Vanilla Sky and the American Dream – 25YearsLaterSite.com

Growing up, I heard about the American Dream a lot, not so much from my parents but from media like movies and television. The American Dream was about being a success, usually self-made. In time, I believe that Dream has evolved to encapsulate what it means to be a true American. Success, usually financial, is still a part of it, but so is this idea of us versus them.

When did this change happen, and where did it come from?

Im 37. In my lifetime, two events occurred that helped shape the America in which I now live: 9/11 and the advent of social media. In late 2001, a film was released that somehow managed to warn us about our current social climate. At least, thats how Ive managed to see it, as Ive often revisited it over the past 20 years. Vanilla Sky is about America losing its grip on reality in favor of a comforting falsehood.

Tom Cruise plays David Aames, billionaire and owner of a successful publishing company, who wakes up one morning to a quiet New York City. He drives to work, and on the way there, he, and we, begin to realize that the streets arent quiet. Theyre deserted. He continues on, eventually stopping his car in the middle of an empty Times Square. What the hell is going on? he and the audience must be asking. It turns out that David is actually having a nightmare.

Though it is never specified in the film, Vanilla Sky takes place sometime at the turn of the century, either 1999 or 2000. Writer-director Cameron Crowes remake of Alejandro Amenabars Open Your Eyes is such a time capsule of a film, representing New York (itself representing America, in as much as a remake of a Spanish film will ought to do) at a time just before 9/11.

When it premiered in theaters in 2001, just three months after 9/11, I dont think audiences necessarily wanted what the film had. As compared to the box office of other movies released that month (the prime example being the first Lord of the Rings film), it seems audiences wanted to escape far more than introspective science fiction. Heck, even critics at the time were lukewarm toward it. Just do the usual Google search for the movie and see that it currently has a 42% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Even now, as its 20th anniversary approaches, theres not much talk about Vanilla Sky. Thats a shame, because this is one of Cameron Crowes best films, and it has one of Tom Cruises finest performances. And I could go on and on about why I believe those two statements are true, but I want to focus on something Ive thought a lot about over the past two decades.

The lucid dream revelation in the final stretch of Vanilla Sky is more than just a plot device. It connects directly with the opening dream sequence, as well as the films final moment, in order to say something about artificial comfort in modern America.

This dream at the beginning of the film, of course, is more of a nightmare. In it, David is alone in the world, which for him is not something he desires. Hes a people person. He charms his way through most of his life, spending night after night with different women and then just moving on, doing his own thing. Hes living the dream, as he tells his best friend Brian at one point early in the film. This dream means existence with other people. Without anyone, life is a nightmare for David.

Davids lucid dream is supposed to be perfect, and for a while, it is. He gets the second chance he always wanted with the so-called love of his life Sofia, and he stays best friends with Brian. However, his subconscious seems to realize the people who surround David arent real. As such, again, this dream becomes a nightmare.

In the end, David is given the option of resetting his lucid dream or waking up, even though 150 years have passed in the real world. He chooses to wake up, because ultimately, a real-life, even one spent alone, is better than a dream where one is surrounded by fake people. What a statement to make.

At the end of 1999 and the start of 2000, there was a sense (true or not) that we were living in an optimistic time. The economy was doing well. Crime was down compared to the start of the decade. And, in pop culture, there was a sense that we were headed to a very interesting place with movies, television, and music.

Yet here was a film, made prior to 9/11, though certainly on the heels of the 2000 U.S. election, that suggested things werent as great as they seemed. Perhaps, the film told us, if we bothered to look closer, we would be able to understand that the American Dream we were always told about was actually an American Nightmare.

At that time, I believed this Nightmare stemmed from an unrealistic expectation of success, financial or otherwise. Nowadays, I believe this Nightmare comes in the form of social media (though still linked with the expectation of success).

This country is filled with people like David Aames or people wanting to be like David Aames. Its easy to say that this is because David is a successful white male who seemingly goes through life with more charm than actual talent, but theres more to it than that. David represents all who are scared of being alone.

In the film, David is an orphan, which explains why he is both willing to distance himself from some (his one-night stands with women) and attach himself to others (Brian and Sofia). He simultaneously wants to be with people and doesnt, because he understands that nothing lasts forever.

Except the lucid dream can last forever. And what is a lucid dream exactly? Its the notion that when we dream, we can become aware of this state and thereby take control of it. The thing is, though, the lucid dream from the film isnt supposed to make itself aware to David, which Ill get to in a moment. In this instance, the lucid dream in the film is false, much like the so-called American Dream. In both cases, the word dream is attached, suggesting an unreal state.

As such, when David is confronted by his subconscious, the following statement is made to him:

This is a revolution of the mind.

This is spoken to David a few times in the film as a way to get David to understand that he is dreaming. Essentially, the dream world is revolting against itself, breaking down the barrier that separates itself from the dreamer.

David and the lucid dream are separate, even if it seems as if they are one. After all, it is Davids subconscious that populates and moves things along. This is how he can have whatever he desires. Hes the creator of this world, and yet when the dream begins to break down, that illusion reveals itself. Life Extension is actually the creator of this world, and they even maintain it. Because of this, Davids subconscious wont accept this dream world and so rejects it.

Similarly, Americans, at times, are able to actually see through the illusion of the American Dream, usually when there is a breakdown of some sort, like powerful people in office getting away with immoral and unethical acts, or Facebook and Instagram literally going down for hours. It is at those times when a revolution of the mind occurs, and when that happens, we see the truth.

Ultimately, we can strive for the American Dream until it turns into a nightmare.

Or we can wake up.

In America, we strive for success, but the pursuit is never-ending, possibly because success encapsulates so much now. If we continue down this path, we open ourselves up to things like stress, health issues, lack of self-worth, and isolation. We run the continued risk of comparing our lives to the lives of others. As David says midway through the film:

My dreams are a cruel joke. They taunt me. Even in my dreams, Im an idiot who knows hes about to wake up to reality. If I could only avoid sleep. But I cant. I try to tell myself what to dream. I try to dream that I am flying. Something free. It never works.

If we can wake up, though, we can live our lives beyond a dream. As David says near the end of the film:

I want to live a real-life I dont want to dream any longer.

David needs people like we need each other. Modern society has replaced this need, though, with superficial friends, a la social media. This, in turn, results in a nightmare world, where the only way out is waking up, or logging off. In this sense, the lucid dream in our world consists of spaces like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc. These places allow us to not feel alone, and yet we are alone. Were isolated from one another while on these apps and web pages.

But it feels great to be with others in this virtual space of social media, even if it creates and supports herd mentality. Us versus them is nothing new, but its become ever more prevalent, whether its because of politics or even movies. Its the idea of my dream is not your dream; hence, my reality is not your reality.

Sometimes, though, perhaps all it takes is a glitch, or one of these spaces going down for a few hours, for us to see the truth once more. That social media is the collective dream weve all bought into. Then again, I suppose Im curious if America really is filled with people like David Aames. In the films final sequence, David literally calls out:

I want to wake up! Its a nightmare!

Can we do the same? Does the collective we even qualify in this case? Think about all the people who take the falsehoods found in social media and then take that into the real world. For them, its all the same. Its all a dream, and they dont even realize it. So many have bought into this new American Dream to such an extent that waking up is very unlikely for them.

The rest of us, though, can see the difference sometimes. It is in these instances that we can choose to wake up from social media to reality, which is neither dream nor nightmare. It contains many of the same elements, for better or worse. The key difference is that one is true, and one is not. Of course, reality is much scarier than social media, but thats because its real. I guess its no wonder why so many choose to stay asleep.

As we find ourselves in an America where a large portion of the population continually decides to stay in their social media dream state, its interesting to see how much has changed since Vanilla Skys release nearly 20 years ago and how much has simply morphed into a different version of the same thing.

Last year, in 2020, it was not unheard of to see an empty Times Square, thanks to COVID-19. What would a new version of Vanilla Sky need in order to suggest loneliness? Would it even need a visual metaphor, or are we past that at this point? Americans still long to be with people, but there exists actual lucid dream technology now, even if its not so literal.

We need not go to a place like Life Extension and pay untold amounts of money. All it takes is an internet connection and some kind of social media. Twenty years before America became the country it is now, Vanilla Sky gave us a statement that actually seems more relevant now than it did then. Ever since I saw it, though, these notions have been swirling in my mind, begging me to wake up.

Some days, I manage to. Other days, not so much. So many of us lose ourselves in the artificial comfort of the American Dream, whether it be financial success or the success of having as many followers online as possible. Its a tough thing to wake up from because it almost feels like giving up. I mean, why not stay and fight the nightmare? Why not do what it takes to turn that back into the dream?

Except, thats not possible, because the American Dream was never real. Some people are self-made, while most get to where theyre going with the help of others. And some stay in social media circles spewing hate, while others use social media to heal the world. It doesnt make us any less American than the other. Were all Americans. We just need to continually find ways to realize were in a nightmare and wake up.

That Vanilla Sky had ideas like these in it 20 years ago is quite something to me. Then again, it just takes time for these things to reveal themselves sometimes. Ever since I saw this film in a theater, Ive thought about the notion of waking up, and the longer I live in this country, the more I can recognize that that idea doesnt necessarily have to be taken literally. Writing this article has helped me understand that better.

David Aames is not a hero or a role model, but there is something to be said about watching a character go through a journey and genuinely coming out changed on the other side. Its classic, ideal storytelling, because how often do we change so dramatically in real life? Most people like David would be fine living the dream, even if that meant losing loved ones. Thankfully, we have characters like David who teach by example. To get away and wake up, sometimes, you have to confront your fear and jump.

Like David, Im unsure as to what exactly awaits us when we wake up. In the film, David isnt waking up to life as it once was. So much time has passed, and so much will be uncertain for him as he enters reality once again. It will be difficult for David to find comfort in the real world after so much time in his lucid dream, as it is for us when we wake up from social media, but he knows that its so much better to live a real life.

Because the thing is, waking up does not equal giving up. Its not about being unsuccessful or being unable to put up with the nonsense that seems to fill social media. Its about revolution; the end of something unreal and the beginning of something real. Its the only way we can truly live because its the difference between dreaming with our eyes closed and opening them to wake up, hence that final moment in the film. After all, dreams only exist when were asleep, not awake. Vanilla Sky tells us that no matter how appealing the dream is, its still just a dream.

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Vanilla Sky and the American Dream - 25YearsLaterSite.com