What is a Gatekeeper? What is the Unconscious Mind?

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) is structured by the terms of two theories popular of Sigmund Freud, a psychoanalyst of the 1800’s. These two theories, the theory of the unconscious mind and the gatekeeper theory, can be considered basic terms of Freudian dream theory. And according to Freud’s dream theory, dreams and/or nightmares, reside within the second layer of the unconscious mind- the subconscious (Tauber, “The Rational unconscious...”; Cherry, “What are Freud’s 3 levels of mind?”). The activity that occurs in the un/subconscious mind (dream state) is unbeknownst to the conscious mind (the waking state), or in other terms, the everyday information the un/subconscious mind holds is irretrievable by the conscious mind. The idea of Freudian psychoanalytic theory in essence, is that the mind has limited control over itself when unconscious (Schneider, “From Freud’s Dream-Work…”). The unconscious mind is critical to the structure of A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984); and is the major underlying plot. In the classic horror film, and according to Kendra Cherry’s terms of Freudian theory in her article, "What Are Freud's 3 Levels of Mind?"; it is suggested that, “the unconscious mind is a reservoir...most of [which] are unacceptable or unpleasant…” these ‘unpleasant’ or ‘unacceptable’ things include dreams and nightmares and more specifically, the nightmares of Freddy Krueger. These ‘unpleasant’ things that reside within the unconscious mind- are the main conflict for Nancy Thompson, the main character in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).

The gatekeeper theory is important in explaining the limits of the mind as well as what goes on between each layer of the mind, and the events in the movie. The gatekeeper theory is the boundary that lies between the conscious state and the unconscious state; it is what allows information to pass through the un/subconscious mind to the conscious mind, but does so, not by choice (Psychology wiki, “Gatekeeper”). For example, say a memory from your childhood resides in the unconscious layer of the mind (so you would have no recollection of this memory whatsoever by choice). And there is an association occurring in present day time that triggers a past memory, when we become consciously aware of this memory we may realize we never knew we had this memory in the first place. What allows this memory (that again in theory you never were aware of) to be called into focus is controlled by the gatekeeper. In other words, selective information passes through the unconscious mind to the conscious mind through a gate that “discerns that which is admissible to remembrance and that which is not.” ( Tauber, 2). Again, these theories LIMIT the agency one has over their own mind- in terms of the movie this means victims of Freddy Krueger have no control over their un/subconscious dream state or what occurs within it.

These two theories essentially structure A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and alone, motivate the plot. By the definition of Freudian dream theory, Nancy Thompson should have limited control over her own unconscious state, i.e., when she has nightmares of Freddy Krueger she cannot control what happens. This is true, though, it is not only Nancy but also her friends who suffer from the terrifying nightmares of Freddy Krueger, whom have absolutely no control over their fates. They cannot control their dreams; therefore, they cannot control the face of death; Freddy. Also, proven through illustration of the movie is, not only the theory of the unconscious mind exits but that the layers of the conscious mind exist and work in symphony. For instance, the very first extended nightmare Nancy has on screen, is the scene that takes place in her classroom and eventually the boiler room. As Nancy falls asleep in the middle of class, it’s hard to tell, even as the audience, that she is experiencing a dream. It is just as hard for Nancy to tell if she is dreaming herself. What is happing in the depths of her mind during the mist of all of this, is that her unconscious mind is intentionally deceiving her reality, thus ultimately keeping her from controlling her unconscious dreaming state. This is done with the help of the gatekeeper theory, which is where the unconscious mind draws the line for its limits. Why? Well “the [un]conscious [one of the layers of the mind] purpose in dream-formation is merely to preserve sleep and to allow nothing that would disturb it to penetrate the conscious.” so, this restriction by the gatekeeper is meant to protect the conscious mind from the unconscious mind during dream state (Wolman, 225). This poses a large challenge for Nancy when she plans to defeat Krueger because her only bet is to break past the boundary of the gate, with Krueger in hand, to her conscious reality.

Before we go even deeper into the unconscious mind as well as this inquiry; it is important to remember the two theories discussed above. 1) according to Sigmund Freud, the mind has no agency over the layers of the mind whether subconscious or unconscious (which will be interchangeable for the case of this argument). Also remember, 2) the underlying theory of the gatekeeper is to be the ‘security guard’, if you will, of the unconscious mind (Psychology wiki, “Gatekeeper”). The ‘security guard’ that will withhold information as well as control from Nancy, effecting her ability to distinguish between faux reality and reality. In A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) the unconscious mind and the gatekeeper theory are supported but also rejected largely.