


Art:

- Painting "The Nightmare" by Henry Fuseli


Book:

- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
- "The Wheel of Time" series written by Robert Jordan


Movies:

- A Nightmare on Elm Street
- Alice in Wonderland by Disney
- Dreamscape
- Inception
- Ink
- Mirror Mask
- Open Your Eyes
- Paprika
- The Good Night
- The Matrix
- The Science of Sleep
- Vanilla Sky
- Waking Life
- What Dreams May Come


Music:

- Lucid Dreams by Franz Ferdinand


TV:

- Episode 62 "Shadow Play" from the "Twilight Zone" Series
- Episode 5 "The Dream Masters" from the 3rd Season of Sliders
- Episode 2 "Spontaneous Combustion" from the 3rd Season of South Park
- Episode 14 "Sand Francisco Dreamin'" from the 5th Season of Charmed
- Episode 13 "Waking Moments" from the 4th Season of Star Trek
- Star Trek


Video-Games:

- Dragon Age: Origins
- Lucidity
- Psychonauts
- Yume Nikky

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bboy500

Can someone explain to me how dragon age origins is about lucid dreaming?

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There is a part of the game where you enter a dream world. I played it long ago so i don't remember all the details but here is the walkthrough for that area: Walkthrough for Lost in Dreams at DAO

There you can even change yourself to be like a mouse or other things inside that dream world.

The song My Enemy by Super8 & Tab feat. Julie Thompson. I've heard other references in some other songs, but either never found out the title, or just forgot it xP

Quote:

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Dreams
Beneath the surface there’s a world that no one sees
A hideaway where I’ve got everything I need

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eternal sunshine of the spotless mind has some lucid dream type stuff in it. but it isn't about lucid dreaming at all. if alice in wonderland is on the list I think this should be as well.

Season 5 episode 15 of American Dad

The recent Psych Christmas Special heavily featured lucid dreaming - about half of the episode was a lucid dream! Although they don't mention it by name, lucid dreaming was the theme of the episode. It even gets into Dream Guides and stuff like that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MichalZitek

The movie "Ink" takes place in a dream world. It's a really good movie, I highly reccommend it. Please, check the trailers (here and here) and let me know what you think about it ;].

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That movie Ink looks incredible.. The cinematography, the plot, everything about it.

Lucid dreaming in Cracked.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Oneironaut

Lucid dreaming in Cracked.

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I vaguely remember that website but don't think I've read one of its articles before, but that was hilarious. Much of it was true or not far from the truth, or sometimes just ougrageous, making it funny.

The best part to me was the ending explaining the reason spinning helps increase lucidity:

Quote:

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"After having your true desires suppressed by our patriarchal society for so long, and being forced to conform to cruel societal expectations, your new-found ability to freely spin around will overwhelm any other intrusive brain activity. The pure state of ecstatic joy in your brain will be unconquerable. Research has shown that spinning will prolong lucid dreams for 96% of people. It works best to rub your hands together and spin around at the same time. Finally, there's a use for the very actions that got you beat up in high school!"

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Hahaha. Yeah. Cracked is great. :chuckle: