The Dream Master: Mirrors and Self-Actualization

*Previously published on the Ghouls Magazine website (RIP), this has been updated and written by Kelly.

Mirrors are commonplace fixtures in homes all around the world, but often, here in North America, we forget about the power contained within them. Historically, mirrors have been used in ceremonies and divination rites as a means to connect to the spirit world or to focus energy in magical rites (T, D, 2018). Mirrors present us a direct reflection of our physical appearance and are regularly used in films as a plot device for one of three reasons: “(i) they demonstrate the character’s dual nature (often revealing the character’s evil/bad nature when that character otherwise appears good); (ii) used to emphasize secrecy or to reveal secrets; and (iii) the use of mirrors as certain clandestine passages to the Otherworld” (T, D 2018). In the horror franchise A Nightmare on Elm Street, mirrors play an often missed yet important role.

In Wes Craven’s original A Nightmare on Elm Street (1985), Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) yells into a mirror, “This is a dream, it isn't real!” as Freddy Kruger (Robert Englund) bursts through it. In A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors (1987), we see a multitude of Freddy faces in a mirror-lined room as protagonist Kristen Parker (Patricia Arquette) screams, and they shatter. These Elm Street survivors all thought Freddy was banished, but he wasn’t. Mirrors are used seemingly as a set piece or tool to trap Freddy. However, in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988), this changes. The usage of mirrors plays a prominent role in the development of someone strong enough to defeat Freddy, and we find this in the severely underrated Final Girl, Alice Johnson (Lisa Wilcox).

Duality

When we are first introduced to Alice, we notice that she keeps her bedroom mirror covered with photos of friends and family.  As she removes a photo of herself, her brother Rick (Andras Jones), and their mother to reminisce, we see just how layered this collection is. As Rick comments on how it defeats the purpose of having the mirror at all, she claims not to care about her reflection. Her reflection means nothing to Alice as she is a timid, mild-mannered girl who wishes to go about her days anonymously. 

She wears outdated clothing, and her Dad comments about her drab outfits, insinuating that she doesn’t even check herself in the mirror before leaving the house.  While her best friend, Kristen (Tuesday Knight), an attractive blonde girl, has no problem looking at her reflection in a mirror, as she is used to being seen. The self-confidence she feels in herself is reflected to her, just as she presents herself to the world. Whereas Alice, who is lacking in self confidence in reality, lives in a world of daydreams where she acts out power fantasies of standing up to her abusive alcoholic father or speaking to the hot jock, Dan. The symbolism of the covered-up and unused mirror speaks to her unused potential - what will it show to her once she finally gazes into it? 

Revelations 

A mirror can shape the way we see ourselves; a shadow may look like a blemish, leading us to feel self-conscious. A warped mirror can elongate or shorten our body, acting like an optical illusion that can distort our perception of our self-worth. As Alice’s friends die at Freddy’s hand, her sense of self-worth and self-perception begin to change. After the death of Kirsten and Alice receiving her dream ability, Freddy leaves a postcard on Alice’s mirror, almost like he knows that she has memorized the layout of photos and that this would stand out. It does, and once removed, she gets a glimpse of the woman she is becoming. Alice finally sees herself. 

She notices a change in her appearance, and that she is now “pretty” like Kristen. When Sheila (Toy Newkirk) dies, Alice removes a photo of her, revealing another part of her new reflection. And as each of her loved ones perishes, and as Alice removes an image of her deceased friend, she unveils more of herself in the mirror until the climax of the film, wherein she removes all photos in an act of determination. With each loss, she has gained various powers, and now she sees that reflected back to her. 

With the mirror cleared, there is no more hiding from herself. She sees a piece of everyone within her and this gives her the strength she needs to bring the fight to Freddy. Alice has become an elevated version of herself, despite Freddy’s attempts to isolate and break her. In her fight against him, she has gained confidence, intelligence, physical strength, and prowess. Alice both transforms internally and externally, exuding these newfound powers of self-confidence through one hell of a fighting outfit: a wrist full of spikes, a leather jacket, tight ripped jeans, and bearing more than just weapons. This is not the drab, mousy Alice we met at the beginning of the movie, but a fierce warrior. She has gone through a ritual of transformation and is prepared for battle. 

Portals

Without the clearing away of the mirror to see who she truly is, Alice wouldn’t have been able to get through to Freddy. The mirror acts as a portal to enter the nightmare world, where Alice will be the first woman to fight our Boogyman physically on his turf and win.

We learn in this sequel that within the dream world, there are the Gatekeepers - negative/positive - and skilled dreamers can control what they see and do. Freddy guards his gate, but in each film, he attempts to take control of people’s dreamscapes and continuously succeeds in killing them. But Alice is a formidable opponent with a strong grasp on her gate, having spent most of her life in a daydream. Alice is The Dream Master, and a life of anonymity has inadvertently prepared her for this moment.  Freddy says, “Welcome to Wonderland, Alice,” as up until now, Alice has been seen as chaste and docile in the real world, whereas in the dream world, she is confident, sexual, and physically strong. But now her daydream self and corporeal self have collided, and by stepping through the mirror, she is claiming her power and standing up to the patriarchal figure who has been threatening to destroy her.  

Mirrors can be used as a tool for self-reflection, and after infusing the powers of all of her dead friends, Alice was able to uncover the mirror to see herself in a new form. Alice gained power through the transcendence of death, the death of all those she loved. Within her, she holds the power of friendship, intellect, and love, which defeats the insidious power of evil. When she shows Freddy his reflection in a fractured mirror, he is destroyed. Evil can’t see Evil, because once it does, it will unleash the toxicity of destroying goodness that creates unending hopelessness. Perhaps Alice had these strengths in her the whole time, but it was only in seeing herself in the mirror that she realized how unconditional love had transformed her. 

References:

1. T, D. (2018, June 3). Mirrors in Films: Duality, Secrets and Revelations, and the Passage to the Otherworld [web log]. Retrieved 2021, from https://dbmoviesblog.com/.