Setre
Member
I watched The Shining for the first time last night, mostly because it was Halloween but also because of this thread. When I watch a movie I dont try to analyze everything and see the deeper meaning behind it, I simply watch it for whats presented to me. So to me The Shining was about a haunted hotel who makes an already terrible guy try to kill his family. However Id heard of a documentary on Netflix called Room 237, which was about different theories Stanley Kubrick was trying to present with The Shining. I only watched about half of Room 237 before deciding Id had enough and went to bed.
I woke up this morning still thinking about The Shining and some of the stuff Id heard in Room 237 and it got me thinking. Now like I said after watching the movie originally I simply took it as a haunted hotel but one of the people in 237 brought up that everything in the movie can be given a reasonable explanation. The only thing that couldnt, in his opinion, was the door to the storage room being opened, but then he says it could have been Danny who did it. I liked this theory so I started to explain away everything with a reasonable explanation.
Everything time Jack sees a ghost its him simply going more and more insane with cabin fever. Danny has grown up in an abusive household and already has an imaginary friend, its not that far of a stretch that hed start seeing ghosts. When the manager of the hotel tells Jack about Charles Grady he mentions that his wife loves stories like that and hed planned to tell it to her. While we never see it on screen it doesnt mean that Jack didnt tell Wendy, either with Danny present or him eavesdropping. When Wendy sees her ghosts it can be explained away as being in a very high stress and frightening situation, after all her husband has been trying to kill her. Once again Jack could have told her about Charles Grady and while shes running through the hotel in that high stress/frightening situation her mind finally breaks.
Another good argument for the hotel not actually being haunted is room 237 and Danny. We know Jack dislocated Dannys shoulder sometime before the film starts. Theres no other evidence to support Jack being physically abusive to either Danny or Wendy other than that but hes obviously verbally and mentally abusive. But then theres the Playgirl magazine at the beginning of the film, which hints at a more sinister abuse between Danny and Jack. Theres no other evidence in the film to support this but why have Jack reading a Playgirl magazine then? While Danny is playing with his toys Jack rolls the ball to him to get his attention, Danny wanders into room 237 where Jack is waiting, and then the abuse happens. Something terrible obviously happened in that room to Danny because for the rest of the film, until the maze, Danny is gone mentally and replaced by Tony.
Another piece of evidence to support this is that when Jack is goes back to investigate room 237 he sees the woman in the tub. This is him projecting what he just did to Danny, whether it was sexual or simply physical abuse. As Jack and the woman continue to kiss she eventually turns into an old hag which represents Jacks repulsion at what hes just done to his son.
Where this theory breaks down is the shining. You can explain away Dannys premonitions being that hes from an abusive family and his seeing things are an active imagination. You cant explain away Dick talking to Danny about ice cream in his head, the conversation they have about the shining, and Dicks ability to hear Danny calling for help. Theres no reason for Dick to leave Florida and go all the way back to the Overlook simply because no one picked up at the hotel. Hes the cook for fucks sake. If anyone else has a way of explaining away the shining Id love to hear it.
The other theory I liked and thought about was the reincarnation one. This has been a long enough post already though.
So for those who have seen The Shining what are your theories? Is it simply a haunted hotel (even after all the shit I just typed I still like this one), was it Jack the entire time, or are the reincarnated souls doomed to forever repeat the same mistakes over and over until one can break the cycle?
I woke up this morning still thinking about The Shining and some of the stuff Id heard in Room 237 and it got me thinking. Now like I said after watching the movie originally I simply took it as a haunted hotel but one of the people in 237 brought up that everything in the movie can be given a reasonable explanation. The only thing that couldnt, in his opinion, was the door to the storage room being opened, but then he says it could have been Danny who did it. I liked this theory so I started to explain away everything with a reasonable explanation.
Everything time Jack sees a ghost its him simply going more and more insane with cabin fever. Danny has grown up in an abusive household and already has an imaginary friend, its not that far of a stretch that hed start seeing ghosts. When the manager of the hotel tells Jack about Charles Grady he mentions that his wife loves stories like that and hed planned to tell it to her. While we never see it on screen it doesnt mean that Jack didnt tell Wendy, either with Danny present or him eavesdropping. When Wendy sees her ghosts it can be explained away as being in a very high stress and frightening situation, after all her husband has been trying to kill her. Once again Jack could have told her about Charles Grady and while shes running through the hotel in that high stress/frightening situation her mind finally breaks.
Another good argument for the hotel not actually being haunted is room 237 and Danny. We know Jack dislocated Dannys shoulder sometime before the film starts. Theres no other evidence to support Jack being physically abusive to either Danny or Wendy other than that but hes obviously verbally and mentally abusive. But then theres the Playgirl magazine at the beginning of the film, which hints at a more sinister abuse between Danny and Jack. Theres no other evidence in the film to support this but why have Jack reading a Playgirl magazine then? While Danny is playing with his toys Jack rolls the ball to him to get his attention, Danny wanders into room 237 where Jack is waiting, and then the abuse happens. Something terrible obviously happened in that room to Danny because for the rest of the film, until the maze, Danny is gone mentally and replaced by Tony.
Another piece of evidence to support this is that when Jack is goes back to investigate room 237 he sees the woman in the tub. This is him projecting what he just did to Danny, whether it was sexual or simply physical abuse. As Jack and the woman continue to kiss she eventually turns into an old hag which represents Jacks repulsion at what hes just done to his son.
Where this theory breaks down is the shining. You can explain away Dannys premonitions being that hes from an abusive family and his seeing things are an active imagination. You cant explain away Dick talking to Danny about ice cream in his head, the conversation they have about the shining, and Dicks ability to hear Danny calling for help. Theres no reason for Dick to leave Florida and go all the way back to the Overlook simply because no one picked up at the hotel. Hes the cook for fucks sake. If anyone else has a way of explaining away the shining Id love to hear it.
The other theory I liked and thought about was the reincarnation one. This has been a long enough post already though.
So for those who have seen The Shining what are your theories? Is it simply a haunted hotel (even after all the shit I just typed I still like this one), was it Jack the entire time, or are the reincarnated souls doomed to forever repeat the same mistakes over and over until one can break the cycle?
