It’s about time someone sunk their teeth into this underdiscussed film and asked for the first time, what’s really happening in The Shining?
Adam Stothard (he/him) // Co-Editor-in-Chief
Andrei Gueco (he/him) // Illustrator
For those who don’t know, The Shining is a film directed by Stanley Kubrick (director of Fear and Desire) based upon a book of the same name written by Stephen King (director of Maximum Overdrive). It’s a movie that’s chock full of metaphors, themes, similes, references, iconography and other things, too. But what is it really about?
The film opens much in the same way the novel does: aerial camera angles following a car set to weird music. What does this mean? Well, I, for one, interpret it as a metaphor. Are we not all cars following down a winding road that is life? Being looked on from above by God’s camera? Some say, “No.” But, to them I say, “Yes?”
Jack Torrance (played by golf pro Jack Nicholaus) is hired as the seasonal caretaker of the Overlook Hotel, meaning he can finally get some time to work on his novel. But, what’s this? His family has to come with him? Oh boy, that’s not good. You see, his son Danny is a total fuckin’ freak. He speaks in this spooky voice and acts like it’s his finger saying it. And don’t even get me started on his wife Wendy. She is a real piece of work, lemme tell ya. An enragingly fragile and meek woman, basically Olive Oyl from Popeye.
After their nice scenic drive, the family finally gets to the Overlook Hotel where they meet the head chef, Dick Halloran (played by none other than Scatman John). Here’s where things start to get wacky: Dick Halloran can telepathically communicate with Danny. It’s never explained why, but it’s not hard to see the reason if you see the right clues as I did. You see, Ol’ Dick is but a figment of lil’ Danny’s imagination. This takes me over to my main theory: lil’ Danny Torrance is insane.
Danny is constantly seeing all kinds of weird shit that isn’t actually there. He sees these two little girls and then imagines their bloody corpses laying everywhere. It’s really a disturbing thing for a child to create in their imagination. It concerns me. It gets so bad at a certain point, it starts to really make his dad Jack angry because it’s taking up his precious writing time. It even seems Wendy is starting to humour Danny’s nonsense.
Meanwhile, Jack is fantasizing his beautiful ballroom full of fun, trying to just have a dang drink. But, there’s only one obstacle: his stupid family. Seeing as his family is insane and losing their grip on reality, he decides to take matters into his own hands. He’s gotta shock them back down to earth. Maybe then, he’ll finally be able to get some damn writing done! After all, Danny’s insanity is starting to permeate and make everything bad. So, what then? Of course, Danny brings his imaginary friend Dick to the hotel to fend off his dad. But, what’s this? No more imaginary friends! Jack beats Dick, and Dick is done. No more Dick!
The film’s ending features two bold choices. Firstly, the good guy loses. In a shocking twist, Jack Torrance is frozen to death, meaning he’s never able to complete his hard-earned novel (or teach his family the lesson they so desperately need). Secondly, as the camera zooms in on an old photograph displayed in the hotel, you learn that the ENTIRE film takes place in the year 1921. This really threw me for a loop, seeing as they had cars from the 1970s and more modern technology. But, I guess what they’re saying is: What is time, anyways?
In conclusion, I want to answer the big question: What is the WHOLE film about? What’s the thesis? Well, to me, it was obvious: It’s about World War I. Jack Torrance represents the United States (the good guy), Wendy represents France (the annoying one) and Danny (the little shit) represents Germany. And, the hotel? It’s where the war is fought, of course, so it is somewhere in Europe.
In conclusion, thank you for reading my critical analysis of The Shining. My only question left is: What’s next for Stanley Kubrick? One can only hope he’s working on his next masterpiece. I personally would love to see his take on Ant-Man or Free Willy.
If you want to share your thoughts on what box office blast ol’ Stan Kubrick ought to tackle next, send us a message on the internet!