Sigmund Freud's Art, Imagination and Fantasy

3. Dreams

Nocturnal dreams, according to some conducted studies, are the fulfillment of desires just like daydreams. “If the meaning of our dreams usually remain obscure in spite of this clue, it is because of the circumstances that at right wishes of which we are ashamed also become active in us; wishes which we have to hide from ourselves which were consequently repressed and pushed backed to the unconscious.”

One’s fears or personal wishes appear in dreams because our conscious state denies this and thrust it back to the unconscious. Some of our fears and anxiety appears through dreams and is often referred to as nightmares. According to Freud, dreams can be interpreted since it is only a residue of the happenings of reality. Day dreams on the other hand are similar to this but only in a waking manner. In the movie “Dancer in the Dark”, the lead actress exhibited great imagination through her day dreams that appears to be lively and musical as compared to her real life.

4. Dancer in the Dark

Selma Jezkova is a Czech immigrant, a single mother living in a trailer with her ten year-old son, Gene. Selma and Gene rent their home from their next-door neighbors, the local policeman Bill and his wife, Linda. Bill and Linda are model neighbors, often watching Gene while Selma works at a tool and die factory making stainless steel sinks. A hereditary disease is rapidly robbing Selma of her sight and she is determined to put away enough money to secure an operation for Gene before he suffers the same fate. In the evenings, Selma and her friend Kathy rehearse for an amateur production of The Sound of Music. Kathy suspects that Selma’s vision is far worse than she lets on and she is surprised when her friend manages to pass an eye test required by the factory. In fact, Selma has copied the eye chart and committed it to memory. One evening, Selma’s neighbor Bill confesses that his savings are exhausted and he fears that he will lose his house. Selma confides in Bill that she is going blind and that she has almost saved enough money to pay for an operation for Gene. Bill and Selma part with the promise to keep their respective secrets.

At the factory, Selma finds it increasingly difficult to disguise her failing eyesight. She is continually distracted by the rhythm of the presses and the clattering of the steel sinks and begins to imagine that she and her co-workers are in a musical. The hissing and clanging of the machinery inspires daydreams of elaborate song and dance routines. But Selma’s imagination is dangerous for an operator of industrial equipment and her lack of concentration doesn’t go unnoticed by Norman, the shop foreman. Kathy tries to protect her, but she too is worried about Selma’s ability to work. Bill asks Selma for a loan but she gently refuses, reminding him that her savings will save her child from blindness. He apologizes for asking. Again, Bill goes to Selma, but this time he tells her that he has decided to confess to his wife that they are broke and hope for the best. He makes as if to leave Selma’s trailer but hides in the corner instead, watching as she stashes her money in its hiding place.

Jeff, an admirer is waiting for Selma as she leaves the factory and walks her home along the train tracks. When Selma is nearly hit by an oncoming freight train, Jeff realizes that her vision has gone. Selma, imagining that the workers on the flatbed train are performing in her own private musical, asks Jeff to pick her up that afternoon for a drive. Arriving home, she goes to her hiding place to stash her final pay only to find that the tin is empty. Selma goes to Bill, knowing that he has taken her money. Linda confronts her, saying that Bill has told her everything: Bill rebuffed Selma’s advances and now she is seeking revenge. Selma insists on seeing Bill. He admits to taking the money, but refuses to turn it over until Selma puts him out of his misery. A struggle ensues and Bill is wounded. He begs her to finish the job and Selma complies. Linda has gone for the police. Selma, meanwhile, imagines another musical number full of forgiveness and reconciliation. As the police sirens whine in the distance, Jeff comes for Selma and at her instructions, drives to a place in the woods. Selma leaves Jeff and makes her way alone, following a guide rope to the eye clinic. She successfully deposits her hard fought savings with Dr. Pokorny to ensure Gene’s operation. Jeff, oblivious to the scene at Bill and Linda’s, takes Selma to her final rehearsal for 'The Sound of Music.' Samuel alerts the police and Selma is taking into custody.

At her trial, the prosecutor presents Selma as scheming and selfish. She is accused of exaggerating her handicap. Her story of working to support her elderly father in Czechoslovakia (which she invented to protect Gene from the truth about his eyesight) is exposed as a lie. Everything she offers in her own defense is dismissed. Selma is sent to death row, but not before she invents a courtroom number in which her imaginary father, the musical comedy star Olrich Novy, does a tap routine on the judge’s bench.

Kathy and Jeff make futile attempts to persuade Selma to enter a new plea. Selma, however, is unwilling to spend Gene’s money on her own defense. Instead, she passes the time alone in her cell listening for any sounds that will distract her from the inevitable. When the day arrives, the good hearted prison warden, Brenda helps Selma to make her last walk with dignity. Paralyzed by fear, together with Brenda, Selma creates the beat for the finale.

        This movie is a great example of Freud’s explanation of fantasies and day dreams. Selma was able to fulfill her wishes and desire through the use of her musical fantasies. Despite her lack of sight, she was able to speak out using her dreams, her very own wants and wishes. Here, we see a very good example of the mediation of fantasy, reality and art.

5. Conclusion

Each of us has an innate notion of Fantasy, which is evident even in our toddler stage. Our dreams are exhibitions of our passions and tragedies. On the contrary, fantasies are the realization of our secret desires. It is normal to have fantasies as long as it does not interfere with reality. As long as we do not go beyond its limit, we could avoid the outbreak of neurosis. Be it positive or negative, dreams and fantasies occur all inside a person’s mind. This only means that each of us has our very own imagination which means there is an artist in all of us. These are free and uninhibited modes of thinking where one could find pleasure and attainment of something they cannot have in the real world. Our special dreams and reveries according to Freud are every person’s private masterpieces.

Bibliography:

Freud, Sigmund trans. by A.A Brill. The Basic Writings of Sigmund Freud. New York: Modern Library, 1938

Fine, Reuben. Freud: A Critical Re-Evaluation of the Theories. New York: David McKay, 1962

Rader, Melvin. Ed. The Modern Book of Esthetics: An Anthology, 5Th ed. New York: Holt, Rinchart and Winston, 1935

Gruden, Michael, Martin Kreiswirth. The John Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism. London: The John Hopkins University Press, 1997