The Shining and the Hidden Evil of the Overlook hotel
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- čas přidán 1. 06. 2024
- The Shining is one of the most iconic horror films of all time. The movie has inspired many analysis videos and theories, but in this video essay I explore a less discussed topic -- What exactly is the nature of the evil force in the overlook hotel? What does it say about Kubricks ultimate message with the story? And What does it say about the greater aspect of evil as a whole?
0:00-1:30 Intro
1:30-2:08 Halloran and Danny
2:08-2:42 Democles Sword
2:42-4:45 About Room 237
4:45-5:57 Color motifs & meaning
5:57-8:09 Loyd and Jack
8:09-8:43 White mans burden
8:43-10:58 Alcohol, The Pact, and Genocide
10:58-12:07 The meaning of Gold
12:07-13:57 Loyd again and "The House"
13:57-15:42 Delbert Grady
15:42-17:39 180 Degree Rule
17:39-26:04 Meaning of "The Caretaker"
26:04-27:01 Meaning of The Pantry Scene
27:01-28:30 What makes the Shining Different
28:30-29:54 Doctor Sleep
29:54-31:56 Conclusion
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The acting from Grady in the bathroom scene is phenomenal. I love how he manages to shift the tone from a humble servant to becoming some kind of tyrant pulling the strings, so effortlessly and naturally too. Amazing acting
Ullmann told Jack in the interview that Grady's first name was "Charles," not "Delbert"...
Yes, absolutely chilling…
Yes
@MagesseT1 Yes, he was part of the cycle of violence. Delbert (hence the British actor) was likely a previous cycle from Charles from 1970. Delbert likely had something to do with the Native American aspect of the setting.
Even more impressive when you see him as Alex’s father in A Clockwork Orange
According to the actor who played Danny, Jack Nickelson was very nice and supportive to him all throughout filming. Apparently he even still gets a Christmas card from Nickleson every year.
He seems like a relatively regular guy in many ways. The fact he hacked away at acting for years without getting anywhere (Bob Townes speaks about his friend being told at the unemployment office to 'get areal job'!) gave him a sense of perspective you could argue. His success was hard won and he has never forgotten that.
I’ve heard that from a lot of horror movies! It’s nice to see horror movies having such sweet behind the scenes
I hope this is true
Hasn’t jack been involved in awful things with Polanski… and was with his buddy on a boat when a woman died onboard. He’s from old Hollywood where everything was swept under the rug.
I believe you’re thinking of Natalie Wood and the person on the boat with them was Christopher Walken. When was Jack on a boat with a woman who died?
I feel Lloyd refuses Jack's payment twice, not because of a promise of violence, but because Jack's already paid with his soul. He literally say: "I'd give my god damn soul just for a glass of beer." Suddenly, there's Lloyd in a hellish red jacket telling Jack he doesn't have to pay in cash. See, Jack's already just paid with his soul. He's already cashed it in. Money's no good at the bar. Jack drinks for free, like in the deal.
True. I didn’t get why Jack says “White Man’s Burden” during that conversation. They are talking about Wendy and Danny at the time. That phrase refers to the racist thought of Manifest Destiny.. could it be that we tied it to that with the help of him being cool by use of the N word in the next scene or is it a literal reference of him Manifesting his Destiny? Also it was the thought of the Donner Family using Native Americans to guide them to gold on what use to be their lands. They were also the 1st to be eaten and rumor has it that they were selected and not because they died first. Leaving this here for someone with more knowledge of the film to address lol
There is no Lloyd anyway. Whenever jack sees one of his apparitions, he is always facing a mirror. Each and every 'ghost' he sees is his reflection.
@@davidlean1060 true! Since my post I read an interview with Kubrick in which he states that it’s reincarnation and that he’s always been in that picture at the end. In my opinion he’s in a never ending loop and each incarnation is doomed to repeat.
@@ateam404 Ah, but that is not true. Jack was in a loop, but Danny stops the cycle. That's why we see Jack frozen in the middle of a maze at the end.
@@davidlean1060 Because he died outside of the hotel?
Fun fact: the child actor who played Danny later said he had no idea The Shining was a horror film as a kid, and without all the film atmosphere added later, the whole thing seemed fun, not ominous (riding the big wheel, making funny faces and voices, etc).
Well that's sweet to know the film crew did their best to make sure the kid on set wasn't aware of what horrifying movie they were acting in.
He can't have been on set when Kubrick was torturing Shelly Duvall.
Seems weird he wouldn't know. He holds a knife next to his mom saying redrum in a weird voice and having to look scared throughout the whole movie.
He became a college professor and threatened to fail anyone of his students who even mentioned it
@@stevepalpatine2828they usually don't bring kids on to sets except for the scenes that they are in.
I’ve somehow fallen down a rabbit hole of videos dealing with theories to The Shining and it’s amazing at the level of detail and editing that people put into these videos. It doesn’t matter if you agree with them or not, you have to admire the work they put into these videos!
I like being deep inside this profound cinematic hole...
I feel the same! Just purchased a DVD from a local shop for $12 last night. Love reading all of the scene titles and scrolling the old school menu :)
There's a really great one called Room 237 that explores a bunch of interpretations of what Kubrick was actually trying to say when he made The Shining.
Imagine if we put this much work into things that matter. If we did, we'd probably be able to compete with China.
@@ralphthomasbarbour847 or take care of our citizens.. and somehow get anything at all done ever besides make it easier for the rich to get richer and richer while the rest of America works 70 hours a week so they don't have to choose between food and electricity.
Just noticed that Lloyd never blinks when we see him-I feel like this adds a subtle evil, unnerving quality to the character. Nicely done analysis!
That's what scared me, when I first watched the movie; Lloyd never blinks! And his intense gaze at Jack is so haunting and spooky, it leaves you feeling very unsettled.
Ghosts do not blink...
@@gregoryoakley4441 I have never seen in movies that ghost blink...
Interestingly, Anthony Hopkins decided that Hannibal Lecter wouldn't blink either
When in dream state, you don't see any detail in thing's, that you see when you are awake.
i literally applauded u when u said "that was the evil that was 'Overlooked'"
That joke has been around since the first guy wrote the first article saying that the movie had a secret meaning.
Then Horatio put his sunglasses on and 'Baba O' Riley' started blaring.
Literally stood up applauded when danny turned to Jack and said “it’s you, it’s me, it’s the hotel! Don’t you get it? We’re the shinning!” Fantastic ending to the film
Indeed!
i bet you clap when you see fireworks
When Danny ask..its something bad here?..the expresion of mr Halloran is the most shocking moment
15:08 While your analysis on the song 'Midnight, the Stars and You' could very well be correct, the song that plays during the scene with Torrance and Grady in the red bathroom is actually 'It's All Forgotten Now' which, the way I interpret it, signifies how the hotel consumes people and makes them forget who they really are.
We can see this though the character of Grady, who was the caretaker in 1970, now personified as a 1920s butler who goes by the name of "Delbert Grady" not Charles Grady as mentioned by the hotel's manager at the beginning of the film. The character of Grady serves as an almost direct foreshadow of Torrance's fate as we see by the end of the film that Jack too is consumed by the hotel and appears as a gentlemen of the 1920s, forgetting who he was in life, now forever doomed to be whatever the hotel wants him to be.
Spot on
Perfect. backs up my theory that this is not a hotel but a institution carrying out mind control experiments on the family. We now know that MK ULTRA used drugs like LSD and different techniques to experiment on unsuspecting patients in various institutions across the US and Canada to try to wipe their memory and install new memories. To me the biggest hint is Jungs The Red Book on Ullmans desk at the time of the interview. Why would a hotel manager have a psychologists book on his desk? Only if he is not a hotel manager, but a psychologist or psychiatrist running an institution. And this institution is running mind control experiments to wipe out memory. There are no ghosts, just hallucinations Jack doesn't get a drink of alcohol - he swallows LSD
Another theory is that this is an older Grady. The job may have stayed in the family, along with the violence.
@@readingbetweentheframes You start out with good-points in the video.. But your conclusions are always 'Off' - Missing the mark of what's being presented to the viewers. Nice-try though.
@@readingbetweentheframes Also it wasnt a ''Genocide.''
I know Stephen King didn't like this film and I do love his stories, but this film is an absolute masterpiece. A different story from King's but amazing in its own right.
It is a strange duck: a poor adaptation of a novel that is a brilliant film in its own right.
it’s funny how we’re in an era now of remakes of already established films/books, except people hate them for being different from the original body of work but if it’s too alike “it’s too boring” and “copying”. i think as long as it’s a good story/piece of art, who cares lol
King eats my hair but doesnt understand that either
Two things I noticed about the shining that I feel people never really analyze:
-Wendy seems immune to the hotel's ploys (until the conclusion)
-why the ghosts only show up when no one's around. the hauntings don't happen when the hotel is full, only in the off season.
To answer your second question, I think it’s because evil works best when you’re alone and vulnerable, which is a key theme in It, (strength in numbers).
The Wendy theory is spot on... from the end (well from when she knocks out jack and “locks him in the dry storage locker”) Wendy is having a full on psychological breakdown... it’s not Jack who is crazy it’s Wendy.
@@hollyrodriguez3259 I’m aware of King’s patterns but this is why King (to this day) doesn’t like Kubrick’s film ... and I think it’s because he took creative license with the material to make it more of a psychological horror than a full of Supernatural Horror like King intended.
@@hollyrodriguez3259 It's not Stephen Kings universe, it's Stanley Kubricks. Might be why he hated the movie?
She only sees what's around them when she has been sufficiently abused to develop the shining.
Sorry if somebody has already mentioned this, but it's interesting that Jack asks for bourbon, but Lloyd instead serves him Jack Daniel's, which many may mistake for bourbon but is actually Tennessee Whiskey. And "Jack" and "Daniel" are both the first names of the characters AND of the actors.
Not sure what this means, but it can't be an accident.
Brilliant!!
The Shining is constantly flashing between different time periods, as evidenced by shuffling and at times absence of pictures on the walls as well as furniture.
Dick Hallorann explained at the beginning that many terrible things that happened in the hotel and they left behind a trace of themselves, that not everyone can notice, but people who shine can see, we assume he’s talking to Danny…
Dick Halloran was talking to you and me! Some people see the Shining as a movie about a man who goes crazy and tries to murder his family in a hotel, but those who “shine” can see the terrible things that happened at the Overlook hotel IN THE PAST!!
I saw The Shining with my Mom when it came out in 1980. I was 14. It left me cold like all Kubrick movies do for me on their initial viewing. I realize that there is so much to take in that it requires multiple viewings to understand and soak in the details. I love this film and watch it every couple of months especially in the winter. This and The Thing are perfect movies on that snowy winter day. A bag of popcorn , a coke and a warm blanket make these 2 flicks the perfect winter experience. I fall down the rabbit hole on Shining analysis every month and find new info. Ever since Room 237 I'm amazed at the different interpretations there are out there. Loved this and only have a few quibbles. I think to say just America is built on violence is short sighted. Every country and all mankind stand on the violence and sacrifices of their forefathers. Finally, I chuckle any time Leon Vitali who was Kubrick's long time assistant is asked about theories on The Shining he dismisses almost all. I think this is the joke Kubrick plays on all of us. We so over analyze his movies that sometimes a red door is simply a red door. Or is it?
I've been watching many of these analysis videos on the Shining, and they're all interesting BUT everyone forgets that Jack ALSO HAS SHINING ABILITIES, and is a target of the hotel's manipulation. He is in touch with the Hotel's past evil.
I'm much more interested in people talk about The Shining than I am the movie itself so this theory is half-baked at best, but it seems the hotel is sort of an evil magnet that draws the wicked toward it. Maybe everyone in the picture in the end with Jack got into that picture in the same way he did.
Jack doesn’t shine.
Jack does not shine nor did he have the ability to tell the hotel was evil, he never forseen his future, unlike Danny who had visions of the hotel before they left town. Danny also had visions of his father murdering him. Just because Jack seen the ghost it doesn't mean he shined. Jack had no foresight.
It is categorically untrue that Jack does not shine. This is proven in the follow up novel "Dr. Sleep" when Jack's granddaughter (and Dan's niece) Abra displays even MORE shine than Dan. The common thread is JACK. Abra's mother Lucy is the product of an affair her mother had with Jack before they went to the Overlook (making her Dan's paternal half sister). Again, the common thread is JACK.
I was thinking the same thing.
When the Torrence family was on their way to the Overlook Hotel, Wendy brings up the Donner party, which Jack explains to Danny that they were pioneers heading west in covered wagon times. The funny thing about that is they were part of the gold rush. That just struck me as odd when you were talking about the gold room and the symbolism therein around the 11:00 minute mark. I wonder if there's a connection there?
Late reply: But the Donner party were the Mormons coming to settle west in search of religious freedom to practice polygamy(in part). Later in Mormon history, a group of Mormons slaughtered Native Americans to gain territorial dominance. So perhaps it seems, there is a connection to violence as the theory states.
The Gold Rush had not yet begun when the Donner Party got Stranded in the Sierra Nevada. The Donner Party got Stranded in the winter of 1846-1847. The Gold Rush, didn’t start rumors of the discovery of gold at John Sutter’s Mill in 1848 began to spread in 1849. (This is why the San Francisco NFL team is called they ‘49ers). So the Donner pre-dates the gold rush.
@@ralphthomasbarbour847 The "Gold Rush" hadn't begun yet, meaning, the majority of people hadn't yet heard of the fabulous wealth that could be claimed in California, but murmurs of what was to come had started making the rounds. From what I understand they traveled west by invitation to stake their own claim on "free land" waiting out west, hoping for a better, more prosperous life in California. So, you're correct. They weren't part of *the* gold rush, though they did travel west for a chance at prosperity, and a better life.
This might be a reach but is the ceiling of the gold room curved to mimic the inside of a covered wagon?
The Donner Party wasn’t part of the Gold Rush…
I like how Grady completey shifts the power back to him, from friendly servant to a total role reversal into a boss of some sorts.
Not even outright ordering him to kill(at first), but just nudging him towards it but in a very stern tone and kind of demeaning Jack into feeling powerless as a insult to push his point forward. Then when Jack has pretty much lost his mind to the hotel, he is then told outright to murder his family.
Decent theory. Better than the ones in which it's all in Jack's mind. Those theories take of all of the power, (and thus all of the horror) out of the hotel. Making it a personal evil and therefore limited in it's horror. The music, the mood, the composition and the color tones all cry out for something far grander. An omnipotent evil that has always been there. That's the movie I saw.
my boyfriend worked on doctor sleep, he rebuilt the hotel set and to hear him talk about that set is fascinating. rooms had windows that physically shouldn’t have in real life. the sheer size of the great and gold rooms made no since and everything was so specific, the set almost felt real (which they never do. they are usually just little independent units in a sound stage where the gold room took up a soundstage by itself) it was all built like a maze. this was a complete rebuild of the original and you could just tell that every single thing had a purpose.
Rob Ager of (Correlative Learning) did a video about moving furniture.. it goes deep into the disorganised spacial irregularities.
That is so cool that he worked on the movie. I wish people would stop hating Doctor Sleep so much. Of course it will never be like what Kubrick did, but Flanagan did a lot for the details of the film, like your boyfriend did to recreate the sets
@@g.b569 i really love movies and Kubrick is my favorite director so when they wanted to create a follow up, Doctor Sleep, anyone who knows Kubrick knew going into this film that you can’t compare the two. frankly, the techniques Kubrick used with his directing and for his actors for The Shining would be illegal. it was so bad that Jack Nicholson wanted nothing to do with Doctor Sleep or anything the Shining related, he sued Doctor Sleep so they couldnt even use anyone with too much of a likeness to him. in my opinion, Doctor Sleep was pretty good except that they rushed the ending but when it comes to the writing and the actual shots, it was good. it isn’t a Kubrick film and no one can every recreate what he did and i’m just happy they didn’t even try.
@thickock45 it was super cool and definitely the best Flanagan flim but it’ll never compare to Kubrick lol
@Sparkling Cyanide The Set of the Overlook was the Ambassador Hotel, which many people actually stayed in Los Angeles. But after a while, they closed it down and tore it down. You can't revisit the original set, even if you tried.
Many people have favorite scenes but such an unsung scene is when Jack talks with Graddy in the bathroom. So much symbolism and is the real turning point
Interesting point, when Danny asks Halloran if he is "scared of this place?" Halloran never actually answers the question. He says "No, I aint scared of nothing here". Nothing, as in, the things you will see within, because as he explains, they are just like previous echoes of bad things that happened, they themselves are not real. What he doesnt say however, is that the place itself REALLY does scare him because it is the place itself that is evil. He seems genuinely confused by Danny asking if he is afraid of room 237. He is confused because he genuinely isnt scared of that room, but Danny is, because he has already forseen what will happen in that room, well before he goes to the hotel. Halloran gets angry because he KNOWS it is bad because he knows Danny KNOWS its a bad room. It may be the hub of activity in the hotel because it is the only place where Ghosts (supposedly) touch Danny and Jack. Every other interaction is just visual but no contact.
Yes. You get it. The Overlook Hotel itself was alive and self-aware with a sentient mind, animated spiritual power and demonic entity of its own. ("The Management.)" The Manager/Caretaker trapped the spirits of all the late former guests and staff that died in the hotel or were tied to its history, like former owner and management Horace Derwent, whom had mafia ties and allowed many gangland hits to occur within the Overlook Hotel during his ownership and even after. Derwent's ghost was the Hotel's second in command of its imprisoned human spirits, demons and poltergeists. The Manager could replay all memories and echoes of its building's history but with Danny's power the Hotel would've been able to spread its power far beyond the walls and grounds of its building into the world alongside its captured ghosts and demons, possess and absorb more souls, kill more people and become Godlike potentially. Jack was just the Overlook's perfect pawn.
you are reaching, and it looks like you are taking things from outside the film to interpret it (like the novel or other Thining movies, etc.)
The overlook is basically powered by blood splatter.
When violence happens and a death occurs
it is like a white towel soaking up blood.
The gold room represents greed.
Jack wants money, he wants recognition for his writing, he wants to be famous
so jack is familiar with themes of greed.
The entire hotel represent different sins.
The overly stocked Kitchen represent gluttony.
The VIP rooms that are overly comfortable represents Sloth.
This hotel lives off the Sins of those who stay there.
Jack has also been reincarnated.
Jack serves the hotel.
Jack goes into the world and has a son.
But returns with his son and daughter to hand them over to the hotel.
However when Jack fails he must remain in the hotel until
his wife and son die. Upon their death the hotel can claim
their souls. Once claimed Jack returns into the world
to collect more souls. As the number of souls
increase the hotels power increases.
The Overlook represents America, the hotel is built on Native American land.
Great review. Did anyone notice how Jack has the EXACT facial expression and posture right after taking his first drink as he did when his body was frozen at the end of the movie? Does anyone know what that is about?
Yes, it is the as above as below symbol of the baphomet. I think this movie has more occult symbolism that we haven’t uncovered yet. I really like that he made the connection with Adam and Eve. It’s almost as if the overlook did the same thing that Satan did to Adam and Eve.
I think Kubrick was trying to make a point of the inevitable fate of human nature succumbing to evil. Just as Adam and Eve did in the beginning. And Jack succumbs to this evil in the end because it’s his destiny. That’s why Grady makes a point to tell him that he’s always been the caretaker. It’s the evil personified in human nature that I believe he is referring to.
Anyway that’s my 2 cents lol
Although I do not agree with this idea at all. But I believe this is the core message of the Shinning. Hence the Native American plot going on, and the whole father murdering the family as well. It has to do with human nature succumbing to an inevitable evil which is represented by Satan.
@@ruthtrevino7755 That is an interesting take. You might also know that it appears Kubrick focused alot with incorporating fairy tales along with Biblical references: For example, Jack even refers to himself as the "big bad wolf" that is blowing down the door of the 3 little pigs. I am thinking that when Jack drank his first sip of liquor it was similar to Adam and Eve being tricked into biting the apple. Also in the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty, the princess gets pricked by a spindle provided by the witch disguised as an old woman. Princess falls into a deep sleep. I think the philosophical debate is this: Are humans AWOKEN by the tricks of the Devil or put to sleep (ie. UNDER A SPELL). Does the devil make us evil or just show humans that we are inherently evil?
@@wrestledeep Oh Man! Yes I totally see that now! I definitely have to rewatch the movie now to get some new insight! That’s what’s so great about this movie. There is so much to it that you can just rewatch it and every time it’s a new experience.
@@ruthtrevino7755 OP is talking about the corpse in the maze , not the photo. Maybe it's because Jack, his soul, was dead as soon as he took that drink.
I read The Shining many years ago and there's one line that has stuck with me to this day: "A man always kills the thing he loves."
I also feel like the ballroom setting for the final reveal of Jack being in that picture is very important in connection to the phrase "you've always been the caretaker, I should know, I've always been here."
Now we know Jack couldn't possibly have been there in the 20s - but when these 'caretakers' make that deal with the hotel that they rewrite history, by repeating the history of violence. We know Grady used to be the caretaker, and when he sealed his deal, he rewrote history and became an eternal part of the hotel and then Jack did the same. That's how it's possible for him to be in that picture.
If Grady is the hotel made manifest, then it's clear by the way he talks about Halloran that he's pissed off at him, probably because Halloran is able to resist his influence.
Grady was the former caretaker but merely another evil spirit the Hotel corrupted, possessed and absorbed. As well as the reincarnation of the butler of the Overlook Hotel in the twenties and thirties, as Jack was a reincarnation of a former groundskeeper. The Hotel was sentiment with a mind and will of its own due to the curse on the land and the evil supernatural energy from the hotel's history. The ghost of Horace Derwent was the Hotel's second in command. Grady, Derwent, Lloyd, Mrs. Massey, were all ghosts but also they were all manifestations of the Manager. Which was the Hotel itself.
That’s an interesting point. Though if Halloran understood the depths of the evil lurking there, he would never return year after year.
Notice in the gold room in the second scene mentioned at 14:01 the woman who walks by in the gold dress clearly has a bloody hand print on her buttocks. The furniture leading in are red couches but the white table dining area is roped off with a red rope, Jacks jacket looks very red in this lighting similar to the bartender's red uniform. Also track back to when Jack is speaking to the bartender, along the walls very high up are multiple streamers bunched together ,one side is predominantly gold the other side is red and they give off a feeling of hung corpses dripping in blood...
Wow I never noticed the bloody hand on the woman with the gold dress! Great spotting it and great points!
@@readingbetweentheframes I know it is weird
I have seen the Shining more times than I can count over a span of 25 years and it was only once I started to review CZcams videos on the subject that I remembered that I had noticed this many different years ago and had forgotten about it's possible significance.
Thank you for acknowledging my comment! I appreciate it very much😁
@@readingbetweentheframes ☝😅 Oh. So it wasn't just a trick of the light! 😬
Maybe just a coincidence but in the movie version of Stephen King's "Carrie" there is also a bloody handprint on the white pants of the gym teacher who helps Carrie when Carrie first started her monthly cycle in the locker room shower and didn't know what's going on.---Just a guess on my part but I'm wondering if the handprint on the lady's evening gown in "The Shining" represents a decadent, casual attitude toward violence. We see something very wrong while things go on as usual, without comment. If the lady is aware of the stain, she doesn't care, and by the time she had gotten to the Gold Room someone should have stopped her and said something about her dress.
It could be that, it could also be Kubrick's sense of humour. The room is gold coloured, so the hand pattern may mean these people think the sun shines out of their arses, or it could simply mean Kubrick thinks they are 'arseholes'.
I applaud your analysis! Thoroughly thought out and then some. You made me contemplate this from another angle.
I always took it for granted that the Overlook needed human agency to do its bidding and that the spirits/ghosts were there as its means to accomplish that, to persuade the living who are weak enough to be manipulated.
What is astonishing about The Shinning is the amount of layers to peel back and dissect. I’ve never been sold on the theory that none of it is happening, that Jack is writing a book, that this is all coming out of his head and going onto paper as I’ve read before. Too easy. A
What I don’t think is discussed nearly enough is that Wendy sees and has interactions with the spirits/ghosts. I would say, that far from being the hysterical, frightened creature she is accused of (Who wouldn’t react the way Wendy does? These are the reactions of a SANE person!), the Overlook realizes she is a far more formidable foe then it gave her credit for and has to send its servants to terrorize her. Perhaps the norms of an early era are coming up against the modern and finding women difficult to control? And the last thing Jack wants is for Lloyd or Grady to think he isn’t a man who can’t control his wife or child.
FYI- Jack “always the caretaker.” Did you ever notice that was they arrive at the hotel, as the staff are leaving and closing up, the pass a man in a burgundy jacket with his back to the camera polishing what appears to be a glass cabinet?
I didn't notice the man in the burgundy jacket but will check this time.
Interesting points. The novel emphasized the Overlook Hotel itself was alive as an evil entity of its own with a sentiment mind, animated spiritual power and demonic spirit of its own (The Management/The Caretaker/the Hotel-Creature), due to the Native Americans cursing the building for it being constructed on an Indian burial ground and powered further by the evil spirits it absorbed (former owner Horace Derwent, whose mob ties caused gangland hits at the hotel, and the other deaths.
Funny how there was Prohibition from 1920 to 1933.
Good call. And the Gold Room is certainly no speakeasy, perhaps indicating that The House (as Lloyd refers to it) encourages, facilitates, and maybe even revels in the indulgence of forbidden pleasures. Thanks for adding a little more context to the scene, I'd never made the connection that Prohibition was the law of the land at the time.
I lived in a house that had a hidden room for drinking.
For me, Jack never looks directly at Grady in this scene 18:40
Seems like he has a conversation with himself and stuff like this always happens when a mirror is in his sight. Correct me if Im wrong
I agree with the mirror thing, but if he's only seeing these ghosts when he's looking in the mirror at himself then how do we explain all of the people in the gold room and that party?
yes the naked lady in the bath even turns jack slightly just before she kisses him,so that he is looking in the mirror behind!
@@andrewrau7516 the first instance of the bar appearing is when Jack looks at the mirror behind the *empty bar
@@vitazissel3671 what about when windy say the gay couple? And the room full of skeletons or the dead party guest with his head split? Numerous examples of ghost being seen without reflection, also just the impossible lay out of the hotel windows that lead to the outside in impossible places, how you can enter a room one way and exit it in a whole nother and not even notice how the hotel has shifted around you, lead me to believe the hotel is defiantly actually 100 percent haunted by something
@@andrewrau7516 Jack never talks to any of those people in the Gold Room.
Most informative, really like your themes, definitely on par with Rob Ager. The beauty of Kubrick is that his films work on so many different levels and perspectives and every single scene down to the minutiae of seemingly innocuous objects, all have deep and inherent meanings therefore one could explore his work forever and never arrive at a definitive meaning. That is why Kubricks classics will always remain elusive, he will keep you constantly searching.
Rob is good at analyzing movies, but certainly not The Shining. Kubrick was intelligent, and meticulous, but he was the director. Films are made on a budget of time and money, neither of which are the director's. People act like every frame and prop was perfectly placed to create psychological manipulation the world's best intelligence agencies are not capable of.
Ambiguity is ambiguity -- look at all the "theories" about this movie. Can't be about Native American genocide, minotaurs, psychic powers, abuse, mental health, etc. at the same time. Nothing about hiding your movie's meaning so thoroughly that it takes society several decades of hard analysis to even begin to understand the film serves the narrative; no director does this. Plug it into CZcams. First video? Wendy's evil, by Rob Ager. Next video? Oh, theories on how Jack escapes the freezer, next video, native american genocide, next video, it's actually room 237, next video, etc.
There is -zero- evidence or solid indication of any kind that any of the "theories" (fanfiction, lol) are anything other than massive reaches. It's all old hat, nonsense, nobody who worked on the film or scripts or sets has ever given any indication that any of this is anything other than silly speculation. That's why no conclusion is ever offered -- just "wow, this makes no sense... but it's Kubrick, so maybe it does? Interesting!"
@@davemccombs Yes,this is becoming too much...how on earth must any person realise all these hidden meanings while watching?
@@davemccombsMeuh.
Really incredible analysis. Love how you go into topics I haven’t heard discussed on CZcams before. Please do more!!!!
It’s an interesting analysis, but these topics have been done to death on CZcams, no matter how accurate they are. It’s questionable to me when I here this narrative that the white man is the sole reason for any atrocities. If you actually look at history, all of humanity have committed atrocities. Even in the 20s, most men were good to their wives and children. Jacks character was meant to show a broken family trying to get by with a patriarchal, unstable man.
The unsettling thing is the way that things are missing from the furniture from one scene to the next. It's like real life ghosts who move things around our homes.
The ghosts in my house help me cook and clean my toilet
In the early scenes when they're touring the hotel it's almost uncanny how much furniture is being moved around by people almost pointlessly. And it still keeps rearranging throughout for no reason, like Jack decided he wanted to move a 500 pound 18-foot table across the Colorado Lounge because he wanted the typewriter _over there._ In reality it was a movie set they could rearrange at will. I'm curious if Kubrick even used a continuity person. So many times in the movie you go "what room is this now? Oh, now there's a new hallway and it's painted a different color..."
@@hanonondricek411 During the filming of The Shining, one set completely burned down and they had to create a new one. That's a better explanation for why there are so many continuity errors within the set pieces themselves.
I used to study films and film making a long time ago but The Shining was not so memorable for me because I thought it was just a tale of good vs evil thinking the evil was Jack Nickelson's character going insane. I think your understanding of Kubrik's message is spot on and the continuation of violence through out each different age is a very compelling point indeed - I thought the USA was messed up for reasons Kubrik touched on and which go even deeper but he certainly achieved a very real explanation for why it is so.
Yes plus the hotel was built on a Native American graveyard, if I recall correctly. So it has been an affront to decency since its inception.
A world of savages, cannibals, slaves, and paupers are upset the white man invested in educating, feeding, and freeing them from their misery. The people of the world will never be able to repay the white man for all that he provided the world.
I encourage anyone who is interested about the lore of The Shining to read the book. I think of them as somewhat separate stories at this point simply because there are many differences (not a bad thing!). Anyhow the book changed my perspective for sure and definitely about the overlook as it’s own evil entity as well.
Among other things, this essay really brings into focus how great a bartender Lloyd really was - so _attentive!_
Just like you, I never felt this movie was scary. More creepy than anything else.
In the beginning when Jack is told about Grady in the interview, Ulman tells him "Charles Grady" killed his daughters....in the bathroom he's Delbert Grady... hmmm.
That's because Wendy wasn't told Grady's christian name and is hallucinating some scenes, so has to make it up. czcams.com/video/wRr_0W-9hWg/video.html
@@DrWrapperband Or the hotel just changed his name to fit his new role. I really don't buy into the Wendy theory but tbf I don't buy into most lol.
They're two different (though possibly related) Gradys. Ullman clearly said that Charles Grady killed himself about 10 years before. Delbert Grady is in this scene from the 20's.
@@DrWrapperband The Wendy Theory is utter bullshit and fits in no where with all the themes outlined in this video, which I think is clearly backed up by the actual movie.
@@victoire614 Swearing is the utter lowest form of argument.
If you read his writings you'll see that this analysis isn't what Kubric intended. It's what the reviewer reads into it...and that's what Kubric intended: to expose the soul of the interpreter.
Thank you John😊
Source?
When did Kubrick say that?
Kubric didn’t intend a lot of this explanation. His interview is here on CZcams, search for it as posting links is considered bad form. In simplest terms he wanted each viewer to interpret it for themself. Quoted from FarOutMagazine in the UK:
_As Stanley Kubrick explains, “It’s supposed to suggest a kind of evil reincarnation cycle, where he [Jack] is part of the hotel’s history, just as in the men’s room, he’s talking to the former caretaker [Grady], the ghost of the former caretaker, who says to him, ‘you are the caretaker; you’ve always been the caretaker, I should know I’ve always been here._
_Continuing, the filmmaker adds, “One is merely suggesting some kind of endless cycle of this evil reincarnation”. Somewhat reserved about revealing the explanation, Kubrick also notes, “it’s the sort of thing that I think is better left unexplained,” before later adding, “I think the best thing is when an audience looks at a film and wonders whether something that they have seen is an accident or if the director or writer meant them to know it, I think subtlety and allowing the audience to discover for themselves what it is the most important thing”._
_Suggesting toward an innate evil that resides in the walls of the hotel itself rather than in Jack Torrance’s tormented mind, Stanley Kubrick’s vision provides a fascinating insight into Stephen King’s story that continues to inspire and terrify._
"THAT'S BEEN OVERLOOKED..."😍
The score of the movie is haunting and foreboding. The sounds, music and silence are so freaking creepy.
Damn this analysis is probably even better than Rob agers
That’s a compliment thank you!
@@readingbetweentheframes you should have added that the shining hotel was built on native American burial ground. I know that's obvious but just an extra thing to back up that point about imperialism. Around the time you mentioned the red cans of native Americans. just an extra bit to back up your point to viewers. Sure you knew about it but think it would have added just A tiby bit. I think so anyway.
Seriously brilliant analysis and also talking about camera shots which ager doesn't do as much
Edit- also the fact that it was Kubrick that added that to the story. It wasn't in Kings book
Martha Stubbs great points!
@@readingbetweentheframes I believe that's one of Agers stronger videos. His stuff on native American genocide is good. Some of his stuff is reaching but it's mostly good.
When you started talking about gold I assumed you'd just say what he said about kubricks gold but you came up with your own interesting take on it.
His other strong video is the spatial anomalies in the hotel and the weird layout. May be reaching but that ones his strongest I think
Anyway good work. Deserves more views. Have a nice day
Martha Stubbs thank you again! I’m familiar with Ager’s arguments but I try to make my videos offer something new.
Oh oh it calls you.....stay away, it's a wendigo trick.
What a thought-provoking analysis. I’ve seen plenty of similar videos on The Shining, but this the first that brought in the use of colors and really went into the Native American themes that are much more prevalent in the novel. Well done.
Thank you more coming soon!
19:12
Grady is not playing dumb. He is a ghost trapped for now within a greater evil that conditions his mind along with the rest of his existence. Other words, he is delusional.
I agree. Grady is a vessel now; a tool for the Overlook in which the evil of the hotel can manipulate it's newest victims. He doesn't retain his former personality, because he doesn't need to. That's why I like Jack's scene in Doctor Sleep. Once the Overlook takes you, it owns everything about you.
Well in doctor sleep he says he has to "wake it up" which makes sense because no one's been in it for 40 years. So I would say that it also makes sense he could turn on the boiler without it noticing if it was the first thing he did. Because it wasn't active, there was no reason for it to be. The hotel at this point doesn't care about being subtile or building up it's creepiness it just wants food. That would also explain why it possesses Dan so fast. It couldn't care less about building it up so slowly, it needs a host and it needs it now.
I have a fan theory that the sentient demonic entity of the Overlook Hotel, the demon that possessed the Overlook Hotel's building, the Management, was a demon that originated from a Thinny, a portal described in the Dark Tower series as a portal in which living beings and creatures or spirits can cross over into other dimensions. I believe the Overlook Hotel was built on a Thinny and that's where the Manager demon came from and possessed the Overlook Hotel. As a ghost after dying later in life, former owner Horace Derwent, who was responsible for the Hotel's macabre history, was the Management's second in command of the Hotel's imprisoned human spirits, demons and poltergeists.
@@castortroy7704 I like the direction you’re going. It parallels well with what we see of the Overlook site in the novels Dr. Sleep and Billy Summers.
@@robertbusek30 To me my theory always made sense. The same Manta-Ray shaped demon Dick Hallorann saw as the true spiritual form of the Management when the Overlook Hotel burned down was identical to the demon that raped Suzannah in the Dark Tower series.
@@robertbusek30 The Management absorbed the human souls of its dead former guests and staff that inhabited the Overlook Hotel and some who died within its building, the Overlook Hotel itself was a spiritual portal to Hell, allowing several demons to cross over into the world of the living onto the Hotel's grounds as well as poltergeists created by the negative and evil spirit energy of the Hotel's dead former inhabitants. Former owner Horace Derwent was the Hotel's second in command of its imprisoned human ghosts, demons and poltergeists. Derwent himself being a corrupt billionaire playboy, entrepreneur and accountant with mafia connections that allowed gangland hits to happen in the Overlook Hotel under his ownership and management. In the book Danny saw the composite of the Hotel's imprisoned evil human ghosts that possessed Jack aside from the Manager/Caretaker after the Hotel smashed Jack's face with the Roque mallet to fully possess Jack's body to kill Danny, including the woman in Room 217/237 aka Mrs. Massey, the undead child Danny encountered in the cement tunnel on the playground, and I also believe Danny saw the ghosts of Derwent, Delbert Grady, Lloyd the bartender, Derwent's slain mafia associates including Vito the Chopper and his bodyguards that were shot on the third floor and the ghosts of several of Derwent's 1940's/1920's party guests.
@@robertbusek30 In the Shining novel the Overlook Hotel exploded due to the Manager's foolishness and overconfidence, in Stanley Kubrick's film adaption the Overlook never blew up and was left standing and abandoned to rot. After the Hotel exploded in the book, the Management lingered within the ruins of the Overlook Hotel's grounds, remained dormant and possessed the summer campground that replaced the Overlook Hotel.
Art deco is full of gold design , rich colors and shine
One thing always puzzled me. How did the girls become part of the hotel but not the mom? It's quite clear from Grady's description that they hated the hotel & one tried to burn it down. Yet somehow they become ghosts there as well. We can assume one of two things: Either the ghosts are those who have committed murder and died there or, they all died there and had the shining. Which could explain why the girls didn't like it and tried to burn it down. But then why didn't Hallorann try to warn/communicate with them like he did with Danny? I just can't figure out an explanation that makes any sense.
I think it has to do with who the hotel is communicating with. Think of the ghosts like puppets and the hotel like the puppet master. The hotel wants Danny and Jack, So it revels itself to them using certain “masks” it doesn’t really reveal anything to Wendy until the end and at that point probably no reason to use the wife but it is a good point
I figured that the woman in room 237 was the wife, like she was killed, maybe drowned, and then left to rot.
0:07 Who are you talking to? Are you talking to me? You talking to me? Then who the hell else are you talking to? You talking to me?
At the end of the movie it hinted strongly that Jack was with that crowd (the ghosts) in a past life. Probably why he was so influenced by them
I live across from a 200 year old hotel that is a haunted attraction. Sounds of chainsaws every October. An angry intersection where the stop sign is destroyed monthly. I'm in an old house. I've had trauma, alcoholism, domestic violence, family dysfunction, divorce. Covid lockdown and 30 inches of snow. I feel dark, angry, suicidal energy around and inside me.
You’re not alone man, this has been a very hard winter for everyone. Just know we are in this together. And now because of covid mental health coverage such as therapists are free. There’s no shame in speaking to someone if you really feel this way. Just remember that this is something we are all going through and will come out of it for the better. Stay strong!
Every time I get a critique of this film,
it's entirely different. I love that.
Kubrick did not want a 'truth' to the
meaning. It's part of his genius.
The way someone analyses and interprets The Shining is a direct representation of their own psyche.
Really stood out what you said about evil not being an entity but like a virus that spreads to commit more evil. I’ve watched alot of videos analyzing The Shining. This is my favorite one yet. liked and subscribed
The spreading evil is the silence behind familial child abuse. The repetition-feeling everywhere in the film is about the cycle of family violence/enablement that never gets broken until recognized. No recognition of child abuse in this movie by the abuser, this is too often reality! This is K's attempt to describe the endless horror of child abuse, as maybe it appeared in his own life. The embracing of the horror-woman by Jack represented his inability to love without destroying. The substitution of Jack for another in the final portrait represents the timelessness of this sort of violence, from one generation to the next its changelessness...
Very enjoyable video. I was hoping you would delve deeper into the bathroom scene with Jack and Grady. By that I mean the way Jack is standing. I find his posture in that scene unsettling, and I wouldn't mind hearing your take on that.
Jack starts out with a confident posture, when he thinks he has the upper hand on the entity, as Grady starts lecturing him Jack's posture becomes more uncertain or submissive, and Grady's becomes more assertive.
Another explanation why props are missing or placed is because the movie IS us THE AUDIENCE viewing the novel jack is writting based on the story Ullman told him. His movie begans where he gets the idea (staring at the maze). There are points when the novel and reality take turns on screen. Another variation of this theory is that danny and wendy legit go crazy there because of isolation of wendy and danny shinning. Jack is aware of shinning powers from reading on the subject so he adds it to dannys character inspired by danny having toni imaginary friend. Jack changed carles to Grady in his novel to protect the privacy of the guy.
2:39 if we accept the idea from Doctor Sleep that the people killed by the hotel become its ghostly staff (Charles Grady becomes Delbert Grady the butler, Jack Torrence becomes Lloyd the Bartender), maybe that's why the hotel wanted Danny so badly. Someone with his Shining ability, if turned, could allow the hotel to exert more of an influence than it already has over a much wider area.
The Wendy Theory explains it all
@@fenian123 no, it doesn't - its amazingly bad media literacy and requires throwing out WAY too much stuff, and it is also inconsistent - it chooses to ignore any thing that doesn't fit the narrative in one scene, and then use that exact sort of thing in another scene as the basis for what happening there. Either chairs moving between shots always matters or it doesn't.
@OP its not wise to look at the book or other movies to say anything about a film that was more than happy to make MANY changes. In virtually every case, Kurbick who argue against using the novels for a source of anything, such as with 2001
@@fenian123 um, no.
I'd also like to add that it seems EVERY aspect of a Stanley Kubrick film from the characters, locations, chosen colors, dialogue, even down to the "extras" in his films are all things we seem to take for granted and are also done purposely by Kubrick. I believe he was a genius and unfortunately 95% of the people in this world are... average for lack of a better word. To the "average" person it's almost impossible to comprehend every aspect of his films, especially The Shining. I'm no genius, but I am by no means an idiot either. I've seen this film maybe 4 or 5 times, each time trying to dissect the film and put all the pieces of the puzzle in my head to figure it out, yet by watching this video, I've noticed and soaked up even more information than I did the last time I saw this which was fairly recently. A film with everything thrown at us at face value is an abomination film if you ask me no matter how many talented actors they try to cast. I can honestly say because of Kubrick, I've learned a long time ago to never take anything for granted and to absolutely NEVER take anything at face value no matter how simple the noun(s) around me may seem. He wanted to teach us to think and think HARD so we are never deceived by anything again. I doubt anything deceived Kubrick at all.
This is one of the best Shining analogy and explanation I have seen. Very well done.
You've put into words so many points I've never been able to find words for. Excellent. Thanks.
Love it. Very well thought out and assembled. Fascinating ideas.
The definition of 'evil' that I came up with was - "Doing something to someone else - that you'd never in a Million years - want done to yourself."
So far this is the BEST analysis of The Shining I've ever seen. Thank you, RBTF.
Thanks for the video, it's really well done! I like your emphasis on the theme of the contract, to me it evokes the Faustian pact and the nature of the power dynamics at play within the hotel.
There's so much to this film, so many intricacies and so much depth from which to draw interpretation, inspiration, and possible explanation.
One thing I'd never noticed till seeing your video today is the way Jack's facial expression from when he is dead and frozen in the maze is mirrored/foreshadowed by the face he makes after taking his first drink. You can see it in this video from 9:38 to 9:42, his eyes are rolled very far back into his head and his top lip is curled upwards, brandishing his upper teeth. He makes a similar expression several times during the conversation with Grady in the bathroom. Though it's a little less exactly like the times after the drink and after his death, during the conversation Jack moves back and forth between looking at Grady straight on with a complex expression that, to me, shows a mixture of bewilderment and incredulousness and fear, to looking at Grady with his head angled downward so that his eyes are rolling up into his head and his maniacal grin displays his teeth. Like was mentioned in this video, as soon as Jack has taken that first drink he looks like someone who's just been given a truth serum; to me his expression is that of someone in a trance state who has been hypnotized. I think we're saying the same thing, that he has the look of someone not in control of their faculties, someone at the mercy of a power not their own.
It's interesting that he has that look after taking a drink when the alcohol is taking over (he makes a toast to falling off the wagon, telling us that he is an alcoholic whose life before getting sober was dominated by drinking and that he is enthusiastic about once again relinquishing his willpower and submitting to the influence of the bottle) and it's during this same scene that Lloyd makes Jack (and the audience) aware that Jack is indebted to The House i.e. The House has power over Jack. Next, during the bathroom scene, we have the broken 180° rule and power exchange between Jack and Mr. Grady wherein Jack is reminded of his commitment to duty, and now it is an abstraction that is exerting power over Jack and compelling him to abandon his familial commitments to the health and safety of his wife and child. Finally, we see the expression on Jack's face as he is sitting in the hedge maze, frozen and dead; this time it is the crazed fervor to murder Danny which drove him to exhaustion and death by exposure after losing his way (literally and figuratively) in the maze.
I might be way off base and maybe there's no significance to my observations, I don't know. Thanks again for the video, I look forward to seeing more of your analyses and interpretations!
[Edited because I had the timestamp wrong]
According to the cut prologue "Before the Play," the Hotel has no right to exist. It never turned a profit, every few years someone died mysteriously on the grounds, and the hotel's various owners would become obsessed with keeping it afloat (the hotel manipulating its owners to sink money in it against all common sense). Guests would book a room then abruptly leave way earlier than expected, unable to explain what was wrong but that *something* was wrong. Basically, the Overlook Hotel is a living malevolent entity that thrives on the misery and death it causes. It can't constantly be messing with people or it'd drive away all its victims, so it acts up during the off-season and only "pokes" at people during the on-season. When Jack is locked in the storeroom, the Hotel itself lets him out in the guise of Grady.
For those trying to put me and this analysis in the social justice warrior camp. “Woke” culture is a derivation of postmodernism and post structuralist philosophy that pervaded the intellectual studies of universities in the wake of WWII. It came to its peak in culture during the late 70s and lasted until the 90s but never really went away (The matrix is an example). It is not something “new” and predates millennials and cancel culture. For anyone who wants to make a comment about leftism, patriarchy, or my political affiliations I suggest listening to this lecture by Jordan Peterson. My analysis uses the prevailing philosophical theories of the time in which the Shining was released, of which Postmodernism and Third Wave Feminism were at their height. m.czcams.com/video/f5rUPatnXSE/video.html
using the prevailing philosophical theroies of the time doesn't make them right or ok lol
@@manuelkong10 So what exactly makes them “ok and right?” You’ve offered your own opinions that seem to be a muddled Christian lens but you’re missing the point of literary criticism which is to read a text from different philosophical perspectives. There is no right or wrong answer. They’re all right and wrong to some degree. Conquest, violence, war and male violence are reoccurring themes in all of Kubrick’s works so the argument isn’t something I’m pulling out of a hat. Nor is it a contemporary “sjw” reading.
@@LegendaryHewy post one Peterson video and now I’m a junkie haha. The man’s brilliant but my focus is more about postmodernism and post structuralism. I thought Peterson was more accessible than Stephen Hicks but he’s another good listen for a summary of the philosophies.
@@LegendaryHewy I’m aware postmodernism goes further than Peterson’s perspective, studied it quite a bit in university. This was a reaction to people saying that my analysis was “woke” and Sjw despite the fact I’m using philosophical lenses that have been around since before the Shining was even released!
@@LegendaryHewy there’s more to come!
well done! your analysis of the bar exchange and the reversal in the bathroom scene I think is spot on.
Awesome overview and ideals of definitely one of my top 3 favorite films of all time!! Keep up the great work man!!
The 180 rule applies when shooting football games (or other games on rectangular fields). You can't "cross the line." If you do, it will look to viewers that the ball is suddenly going in the opposite direction down the field. It's a disorienting effect. You don't necessarily notice it, but it subconsciously bugs you. Kubrick also does this when the Marines are marching at the end of Full Metal Jacket.
The ghosts apparently do appear in both the offseason and during the summer. The cook, Mr. Hollerand, has the shining ability. Hollerand is only at the hotel during the summer season. Hollerand knew that the hotel was haunted. How would he know that if the ghosts never appeared during the summer?
the only thing we know for sure is that he got bad vibes from that room, and maybe looked into something that has happened there. That doesn't mean he spoke with or saw ghosts.
This was a really fascinating watch and I thought you did a great job of explaining your points, particularly as it related to the technical aspects of film making and how those helped to convey the themes. The Shining has always been one of my favorite films to revisit, but I have struggled to understand the subtext because I've heard so many interpretations that it's hard for me to feel like I know what Kubrick's intentions were as a result of all the noise, but your logic was consistent throughout the piece and I appreciated that. So whether Kubrick's intention or not, your take on the film is a solid one that holds up as its own. Great video.
Really appreciate that!
and where does the evil originate? When Jack goes for his interview the manager tells him the hotel was built on an Indian burial ground. I'm sold.
"It's coming off now, sir" can be construed to mean "It is occurring now, sir." In Twenties slang to "come off" meant a planned event was successfully executed. This would be most fitting in describing a confidence scheme or other such trickery.
Very nice analysis of the Citizen Kane of horror films.I first watched it upon its opening back in 1980.It remains my favorite horror film of all time.
Thanks again,peace!
Great in-depth analysis! Loved learning about the rule of 2 and the 180 rule. Can’t wait for future videos!
Thank you. Working on getting some out soon!
This is one of the best of many many many videos I've seen on The Shining. Bravo!!!!
Yes we would prefer to "Overlook." You have hit on the meaning of the movie.
23:49 Really makes me glad I never got into drinking alcohol.
I've watched your documentary, and it's really compelling viewing. I watched Rob Ager's too, and whilst different, offered other compelling meanings. Different approaches, but same dedication to the layered themes throughout the film.
I think it’s clever that, on the Gold Room sign, the G is written in such a way that it could also be read as the Cold Room. This alludes to Jack freezing in the elements at the end of the film
Very nice breakdown here. One of the best I’ve listened too.
I have watched a ton of these videos. This one was the best and it also made the most sense.
Such a biased analysis but has some good points.
Great analysis! By far one of the best I've watched so far on CZcams on The Shining and I've watched quite a few.
... as long as this evil is OVERLOOKED! That hit me in the face, I didn't think of that meaning before!
Excellent analysis, finally someone gets me! See beneath the circumstances that led to this ill-fated events. RIP Stanley Kubrick, his camera positions and direction method are educational tools to learn from, he created a classic horror. Bravo.
Great video! I found your insights and analysis really intriguing.
I’ve noticed another thing, unrelated to the actual hotel and you or someone else may have pointed it out already but here goes... At around 7:20 Jack Torrance was saying he had “two twenties and two tens” in his wallet. I think that this too is intentional. 2x20 + 2x10 = 60 and when you break down 60 as a product of its primes you get 2x2x3x5 which can kind of lead to the infamous 237 if you put the 2 and 3 next to each other, then add the remaining 5 and 2 together for 7. So together you get 237
Yes it’s a bit of a shoehorned way of getting there and I’m probably reading into it too much but I thought it was interesting.
I've been binging on these videos analyzing The Shining and this is by far the best! The world deserves to know what your interpretation of the guy in the bear suit is!
Great video!
I think Kubrick's intent is that the hotel represents the U.S. in that it is really run by the wealthy elite and the overlooked atrocities throughout history. The blood covered hotel walls, blackmails, etc. represent the history that allows all those in gold room to live their lavish life for eternity.
-Jack represents all manipulated men doing the dirty work/cover ups for the elites (the house) and his reward is a place at a table in the gold room with the others. Men like Jack are interchangeable to the elite and have been doing their bidding throughout centuries, which is why he 'has always been the caretaker'. Jack is actually just one of many throughout time, but representative of all.
-Danny represents Kubrick and others who have seen the truth, but dont have the power to directly confront/stop it. Rather, Danny communicates with others who 'shine' to reveal the evil actions of the hotel in silence, just like Kubrick is trying to secretly reveal the atrocities of the elite that run the country/world by reavling their truths to the audience.
-Hallorann knows portions of the truth, but is dismissive of Danny's fears because he doesn't want the truth to be real or harm to come to others who discover it. He represents peoples who have been persecuted by the elite and seen their atrocities for generations, but feel helpless against it.
-Wendy represents the everyday citizen who doesn't even see the hidden truth at first and keeps working hard with hopeful intentions. She even supports Jack through his bad actions, oblivious to his evil capabilities until enough is revealed to her. She only wants a happy life and turns a blind eye to the truth for most of the film just like all of us in real life. She is the everyday person who unknowingly supports the greedy corporations, etc. while just trying to live her life in peace. Before Wendy and Danny run into the maze for the first time Wendy says, whoever loses has to clean America.
-The maze represents the entertainment industry (movies, sports, etc) that distract the common citizen in and make them oblivious to the truths of the elite. This is clear when Jack overlooks the model maze while Wendy and Danny play in the real version. Jack watches them and belives they are oblivious to the truth while he plots. At the end Kubrick uses the maze to trap Jack and stop the hotel's plan, just the same way he uses the movie to reveal truths of the real world. He is using the elites own trick against them.
-Unfortunately, the hotel survives in Kubrick's version. Kubrick may be telling us that even with his big reveal, he knows that the hotel/powerful elite of the U.S. will just go on converting more men to do their bidding and the elite will continue their eternally party in the gold room.
The native american atrocities and imperialism are pretty obvious. Kubrick may have had some of his own beliefs about modern coverups. I think the scene with Jack reading the Playgirl may be a reference to J Edgar Hoover. Hoover was runored to be gay and lived with his mom late in life (the parents sleeping with their childeren article). All work and no play makes Jack a dull (dead) boy could reference the JFK assassination. JFK not playing by the rules lead to his assassination. Other sexual scenes in the film may parallel the fetishes of the elite and the fact that they can all blackmail each other so it just goes on.
The moon landing theory is possible, but it may just be Kubrick's own skepticism rather than a confession.
Jack didn't have to pay for his drinks because he paid with his soul as he said at the bar when he got the 1st drink.
It’s very interesting that you mentioned Adam & Eve because I always thought that when Grady (in the bathroom) is telling Jack about Danny & all the part about him being a willful boy…the first thing Jack does is blame it on the mother! It felt & even sounded very “Adam & Eve-ish” to me!
(Adam told God, “the woman YOU gave me….! Like it was Eve’s fault that Adam ate, or if not her fault then it was God’s fault! Adam blaming everyone but himself! No one put it in his mouth but him, still he blames God! Just like us crazy humans to pass the buck of responsibility or of fault!)
I think it’s so strange that Kubrick was able to find such magic to make such incredible films in imagination, but was atheist! Because the Bible has some crazy messed up things that happened for real even better than imagination & he couldn’t get there in believing, as far as I know! I just think there’s no other book with more romantic beautiful love stories like in Solomon. And uplifting text as Psalms. And intrigue, murder, crazy, evil, etc peppered throughout! It’s so much more interesting to know both the evil and the love are real! Makes the movies & books more scary & life more interesting! At 50 y.o., I think I can see it more than ever. The purpose.
Anyway, I am probably a bit older than your usual audience but I like to hear theories on “The Shining”. Very good job!
Ngl I love the gold room songs, especially Midnight, The Stars, And You… I find them super soothing and I listen to them quite frequently… I hope I’m not weird for doing this…
Just realized Grady spills Advocaat on Jack. The devil’s “advocaat”. Marking Jack as the Devi’s advocate.
The overlook Hotel is supposed to be a battlefield site concerning a early colonial Indian surprise night attack, the movie missed that point. Finally I would think you would have a vengeful Indian warriors and colonial spirits haunting the place ,such as smell of gun powder, shadows and sounds of terror and sadness and still have Jack and others go crazy enough to be possessed to commit murder.
Ive never read this book so my analysis is only based upon the movie.
The Overlook Hotel is a strange amorphous entity, conjuring halucinations from the minds of its human occupants.
Just like the Planet Solaris is a strange amorphous entity, conjuring halucinations from the minds of its human visitors.
Good analogy
@@readingbetweentheframes
thanx
I believe the sentient demonic entity of the Overlook Hotel, The Management, was a demon that possessed the Overlook Hotel's building merged as one with the building itself. The demon, in my theory, came from a Thinny, a supernatural portal that living human beings or entities can travel into other dimensions. I think the Overlook Hotel was built on a "Thinny." The former owner and management (Co-manager and second in command to the Hotel itself) , Horace Derwent, was responsible for much of the Overlook's history. Particularly the gangland hits. Derwent was the face of the Hotel's power. I think the Management and its imprisoned human spirits, demons and poltergeists needed Danny's power to break free, so that the demon and the other spirits could spread their power far beyond the grounds of the Overlook Hotel's building and possess more souls, cause more destruction and death, and ultimately become Godlike. Jack was just a perfect pawn.
In the novel, unlike Kubrick's loosely based classic adaption, Jack redeemed himself, hugged Danny goodbye, apologized to Danny and told his son to run before the sentient demonic entity of the Overlook Hotel, The Management, took control and killed Jack by smashing his face and skull in with the Roque mallet. Danny saw a composite of the Hotel's imprisoned human spirits and manifestations which I believe were Roger the dogman, the woman in Room 217/237, Mrs. Massey, the undead child from the cement tunnel on the playground, Lloyd, Horace Derwent, Vito the Chopper and his bodyguards, Delbert Grady and several of the 1920's party guests, all of whom returned in Dr. Sleep. Unleashed by Danny from his mental lockboxes. (excluding the dogman and the dead kid's ghost in the film of Dr. Sleep at least) to kill Rose the Hat.
seeing Kubrick speaking he seems like an intelligent, but fairly normal person. This movie is real genius to the point that I didn’t even realize why it was so great and why I was so drawn to it even as a young teenager but his messages subconsciously got through.
I think Kubrick deliberately left ambiguity in the film so people could debate what it meant. He didn’t always know himself lol
I think this is a good point
Oh that last line gave me shivers.
This is a great breakdown. I like your interpretation of the Hotel having persuasion over the ghosts, and using humans to do their evil.
I believe the Manager, the demonic spirit that possessed the Overlook Hotel, was a demon that came into our world through a Thinny (a supernatural portal described in the Dark Tower books where living people or spiritual entities can cross into different dimensions and worlds), possessed the hotel and merged as one with the building itself, causing all of the murders and suicides, etc., alongside its former owner and management when alive, Horace Derwent, who was a corrupt entrepreneur, billionaire playboy with mob ties. Derwent was the face of the Hotel and the demon's second in command of the Hotel's spirits.
The historical and social commentary was a nice addition to the video. Your explanation of the camera work helped me to see the full scope of the film's vision. Thanks for the video.