“Social Selves Reading Review 3 Star Gazing: A Socio-Cultural Approach to the Study of Dreaming about Media Figures. Neil M. Alperstein and Barbara H. Vann”

In the article by Alperstein and Vann, it was aimed to detect the presence of media figures in dreams. Questionnaires of 241 participants were analysed to determine how often and how many people dreamt of media personalities.

Celebrities are part of everyday life and play an important role in the imaginary world of individuals. Horton and Wohl (1956) define the contact individuals make when speaking aloud to television screens or media prints as “intimacy at a distance.” Individuals view the celebrities they encounter as acquaintances like their friends and families and therefore, a social bond is formed.

As the individual does not personally know the media figure, the personality of the media figure is fluid like. The plasticity of the personality the media figure holds, means that the individual is able to portray them as per wish. Because of this, individuals place the celebri…(short extract)