22 December 2011
In my notes from Dream 14 (of same date), I mentioned how I had managed to programme myself to wake at intervals during the night (presumably after experiencing a dream), but had experienced problems in recalling those dreams (due to failure to sufficiently consolidate them in my memory before falling back asleep). However, this evening, at around 8pm, I was watching one of my favourite TV programmes, Eastenders, and upon seeing the character ‘Pat Butcher’ (who I had, two days ago, also read an online news article about, as she is very soon to retire from the soap) I recalled a further dream fragment. This one was so strange. Upon the dream memory being triggered by seeing ‘Pat’, I also remembered the moment I woke up in the early hours and the fact the dream had been on my thoughts i.e. I remembered remembering my dream.
Main environment
There was no scenery.
Timing
I don’t know.
Characters
Myself (as a passive observer); Australian model and recent star of ITV show, I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! Emily Scott (the most recent series of the show ended a couple of weeks ago – I didn’t watch any of it, but I saw a lot of media coverage about the show and Emily). In the dream, I thought her name was ‘Emily Lloyd’ – I may have assumed this was her name in real-life, as immediately after I remembered the dream, I ‘googled’ the name “Emily Lloyd” and then realised the correct surname was actually ‘Scott’ after searching for the cast of I’m a Celeb... She was not known to me prior to her appearance in the show.
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| Emily Scott, Australian glamour model |
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| Pam St Clement - 'Pat Butcher' in Eastenders (BBC) |
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| A reconstruction of how Emily Scott appeared in the dream - from memory |
Before me was Emily Scott, standing in a white bikini. The first thing I noticed was her figure appeared less toned and quite flabby, with noticeably smaller breasts. I thought to myself, ‘she looks completely different’. Her hair was the same and I ‘zoomed in’ to see her facial features better. This happened in a way very similar to many online fashion/beauty magazines, which allow you to hover the mouse icon over an image of a celebrity/model to see a close-up shot (for example, runway images from vogue.com. A couple of days prior to the dream, I had used one of these online tools to view pictures of Kim Kardashian). I looked at her face, up-close and the ‘screen’ through which I looked at it kept shifting slightly left to right, up and down to give me a dislocated view of her entire face. I noticed the presence of lots of wrinkles – especially around her mouth and her skin was very orange (very similar to ‘Pat’ in Eastenders, now I realise, although this did not occur to me in the dream). I thought: ‘she looks a lot older’. I then had an image of a magazine before me, opened onto a double-page spread featuring Emily. It showed pictures of her in the Australian jungle – still images from I’m a Celeb... (I’ve searched for the same images online, and although there are many of her in the jungle, wearing a bikini, there are none exactly the same as those in my dream). The pages of the magazine turned over (no action from me) and I saw another photograph of Emily, a typical glamour model shot. She looked as she does in real-life. I thought: ‘yes, that’s what she looks like’.
Potential Triggers
Quite obviously, images/scenes from television and the media.
Interpretation
To see a celebrity in your dream represents your pursuit for pleasure and additionally, may represent a desire to have some of their physical or personality traits. Consider also who this celebrity is and what characteristics you associate with him or her - these may be the same characteristics that you need to acknowledge or incorporate into yourself. The dream may also be a pun on his or her name. To dream of a model specifically, represents an image that you want to portray. You are trying to be someone or something that you are not. Alternatively, it symbolises your idea of beauty. You are striving for something that you cannot attain.
Bikinis relate to exposure and feelings of being inadequately protected, but alternatively, may represent a return to innocence/youth or superficial desires.
To see a wrinkle in your dream represents your feelings of getting older or wiser. It also symbolises the things you have learned from your past experiences. To dream that someone else has a suntan suggests that you are not properly acknowledging a quality or aspect of that person within your own self.
To read a magazine in your dream indicates that you are opened to various new ideas – you should consider also the theme and name of the magazine and additional symbolism. To see a photograph in your dream indicates that there is a relationship that needs attention and deeper thought. Alternatively, the dream means that you are clinging on to the past or to some false hope - consider who or what is in the photo. The image may be trying to take you back to a particular moment in time.
Analysis
online) with the notion that I should exploit my looks while I still have my youth. I think fear of ageing is one of my main sources of anxiety.
Further interpretation following 'free association exercise'
* Today (26th December 2011), I thought I'd update this dream interpretation with a recent discovery, which may have influenced the fusing of the Emily Scott/Pat Butcher characters in my dream. This realisation came to me following my posting of the two articles on Freudian dream analysis, so perhaps my ability to free associate on dream symbolism/imagery is improving through my studies of self-analytical technique. When Emily Scott appeared in I'm a Celeb...(2011), one of her fellow contestants was UK television personality Pat Sharp, who happens to live nearby to my home in London. One day, PS showed me his house and we commented on how nice it was. During the run of I'm a Celeb...(a few weeks ago), I mentioned to PS that Pat Sharp was taking part in the show and had been accused of being unfair to one of the female celebrities in the jungle. PS then told me of a memory from his early childhood, where he was celebrating his birthday in a local restaurant and had spotted Sharp (who at that time presented a popular children's TV show, Fun House). PS asked Sharp for an autograph and was refused, which PS considered very rude and unkind, considering he was a celebrity admired by a lot of young children at that time. This may account for the association of Emily Scott to 'Pat' and 'Pat' to 'Pat Butcher'. The incident between PS and Sharp (in the early 1990s) is a reference to the disparity between childhood and adult life perhaps - accounting for the fusing of the Emily and Pat character - one representing youthful sexuality (Emily is in her late twenties I think) and the other old-age (Pam St Clement is 69 years old and soon to 'die' as her on-screen character 'Pat Butcher'). Further, this would also explain my thoughts which doubted Emily's outward appearance - ['this isn't what she looks like']. She did not appear to meet the 'publicised' image I held before seeing her 'close-up' (which mirrors the experience of PS in meeting Sharp as a child - at close inspection he did not seem to be the same person as presented on television). This interpretation is reinforced by the next scene, where the magazine is presented before me and I am able to see the 'airbrushed' reality - or the perfect media image - and recognise this to be ['what she really looks like'] - i.e. the media version of truth. Aligned with these thoughts, is the knowledge that photographs often reflect a different 'self' to that seen in the mirror - flaws can be distorted or hidden and if you are photogenic, an image which is admired as 'flattering' or 'sexy' may not match how you appear in three dimensions. The self I see on a daily basis is not the same as the self I capture on camera (I prefer to see a photograph of myself as opposed to looking in the mirror) and the self seen on photograph even then does not compare with the photographs of celebrities in the popular media, which are often significantly corrected and enhanced (i.e. manipulated by lighting techniques, camera trickery, make-up and Photoshop). The fact that media images provide distorted images of ageing creates anxiety and body dysmorphic perceptions of self. I think these themes are present in my dream, although I will think about it further and see what other associations come to mind.
Further interpretation following 'free association exercise'
* Today (26th December 2011), I thought I'd update this dream interpretation with a recent discovery, which may have influenced the fusing of the Emily Scott/Pat Butcher characters in my dream. This realisation came to me following my posting of the two articles on Freudian dream analysis, so perhaps my ability to free associate on dream symbolism/imagery is improving through my studies of self-analytical technique. When Emily Scott appeared in I'm a Celeb...(2011), one of her fellow contestants was UK television personality Pat Sharp, who happens to live nearby to my home in London. One day, PS showed me his house and we commented on how nice it was. During the run of I'm a Celeb...(a few weeks ago), I mentioned to PS that Pat Sharp was taking part in the show and had been accused of being unfair to one of the female celebrities in the jungle. PS then told me of a memory from his early childhood, where he was celebrating his birthday in a local restaurant and had spotted Sharp (who at that time presented a popular children's TV show, Fun House). PS asked Sharp for an autograph and was refused, which PS considered very rude and unkind, considering he was a celebrity admired by a lot of young children at that time. This may account for the association of Emily Scott to 'Pat' and 'Pat' to 'Pat Butcher'. The incident between PS and Sharp (in the early 1990s) is a reference to the disparity between childhood and adult life perhaps - accounting for the fusing of the Emily and Pat character - one representing youthful sexuality (Emily is in her late twenties I think) and the other old-age (Pam St Clement is 69 years old and soon to 'die' as her on-screen character 'Pat Butcher'). Further, this would also explain my thoughts which doubted Emily's outward appearance - ['this isn't what she looks like']. She did not appear to meet the 'publicised' image I held before seeing her 'close-up' (which mirrors the experience of PS in meeting Sharp as a child - at close inspection he did not seem to be the same person as presented on television). This interpretation is reinforced by the next scene, where the magazine is presented before me and I am able to see the 'airbrushed' reality - or the perfect media image - and recognise this to be ['what she really looks like'] - i.e. the media version of truth. Aligned with these thoughts, is the knowledge that photographs often reflect a different 'self' to that seen in the mirror - flaws can be distorted or hidden and if you are photogenic, an image which is admired as 'flattering' or 'sexy' may not match how you appear in three dimensions. The self I see on a daily basis is not the same as the self I capture on camera (I prefer to see a photograph of myself as opposed to looking in the mirror) and the self seen on photograph even then does not compare with the photographs of celebrities in the popular media, which are often significantly corrected and enhanced (i.e. manipulated by lighting techniques, camera trickery, make-up and Photoshop). The fact that media images provide distorted images of ageing creates anxiety and body dysmorphic perceptions of self. I think these themes are present in my dream, although I will think about it further and see what other associations come to mind.
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