Lucid Dreaming: "Open Your Eyes"

Are you a lucid dreamer? Are you able to control what happens in your dreams? While lucidity is of interest to some Buddhists, because it encourages the practioner to grasp the truth that all experience is illusion, westerners tend to emphasize a different set of benefits-- ranging from the practical to the spiritual. What would happen in your dreamlife if you had the ability to direct it? In this lesson, you'll read an introduction to the science of lucid dreaming and view a Spanish film where a young man "wakes up" into a nightmare.

Podcast Lecture: The Somniloquy

Reading:

LaBerge, "Lucidity Research, Past and Future"

"Open Your Eyes" (1997)

Questions:

1. What are some of the ways in which Laberge and his researchers train subjects to become lucid?

2. What has lucid dream research suggested about the mind-body relationship?

3. What are some of the potental practical applications of lucid dreaming?

4. In "Open Your Eyes," what is César's life like before the accident? How would you describe his character?

5. Why does he wear the mask? What does the mask represent?

6. How does the film make the audience question what is real and what is illusion? Compare to "Brazil."

7. What various meanings does the title (and frequently used expression) "open your eyes" mean in the film?

8. What is the role of Nuria in the story? Sofia? Compare these two to various female characters we've encountered in the texts and films of this course.

9. How does the film reveal "the truth" of what is happening to César? What is wrong with him? Compare this revelation to the revelation that occurs near the end of Fight Club.

Activities:

Remaking the Dream: The 2001 American "Vanilla Sky" is a remake of "Open Your Eyes" with some important differences. Watch "Vanilla Sky" and pay particular attention to the revelation and the conclusion. How does the American film treat the phenomenon and experience of lucidity?