The Gum You Like Is Going To Come Back In Style

Like alliteration, dream sequences are cheap. Especially when they're:
-thrown in to be twilight-zoney weird or gratuitously "psychological"
-used to deus ex machina a misshapen plot

"... and she woke up and realized was all just a dream" - BAH.

However, deft use of dream sequences to move the plot forward, dropping breadcrumb clues along the way, or to shed insight on a character's psychic responses is another matter.

The gum you like is going to come back in style.

Synecdoche, New York, and Dreams, Part 3

In the Fresh Air interview between Terry Gross and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaption), Gross goes dreamworky:

Terry Gross: Are there any dreams that you feel like you'd be willing to share on the radio that reveal something about how your mind works?

Charlie Kaufman: There is one dream that I remember - that I have and I remember it 'cause it's recurring. It's an elevator dream. I realize that I've got elevators in three of my movies - at least three that I can think of right now.

...

It's always sort of the same dream … It's always getting into an elevator - the elevator is always old, and it's always ascending - and, as it ascends, there's a sense that it's kind of not very well hanging - (laugh) you know, and it's moving from side to side, and then it's going to fall, and it's rickety and it's squeaking and it's shaky and it's claustrophobic. I've had that dream for years.
...

Terry Gross: Did you grow up in an apartment building that had an elevator?
Charlie Kaufman: No, in fact, I grew up in houses.

So, all you aspiring dreamworkers out there - what do you make of this dream? What questions would you ask of the dreamer?