Frannie Torres’ work is a mix of graphic design and video media that investigates dreams and reality to achieve the perfect balance between the two, while challenging society’s views regarding race, gender, sexuality, displacement, immigration, and mental illness. American Nightmare tackles the modern-day issues of xenophobia and discrimination against immigrants. Inspired by the Expectations vs. Reality scene in the movie 500 Days of Summer, this art piece similarly features two videos playing at the same time, one illustrating the expectations of the beauty of the American Dream, and the other illustrating the harsh reality of being an immigrant, as told by immigrants themselves. The clips depicting the expectation scenes are sped-up time lapses to show that the American Dream is a fleeting illusion. The clips depicting reality are played in reverse as a metaphor to show that being an immigrant in the United States is like walking backwards. Many immigrants share the familiar story of arriving in America without having any familiarity of the English language or the culture. Through this piece, the artist hopes to amplify the voices of immigrants despite the misconceptions and prejudices against them that continue to plague our nation.