A few people have raised a good point about the eyes on the teddy pillow actually being folded up, not "trimmed" as I'd put it. Looking at it again I think they're right. At the same time it doesn't necessarily debunk the comparison with the elevator dial eyes. Note that the fold is still at the convenient angle to match the dials (there aren't two folds from diff directions or a fold only from the top downward or from one side). And when you put that in context with all the other significant props in the same set like the goofy figure and Wendy dressed in exactly the same colour combo plus the view of the bathroom shower curtain with rubber ducky sneakily peaking out, the chances of the pillow elevator eye comparison being deliberate remain a strong possibility. Thanks to those who gave that observation though. In addition, triggered Batman and LOTR fans ... I offer no apologies! Hahaha Want more content folks ... follow these links. Check out the current discounts on my offline vids and articles www.collativelearning.com/ Join my Film, Game & Media analysis page on Facebook facebook.com/groups/4637000646361309 ... as well as following the Collative Learning FB page facebook.com/RobAgerpublic Get a copy of my video game To The Death store.steampowered.com/app/2758570/To_The_Death/ ... and follow the game on the Ager Games TH-cam channel www.youtube.com/@robagergames ... and at the To The Death FB page facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555615927786 Follow me on Twitter / X twitter.com/RobAger Signing up as a monthly supporter on Patreon gets you arround 12 hrs more content www.patreon.com/RobAger PLEASE ALSO POST YOUR RESPONSES TO THE VIDEO CONTENT ABOVE SEPARATELTY FROM THIS PINNED COMMENT, THANKS.
Collative Learning thanks for the reply to my comments! As we know, nothing can be entirely ruled out when it comes to Kubrick. That's what makes all his work endlessly intriguing. What's your opinion regarding my opinion about the bear references having a role in symbolizing the predatory nature of the Overlook and the Torrence family dynamic. Outside of the sexual abuse angle, which may be there, I've made some other observations. Bears are notorious for killing and CONSUMING their own young. It is especially prevalent among males but females will also at times commit cannibalism of their own young. That may help in part to explain the often discussed final scene of the close up photo of Jack. It appears to me that the wall containing the photos is located in the center of the hotel. Somewhat like the hotel's belly. There's a lot more that hints at this idea but I've rambled on long enough. Thanks again. Love your work Oliver!
The giant gleaming knife Wendy carries (and which jerkily wobbles in her hand like an excited penis) could also be a rather prominent phallic symbol, and one which quite plainly signifies the violence of sexual assault, not to speak of the numerous candles on all the chandeliers in the room where Jack writes, as does the giant phallic-like motif on the Indian tapestry (to the right when Danny enters), a veritable plethora of firm, erect white cocks, all of which sharply stand out in the wide shot as Danny walks into the room.
Rob, is there a jumper jump between the apollo 11 jumper and the mickey mouse jumper in the scene your talking about around the 10 minute mark in this video? dig your videos they're amazing.
One comment is wrong here: Stanley did not want any music during the Jack/Danny bedroom scene. The use of the Bartok here was in fact my idea, and as music editor I laid it as 'an optional extra'. Fortunately, when Stanley saw it in the dubbing theatre, he liked it, and kept it.
WOW why is this comment not higher rated? If your account is real, then your comment is pretty cool to come across. Thank you for posting AND for your work on the movie!
Lie lie lie if you want using a name that is not yours. If you he than write a book or do a interview about your work. I want to believe it but so many people lie lie lie.
So much better than haley, Joel Osment in the sixth sense, even though he gets a ton of recognition for it, I thought the whole thing was completely forced and unnatural. Like he was trying to act like an adult, but he couldn’t really pull it off so it was just awkward. This is a tour de force of a performance by a child.
Agreed, Danny Lloyd's performance (then aged just 6 - 7 years), is superb. He was totally authentic, natural and believable in the leading role, and contributed immeasurably to the 1980 movie's success and longevity. In stark contrast, the experienced child actor Courtland Mead who played Danny in the 1997 TV mini series 'The Shining' was - like the rest of that Stephen King production - lousy!
I've always wondered how many takes did Danny have to do? I swear that scene wear he looks so terrified and yells I was 6 years old watching that. That primal mortal scream of Danny's scared the crap out of me.
Windwalker76 it is but I feel as though if it was remade then it would not be near as good. Especially because they would most likely not have Jack Nicholson’s acting because he is much older.
This video made me realize what if the bear scene symbolized Wendy walking in and actually witnessing the abuse herself. Shes so in denial so afraid that she cant even SEE her son and husband so her mind sees the bear and the man....
Just to be clear, do you think she caught him right in that moment when she was running around with the knife? If so, why would Jack choose that moment to abuse Danny? And with the door open at that.
@@owie4070 No not at that exact moment. That moment when Jack has gone crazy and his personality has been revealed its like all the demons and ghosts of their relationship has also manifested into something in the house. Jacks guilt is seen when he kisses the ugly lady. So i figured this weird scene is almost like a ptsd episode where in the past this is what happened but shes in denial that her mind cant comprehend it being her husband and son. Psychologically the brain tries to forget and replaces memories when theyre unpleasant. thats kind of what im getting at u know?
It's so weird that despite all the horror and psychic terror going on in this movie, the costumed bear scene is what creeps my out the most. If you want to induce fear, you don't need blood: just bring out the most ancient fear in us, like some monster crawling out right before our eyes. I'm sure japanese horror makers also know this...also the camera movement.
She doesnt see it cause she doesnt have the 'shining' Danny gets it from his father! But did this guy read the book everything was explained n it's not all about sex and sexual abuse!?!?
He points out in the video that Kubrick only used the book and it's story as a general framework and jumping off point. King himself has complained over the years about how much was changed in the transition from novel to film, even going so far as to make a TV miniseries at one point in time that was more faithful to his book, though not nearly as good as Kubrick's movie
@@earlpipe9713 I agree with everything you said, I've read the book many many times and seen both movie/mini series as well plus I've seen so many interviews with him and that's exactly what he says! He hated that version but I've read not too long ago he has said he can now appreciate it for what it is! But my comment was about it not being about sex n abuse all through it, I personally think if a person were to have read the book they would prob not think it's about sex n abuse cause the book explains everything much better!
I know what you mean. I read the book and it is a dog costume there but yeah it was only described in one little paragraph but it sent chills down my spine and I remember it more clearly than the action going on or even the end. I knew it was gonna be terrifying in the film and I was not disappointed
11:21 this is my favorite moment in the whole movie. He literally spent the last 20 minutes talking to an imaginary bartender and still his first words to Wendy are “... Are you out of your fucking mind?” 😂 His face too
18:00 Along the lines of the theme, look how horrified Wendy looks as if she's catching Jack in the act with her son and suddenly realizing the full extent and nature of Danny's abuse. Also, Jack isn't going to kill them simply because he's gone insane, he's going to kill them because he got caught and has to prevent them turning him in.
I think moreso he wants to kill them to remove the evidence to himself, he has some guilt towards perverting his relationship with his son but his solution is to purify it by killing the family.
@@disappointedoptimist255 I agree that he does feel guilty about it -I guess I could have stopped after the first sentence. In any event, I think the horror she is expressing is that of catching Jack in the act and not of seeing ghosts.
Idk.... I mean she could just as easily been horrified because she's seeing a two weird men engaging in sexual acts in one of the rooms of a hotel she and her family are supposed to be alone in. Not to mention the creepy way they stare at her.
Also I just remembered that young children with a history of repeated sexual/physical abuse are the most likely to have Dissociative Identity Disorder, which causes multiple personalities. Danny talks to “Tony” quite a lot, maybe to deal with his abuse (Tony acts as his protector just like in DID, a personality can act as a protector to cope). This is probably a stretch because of how old the movie is. But hey I thought it was cool
Tony is Danny's ultimate protector. Read my other comment about that I believe there is even more to Danny being molested, the last part of the movie is how Danny plans, baites (after being molested, not by allowing himself to be molested) his father to finally kill his father. But you have to tead my comment on the main comment page. I am not retyping it.
Tony is part of Danny's Shine, and is in the books revealed to be Danny from the future, using the Shine to help young Danny and his mother survive the events at the Overlook Hotel. Before I finished the book I agreed with your theory on Danny having some form of disassociative trauma though.
Oh, come on...cry us a river...he was creating one of the greatest masterpieces in film history! and he's alleged "abuse" , is what actually go that amazing performance out of Duvall. "The Shining" will always be the highlight of her career and long after she will be gone, she will still be remembered for it.
veilofreality if you see behind the scenes he did treat her like shit no offense but the scene where she hits him with the bat did over 300 takes just because and she got sick from the weather and toke over 6 years to edit never went into detail on his work or why or how i fuking lov this movie but not explaining himself defeats the purpose of our thoughts
That makes sence! The name of the hotel is the overlook. The mom overlooked all the signs of his abuse. When the psychologist was talking to Danny the mom interrupted and made excuses for his imaginary friend. She overlooked hotel being an indian burial, people being killed there, them being isolated for months and she overlooked dannys abuse believing it was the woman in the tub who choked her son instead of her husband. The mirrors symbolize having to look at yourself and deal with your eternal demons.
In support of this, Jack is outwardly friendly to strangers, but cold and distant to his own wife ( I recognize this abusive behavior trait from my own father). When Wendy and Danny are present together in his company, he's cold to both of them. During the tour, Jack would hardly respond to anything Wendy said. But when Danny is alone with Jack, there's a completely different demeanor from Jack towards Danny. Wendy subtly knows this abuse is happening, but can't confront it. Her talk with the child psychiatrist is full of denial; to the point the psychiatrist has a "WTF?!" look the whole time. The tour scenes are full of subtle physical indicators. When the hotel staff brings in Danny who got lost outside during the tour, Jack is the first to warmly greet Danny, but doesn't change his stance (trying to not be obvious of too much affection), Wendy quickly asks Danny to join her and wraps her arms around him, putting distance between father and son while Jack stares at Danny. Jack's eyes often linger on Danny in scenes. Wendy's character is full of submissive and survival behavior. She regularly keeps side eyes on people, her conversations with strangers are self-deprecating (she says she'll get lost in the hotel, she doesn't know how to use the kitchen), and her spoken voice is softer than other character's while her talking points are easy and inoffensive responses. The only time she's assertive, is when Hallorann calls Danny, "Doc", which she immediately identifies as a red flag of being too familiar.
What fascinates me about The Shining, is the way it captures how frightening adults can be as seen through the eyes of a child. When you first see your parents fight, when they smack you, or you see them drunk, they become different people to you, and that's truly terrifying. You can't contextualise that as a child, and they seem monstrous. The idea of the people you love turning against you, or trying to harm you, is nightmarish and I believe The Shining captures that so well. I'm with Kubrick all the way on this one, making Jack a nice guy turned bad would have lost a good deal of why the film is so effective.
Exactly! I don't think this was "the point" of the movie, but it definitely was one of the ideas driving its making. Among other topics, that was one that informed the film in how it was made. And as every good horror film, it touches on universally relatable human feelings and fears. Like, I had both parents be extremely good parents and non-abusive at all, yet even then, I've seem them get mad-angry enough times to perfectly be able to relate to Danny's predicament, despite his situation being a very extreme one. Hell, I would bet that even kids with god-like perfect emotional control parents have some instinctive consideration of "what if" the adults they are supposed to trust go hay-wire. The film touches on some deep, almost instinctive, parts of most people's psyche and behavior. Not a surprise its a classic. Wells done indeed.
As someone who grew up with alcoholic parents, I can confirm I did feel that way as a child. I could tell something was off but I knew I did NOT like it, whatever it was. I didn't really realize until I got into middle school what was going on.
Damn, I feel this. Actually got triggered last night as Jack changes throughout, because of having had that experience of seeing a parent drunk out of their mind as a child.
The bear scene freaked me out as a kid, and I can still feel it. I think it was the sexual deviation being so goddamn out of place. She was in fear for her life. And that gets flashed at you? And it's so short. By the time you realize what the fuck you saw, it's gone. That moment has stuck with me more than any other scene in any horror movie.
I think it's in her crazed state if mind she picks up on the true energies of the hotel. That there must exist some sort of sexual deviancy amongst the staff or previous occupants. Like taking pyscadelic drugs or being next level paranoid, something you wouldn't usually see in normal state.
It freaked me out as a kid even though I didn’t understand why. The idea of homosexuality never bothered me so still not sure why. In Halloween I always found the scariest moment of the movie to be when Loomis arrives at the hospital and all the patients are loose in the grounds. I didn’t know why that was frightening at the time but obviously insane people wandering unchecked still is scary.
@@adamgordon3163 you are correct. The party was described in the prequel chapters "Before the Play" and in the book. The party that never ended, absorbing people who had died there in violent ways.
Wendy's terror in this scene ( I'm sure Kubrick did not divulge to Duvall) is subconsciously she knew the abuse was going on all along and the hotel is showing her what she already knew deep down.
I always thought that the scene was simply a metaphor for the incest. It was basically a mirror in to her own mind that she had tried to ignore but was suddenly thrust in her face, to her horror.
Perhaps the scariest part about The Shining is you can interpret the movie multiple ways and none of them are wrong. It can be a story about a haunted hotel or child abuse or the treatment of Native Americans. And none of those are wrong. That's really what makes The Shining such a great film.
Or it can be what director or book author say out of own mouth. All media is subjective to anybody even with dumb opinions if quoted can be used, even out of context. It's even simpler with psychological horror. But Kubrick got his rep and I'm sure no movie follows book exactly. Long of short even if content creators put symbolism in stuff, having fiction for sake of it is fun too. Some my fave horror stuff don't over explain stuff or make think or over think and they are still wonderful. Intention, story telling, characters all matter. Now if for example Kubrick did something because author of book had symbolism ok. Otherwise most fandoms are dumb when they over analyze stuff that authors never intended. Now if for example in the story jack ever abused Danny and bear was symbolism, ok that's story universe, not over analysis to stupid point
@@lunarose698 yeah I understand that but this video is about Jack being a sexual abuser. He says that it's even more creepy now that Danny sits on his lap.
@@BornNoU CutiePie said that it was because he thinks that Jack is beginning to go mad. I'm trying to tell him that this video is about Jack being a sexual abuser.
When Jack sees the woman in room 237 in her 'beautiful' form, to me that signifies that Jack, like most child molesters, thinks of the act as being loving and as enjoyable for the victim as it is for him, at least during the act itself when the abuser's arousal is at its height (and especially when he's drunk). When he has the tables turned on him, and the woman changes form and causes him to be on the receiving end of unwanted 'affection' from a grotesque and frightening creature, the scales fall from his eyes and he finally appreciates how hideous and disturbing it was for Danny. There was no 'mutual pleasure' here, just horrifying abuse and degradation that he committed against his defenceless son, and now he knows it. Danny never saw the 'beautiful' woman, only the rotting hag. Jack, on the other hand, was self-deluded into seeing what he wanted to see to make what he did less abhorrent to him in his own mind. The hotel showed him the truth.
I think Stanley Kubrick would be highly amused at all the wholly unproven, very imaginative interpretations and psychobabble ascribed to 'The Shining'. At the end of the day he deliberately made many aspects of the movie ambiguous, to encourage such debate and intrigue. But I doubt even he would have imagined the outlandish lengths that debate would go to!
God it's a load of old shit. I mean this suggests Kubrick told Jack, "look I want you to spit because it is going to in someway symbolize you molesting your son". Really??
What I love about The Shining is how ambiguous and open for interpretation it is. This was a wonderful analysis and adds ever more to the psychological horror of the film.
@@louisstevens6779 you’d agree it’s art though? And whilst I agree it’s most likely about child abuse, and of course the creator has their own interpretation, when it comes to art most the whole thing is open to be interpreted and considered in any which way.
Not sure if I can fully believe Danny was sexually abused, but physically abused definitely. It can still be as traumatic and frightening for a young child to experience physical violence from a parental figure.
I'd honestly prefer it if it was only physical abuse, but aside from the evidence posited here, Stephen King has a very long history of including sexual abuse/assault in his novels. I've read only a handful of his books and they all contained sexual abuse; friends who have read different books than I have also confirm this theme. Furthermore, the acting in this is on point. Watch very closely when he picks his son up in the bedroom: the touch is very slow, deliberate, almost loverly. If someone touched you the way he touches his son in that scene, would you feel good about it? That scene in particular makes me ill.
9:35 No I thought the same. I always thought if Jack wasn't wearing a t-shirt under his robe he would force Danny to suck on his nipples...and that's just the beginning.
I was sexually abused by my extremely controlling and violent father. The parallels between him and Jack are terrifying. The part where he said he would never hurt Danny or Wendy, my father always did that, and then he would abuse us moments later. This is 100% spot on.
I always assumed that scene was just there to shock and weird out the audience (and Wendy), like the hotel ghosts were showing their true bizarre colors and grotesque things that had happened there.
Yeah. Kubrick did change a lot from the book, but I think he just left a little Easter egg in there for the people who read the book. And for the people that didn’t it’s just creepy, and that works because it is a HORROR movie. I don’t agree with this video
@veronica carlson if you can read a phone screen you might be able to read a book if you just get it in a larger font. And, if not, you can always Google your question instead of asking someone to give you a synopsis for an entire novel in a TH-cam comments section haha. If you dont wanna do any of that, maybe just say you dont feel like reading the book and want the plot spoon-fed to you instead lol. Bear in mind the tone in my head as I'm writing this isn't meant to be insulting, I'm just teasing you
This theory states that Jack sexually abused and strangled Danny after the fatherly love scene, then Danny covered it up with a nightmare of entering Room 237. I don't think this is right because of the week day title cards. The fatherly love scene happens on a Monday, but Jack has the nightmare on a Wednesday which would have to be 2 (or more, we don't even know if it's in the same week) days later. Wendy sees the strangling marks on Danny's neck for the first time on the Wednesday that he supposedly got when Jack strangled him on the Monday and according for this to have happened, Wendy would have to have not seen Danny at all for 2 days.
I thought this but am open to correction (not from Mr Grady) I also think the theme of twins and doorways as mirrors comes to play here. The mask has the same starey eyes as Wendy could it be Wendy's twin, Wendy's shadow? I think this scene is Wendy realising she has always been the one putting in the effort while Jack sits back doing nothing. She feels abused as much as Danny.
@Slambo Brand Oatmeal I was about to comment the very same thing. I find Rob's videos intriguing and though provoking, but I think he is way off on this one.
That's why the Shining is so great,it makes sense yet it absolutely makes no sense at the same time,the whole film is just fucking with you,a one never ending disorienting experience.
@@richrelaxes1154 I think Shelly has whined enough about her alleged mistreatment. Nobody else has confirmed her story. Her acting was so bad, the film was nearly cancelled. It is clear Shelly suffered then and now from underlying mental disorders. I sympathize with her, but not to the extent I approve her false narrative.
@Von_Nightmare_ Luciferian Assuming the abuse angle is completely correct, it could be tossed aside so film execs wouldn't notice it. Imagine you put millions into some film, and the guy making it is going for some weird sexual abuse angle. You would demand that shit be removed from the film. Kubrick's film Lolita had lots of stuff removed, and Kubrick apparently said he wouldn't have done the film if he knew how badly they were going to fuck with it. The way Kubrick did this was fascinating. Maybe 5 or 10 years after the film has already been released, someone notices weird things like a playgirl magazine in a hotel lobby. Maybe it means nothing at all, but it generates interest in the film long after initial release.
@Von_Nightmare_ Luciferian But.. he buries it FACE UP. Wouldn't you at least flip it over? Nobody would notice it at the time, with the action being the conversation. And VHS was hardly the greatest medium to even SEE what magazine it was. I don't think you could have seen it on a Betamax which was 10x better quality. And the then-stunning laserdisc might not have shown it, either. I liked laserdisc for the flawless pause function, myself. Very expensive, tho. One disc was more than two full tanks of gas. Like 50 bucks. Those Hollywood people are a bunch of hypocrites, ain't they?
No ...whats kinda creepy is seeing an old east indian man looking through a copy of "Hustler" on the Public Transit...turban an all... Must have been a great article.
Also why was Summer of 42, a movie about a youth who has a sexual affair with an adult, playing on the TV so prominently right before the cringy scene with Jack and Danny? And Jack becomes the abused youth when the young lady becomes an old decaying woman in the bathroom embracing him. Like cycles of abuse
summer of '42 was this young guy that liked the married woman, but her husband was away at war during WW2. They ended up making love, and her husband died in battle.
I love this movie and I always got the feeling that Jack was more than just physically and verbally abusive. Danny's fear of his father always struck me as a child being molested.
Yep. His withdrawn, affectless demeanor and creation of an imaginary friend who serves to protect him are classic signs and symptoms of sexual abuse in children. I haven't watched the entire video yet so I don't know if this guy mentions that or not.
These "signs" can be found in all kinds of children though. Even the doctor couldn't find anything wrong with Danny. It would be a lot different if we found clear signs of abuse or if the doctor suspected something. @@KarlMaldensNose
How Wendy is so repulsed by jacks action that she’s frantically looking for any other explanation to justify Danny’s injury and jumps on the crazy woman story for her own sanity sake is crazy to me
@@paveantelic7876That's clearly a lie made up by Jack just so he could get the job. Wendy is disturbed by the mere mention of cannibalism and is never seen enjoying anything horror related in the movie.
I don’t think this was a “known thing” at the time but Danny is describing trauma triggered dissociation to the doctor, the idea of “Tony” hiding down in his “stomach” is very evocative of dissociative imagery
God, I remember as a kid that dog/bear mask might've scared me more than any single image, and I had no idea why. Maybe just because, it's *so* ugly, there's no way any costume manufacturer would have made it. It has the uncanniness I sometimes see in AI art; of something that looks familiar, yet made by something that's never understood how a human would see its subject matter.
Same. And it had more of an impact because of the whole sexual component that we didn't understand at the time, but knew there was something more and dirty to it. The dead eyes and big teeth really didn't help.
Adding to the theory: when Jack has the nightmare and Wendy comes to his aid, it seems to me that he is diverting the attention and care that Danny should be getting at that moment, being right after he abused him. He knows that Danny just suffered, but he wants the aftercare to be for him, as abusive men tend to play extremes very well, they'll yell at you one second then demand pity and play innocent the next ('real victim'). This type of hot and cold attitude is what keeps their victims around, since it mindmelts you.
Yes, today it's called narcissistic abuse, it is mostly practised by men but there are of course female narcissistic abusers too - as the recent Johnny Depp - Amber Heard trial proved!
It just struck me that the Overlook Hotel is symbolic in itself, especially if this theory is true. Any house where domestic abuse is going on could feel like the Overlook Hotel to the victims, it could just be a normal house in a normal street, but to the victims it could feel like they really are in an isolated mansion in the middle of nowhere, unable to hide or escape, with nobody coming to help.
At 9.13 in this video we see a pic of the hotel on the wall. So as Wendy climbs the stairs ( a Freudian etc symbol of enlightenment / realisation), she literally passes it with the knife in her hand- I think we are meant to read this as the truth dawning on her. Which is not to say I dispute the Wendy Theory- I think all the characters are battling their own demons internally as well as externally and between each other.
I knew I was picking up the theme of sexual abuse; I kept having that sinking feeling while watching the scenes of Danny and Jack interacting together, I just couldn’t piece out the reasons why. Thanks for laying them out!
you know its there but you cant see it clearly. ecatly how it is in the real world for ppl around abusers noticing small pieces but most often dont put it together.
When Jack and Grady are in the red bathroom. "Your son has a very great talent. I don't think you are aware how great it is. But he is attempting to use that very talent against your will." Notice the facial expressions during this next exchange. "Well... he is a very willful boy." "Indeed he is, Mr. Torrance. A very willful boy. A rather... naughty boy, if I may be so bold, sir." "It's his mother. She uh, interferes." "Perhaps they need a good talking to..." ...
The bear's eyes are NOT "trimmed." I was born in 1972, and we had a lot of stuffed animals and dolls with felt circles around the eyes that collapsed and folded in very quickly, and stayed that way. That bear has typical folded felt eyes.
Trimmed or not, it doesn’t really matter. The bear’s eyes are shown in a way that it looks extremely similar to the floor indicators on the elevator, which clearly wasn’t by accident.
To all of the people saying things like “you think kubrick would have jack spit? Or those are just props”. You obviously haven’t seen how he made shelly do the stair scene so many times she was hysterical, while he made jack do it once... Thus actually abusing her to make the film more realistic. Kubrick was an obsessive genius, every part of everything is planned out in his films. So yes he picked those pictures. Three things I believe about the film are 1. danny let jack out of the locked room, children of abusive parents will keep going back to them with the hope of love over and over.. 2. I think halloran knew danny was in trouble, and it just hit him while he laid there that he left the boy... 3. The film is like the yellow title page says, a modern American horror story.. Its about being isolated in an alcoholic, abusive family, alone and afraid, there is no way out. And the only ghosts are in yourself, you see in all the mirrors. I’ve had the displeasure, at my place of work to see children experience states of catatonic paralysis due to abuse ptsd. Kubrick did a scary good job of recreation of those states with dannys character. The film is extremely high level. And i think it may be about more than one topic at the same time. That is to say one scene may have two or more meanings at once, and the film certainly speaks to more than one issue.
@@cowboysunrae You have to read the book. If you want a shortcut to confirm this look online or on youtube. Halloran speaks of "Shinning" as a telepathic gift in the movie, however does not state how because Stanley Kubrik wants the audience to figure out how Jack has this gift. This video shows how Jack has the gift.
Stanley Kubrick had first-hand witnessed child abuse not of himself but of other children at the parties he attended with the rest of the elites. He was exposing what he saw and what he knew the only way he knew how.... in an artistic way.
@@kittykat632 I believe it. Nobody exposes the elites without being killed after a couple of years instead of instantly. I guess Stanley Kubrick was smart about it. If he did it literally it would be a different story. Truth isn't obvious or popular, and only a handful of individuals with know the truth. I would ask you "how do you know?" but it would be wrong to ask you to put yourself out their like that.
it's also called the 'overlook' hotel - Danny's abuse was being over looked (by Wendy and maybe others) . Also, notice the eyes of Jack - notice how his eyes gradually begin to move up ward- imitating what eyes do when one orgasms - it happens in the fatherly scene - honestly Jack's eyes in this scene upwards make it look like he's getting turned on. Also the screams from his worst dream scene to me sound like he is orgasming also in a rough manner - he says it is his 'worst dream' not nightmare - alluding to the fact that it is a fantasy of his and something he is ashamed of.
The Shining has several well, well studied symbolic and literal interpretations. Kubrick was simply a mastermind in his craft. Most movies fail to land just one narrative concisely.
I agree. I am of the opinion that thw shining is his magnum opus and his his most complex and well done film, due to All its hidden details and intricacies
What About Blob I'm kind of in two minds about Kubrick...one is that Kubrick had a lot of time on his hands to put so much effort into all the hidden meanings into his films that most people would never pick up and also the fact that at the same time it's really interesting. He was either into self-satisfaction and he really enjoyed doing it or he was really smart because he knew it was a way to keep his movies or name living on way past their run. No matter what his motives were, it's still pretty cool. It at least gives the viewer more way than one to watch his movies and have fun with, but surely must have been a lot of work for him, but then, if he really enjoyed doing that then it wasn't a lot of work I guess.
Just putting in my two cents: What doesn't make sense to me about this theory is the timeline. The scene with Jack and Danny ended with the day changing to Wednesday, and him having the choking marks in the midday. We see Wendy serves them both breakfast throughout the movie, would she not have seen these scars then? It could be that the sexual assault didn't happen during the scene with Jack and Danny. Perhaps Jack was the one who lured Danny into room 237 and assaulted him at that point. I do believe there is a good foundation for this theory but it is difficult to believe it happened before Danny went into room 237 when he goes in looking put together and comes out with choking scars and disheveled. Also an explanation why Hallorann was scared of room 237 despite this not happening yet is that during the ice cream scene with him and Danny, Hallorann explains that those with the shine can see "things that haven't happened yet." He could have had a bad feeling off of this room because of what was going to be done to Danny.
Oh my God, this is definitely plausible! Something that adds support to it is that Danny is lured into room 237 by someone in there rolling a ball towards him. The only person in the movie we see with a ball is Jack, who bounces it around when he's bored.
@TubeSurferGeek I think people are reading way too much in this movie. I never picked up on any "sexual molestation" by Jack. Also never picked up that the bear was performing oral sex. I read the book a few times and molestation by the father was never written anywhere in the book. I felt the movie was long drawn out mess.
I know I am late to this video, but my mind is seriously blown. I am a survivor of csa/psa and ironically enough my dad used to play this movie a lot as a child. And despite the parallels to my own abuse, it never crossed my mind that Danny was going through the same thing I was. But there was something about the scene where he sits on his father's lap that always made me feel really uncomfortable. Now I know why...and it makes the movie even more horrifying because the real horror is that this happens everyday. Unrelated but related: I believe Tony is Danny's alter who allows Danny to disassociate from the trauma or uncomfortable conditions surrounding him. It's ultimately how he outsmarts his dad in the final hedge-maze scene. Danny even says that Tony lives in his mouth, which is even more suggestive considering what Danny has to endure at the hands of his father. It's likely that Danny has dissociative identity disorder, which many sexual abuse survivors are diagnosed with because we have to create alters in order to survive...alters who give us "superpowers" to cope with our horrors and survive. Danny's alter is Tony, who gives him clairvoyant powers. He even seems older than what he is, which is likely the Tony alter (also victims of psa often "act" older than they are because something so sexually deviant is happening to them--they "mature" quickly). The only way I knew how to cope with it was disassociating and altering.
Wendy probably knew, to a certain extent, about the abuse Danny was going through. She ignored the signs, and now the hotel is showing her the horror of being trapped in a home with an abuser, without someone to protect her... which is the fear Danny had to go through at home
this theory is very stupid. Wendy is overprotecting mother and if this was true Jack would be in jail. Jack broke Danny's hand when he was drunk and Wendy still cannot forgive him, as he can't forgive himself because he loves his son. This movie is not about some hidden abuse. do not look for meaning where there is none, this is not the right path
@@lovelovelove9523 Your post is what is very stupid, the movie makes evident that Wendy suspect the truth, it's crystal clear in the doctor scene... unlike in the book, that it seems is what you are talking about Or maybe you are a clueless assburgers sufferer and can't get a hint even if it hits you in the forehead
Wendy also reads catcher in the rye which has a child being sexually abused. Perhaps she was reading it because she was subconsciously drawn to it's themes
@@RandMontauk Where in the book does it talk about Holden getting molested by his teacher? Btw whats the point of putting a bunch of periods at the end of your statement? I can only assume its because the answer is supposed to be obvious? Yet ive read The Catcher in the Rye 3x and there isnt any mention of Holden being molested by his teacher.
@@RandMontauk Saying theres some hidden sexual abuse going on in Krubrics version of The Shining is one thing but saying theres sexual abuse happening to Holden is something else. Your reading too far into things if you think Holden was sexually abused by his teacher. There is one conversation that you could possible derive this from. Which isnt enough evidence to say that he was being sexually abused in the book. Thats what YOUR taking away from it, not whats actually there. The kids dealing with the death of his little brother and coming to terms with the harsh reality's of life. The same people spouting this theory of sexual abuse are the same ones saying Holden is a pedophile that has a incest attraction to his sister. People can find just about anything if they look hard enough.
Perhaps the biggest clue to the child sex abuse theory is the total lack of sexual chemistry between married couple Jack and Wendy Torrance. We never see them in bed together, of kissing, or acting like they are in love. He is seen eyeing up a couple of young women who pass them in a hotel corridor and has no hesitation in passionately kissing the naked woman in 237. It's clearly an abusive relationship in which Jack is the abuser holding all the power, and Wendy acts like a compliant child, making excuses for his behaviour (hurting Danny's arm, drinking), terrified of upsetting him. Ultimately though she is a hero, saving herself and her child from Jack, their would-be killer.
@@plasticweapon You have it the wrong way round! There is a long-standing fan theory (not mine), that Jack is sexually abusing his son Danny. Fans of 'The Shining' debate the movie's overt and covert (and in my view, sometimes non-existent) themes endlessly, on forums like this. Chief among them is the sex abuse theory. I've heard all kinds of surreal garbage from fans presented as 'evidence' of supposed father-son incest, including that in one scene, Danny wears a sweater with a phallic-shaped rocket on it! That in my view is one hell of a stretch. In an early scene between Wendy and a visiting child therapist she mentions that Jack once accidentally injured Danny's arm, but quickly defends her husband saying it was an accident. So the concept of child abuse is planted near the start of the film - though it's violent and there's no suggestion it's of a sexual nature. I don't personally buy into the child sex abuse theory - and don't believe it was ever in director Stanley Kubrick's mind. My original post was intended to point out what I feel is the best credible evidence of Jack having sexual dysfunction (ie being a child abuser), which is the cold, non-physical nature of his relationship with his wife. It strikes me as surprising that those who passionately argue Jack is sexually abusing Danny, cite random symbolism like a space rocket on a jumper, or the surreal, homo-erotic 'bear costume' scene, to support that theory. I haven't heard sex abuse theorists mention the frosty dynamics of Jack and Wendy's marriage in this regard, which I feel is far more compelling evidence of sinister, underlying family dysfunction/child sex abuse, if you are looking for it.
Why is no one talking about how stupid and harmful this is? The director is basically indicating that gay people are predators.. Ofcourse, like so typical, i'm so sick of seeing this trope f* everywhere. Why do they always have to make ped0s gay in movies? As a gay man who's been taken advantage of as a kid, i don't ever want to hurt kids like that, i never would. Movies like these make people hate us and assume these things about us. It deeply pisses me off
Heroes don't excuse child abuse of any kind. "Oh, silly hubby was just a little too drunk pulling Danny's arm, teehee! He didn't mean to fucking DISLOCATE his shoulder!"
@@tiph3802 As I made clear in my original post, Wendy isn't a hero at the start of the movie - she's a frightened victim, who makes excuses for husband Jack's abuse (as victims under an abuser's control often do). The Wendy we see at the start of The Shining, is a very different character to the Wendy who emerges a triumphant survivor at the close of the story. Wendy ultimately transforms into a hero, after saving herself and her 5-year-old son Danny from the abusive, homicidal Jack. The plot takes Wendy on a journey, from down trodden victim and apologist for Jack, to victor, who with the help of Danny and Dick Halloran (who share the powerful 'Shining' gift), destroys their abuser and achieves a new life, free of him. That's clearly why director Stanley Kubrick made the Wendy character so vulnerable at the start, and pushed for that fragile performance from actress Shelley Duvall. He wanted to achieve dramatic character development, and for her final victory to represent a surprising and satisfying conclusion to her story.
the exact moment jack becomes really nasty and decides to kill them is directly after he asks wendy in a calm voice 'you mean leave the hotel?' and she says 'yes', this is because the hotel (in the abuse aspect of the plot) is simply an ave family home, and she is saying im gonna leave and take your kid with me, this is the exact kind of triggering incident that could lead irl an abusive father and husband to murder his wife and child- you cant / you dont get to leave and humiliate me and take my kid away leaving me alone with nothing but a bottle of booze, i'll kill ya before i ever allow that to happen.
Fellow csa survivor and with parents who has a similar character dynamic, this film always struck a cord with me and I thought it was just because of the domestic abuse themes
Couple things. When danny walks into his parents bedroom in the overlook his father is sitting at the edge of the bed the same as the man who is receiving fellatio. When Danny is brushing his teeth, the bathtub and it's curtain is very reminiscent of the bathtub in room 237. I think the teeth brushing scene is the scene that links it all together. I believe when Danny walks into room 237, it represents what he as the abused experiences. When jack enters the room he goes in to experience sexual pleasure, when looking into the mirror he sees what he is doing as truly horrific, this is what drives him mad.
Totally! The ghosts of the house can make you see things like a young attractive woman who is actually old and disgusting so of course the house made Jack think his son was someone else and had sex
I just came up with a theory that I've never seen before. That doesn't mean that somebody hasn't actually come up with it already-- that's very possible. But I haven't seen it. So if it exists, it can't be very well-known. In this theory, *Danny* is the one who actually conjures up all of the events in his mind as a re-enactment of his father's abuse (and his mother's enabling of the abuse.) It's a revenge fantasy. That's also why his mother is in so much danger until she actually begins to actively work towards protecting Danny. Once she gets out into the maze with him and they escape Jack, the danger is over. In Danny's fantasy, this represents his mother finally believing that the abuse is happening. This theory would explain the scene with Jack's interview in the impossible room, the one that spatially can't exist. We are not looking at reality at any point except for Danny's breakdown scene. This would also explain why Kubrick pulled the film from theaters to cut the ending scene that also takes place in the "real world" (Wendy going to a police station and being unable to find out what happened to Jack.) I've never seen a theory that explains this strange and very expensive decision, and there had to be a good reason for it. Kubrick realized that it completely broke the storytelling device where Danny was the narrator and it all was taking place in his mind.
I was always angry with her watching the movie, but I didn’t know exactly why until I was a mother myself. The way she so nonchalantly talks about her son’s arm being broken by her maniac alcoholic husband was seriously disconcerting.
You know, I got a creepy "did he touch that kid?" feeling during their weird "talk" on the bed the very first time I saw the movie. I was very young at the time (14) and I was kind of upset that such a thought would enter my mind...I wondered if there was something wrong with me for having that impression. But I've never actually been able to watch that one quiet, very gore-less scene all the way through without averting my eyes or deciding that was a good time to go to the kitchen for a Pepsi or something. It squicks me out SO bad.
It's time to sit back and watch the scene, baby Capulet. In Psychology, we use "flooding" to overcome fears. If you sit through the scene, it will become less uncomfortable for you over time.
I’m noticing an interesting pattern in the comments section for this analysis… It seems pretty common for women to be on board with this analysis and the most vehemently opposed have been men.
Gotta add...that bear picture over Danny's bed is very similar to the pictures psychologists use to diagnose disturbed children. In a book called "Big Secrets", I believe, they show a number of these types of illustrations used to diagnose whether children have been molested or not. For example, there is one of a baby bear sleeping with a partly opened door in its room, and clearly the psychologist is wanting to hear the story the child makes up about the picture, like "the baby bear is pretending to be asleep" or "the baby bear heard something funny from the other room and wants to close the door" kind of thing. I should dig up the book, it's really fascinating material. Although I'm sure it's easy to find the original pictures on the Internet, I just don't know what you'd find them under. It was so much easier when we had card catalogs in the library that weren't mixed in with advertisements and clickbait! Let alone the googolplex trying to control what we can and can't see.
i know this comment is 2 years old, but do you happen to know the name of the author of the book you described? it sounds really interesting but i tried looking for a book called “big secrets” but i couldn’t find anything similar to the book you mentioned.
I didn’t think this movie could get more terrifying but you just did it for me. Sexual abuse wasn’t even a thought in my mind watching this film a million times. Well done analysis.
No need to take an immature jab at people who are uncomfortable with the topic of child sexual abuse. It's a pretty normal thing to be uncomfortable with, actually.
It may be so, but it can never be certain. Also curb your hubris, Lord of the Rings are great films in their own right irrespective of their "escapism."
@@WhaleManMan Not when it's Stanley Kubrick. As this video highlights quite well, not a single component of a single frame of his films were unintentional.
As an adult survivor of childhood physical/sexual abuse, I can tell you that Rob is spot on with this analysis, and Kubrick may have been a survivor as well, using this project to express some of the deep-seated trauma that he may have suffered. I'm not sure, otherwise, how he would have been so very knowledgeable about the intricacies of the abuser/victim dynamic. It took me a long time to even begin to understand, but as I grew older I realized that the physical abuse I suffered resulted from the guilt my abuser felt every time he looked at me. Seeing me would trigger this guilt, and shame, and would be instantly replaced by anger. And the only way to deal with the anger was to attack the "source" ... that being me. Of course, I never allowed this to justify my abuser's actions. He did tremendous, and long lasting, psychological harm that took me decades to, even partially, disassemble. But it did help me to understand, just a little, so that I could begin the process of healing.
Thank you for sharind, and I'm sorry you went throught something like that; but, I don't think Kubrick is a survivor. Kubrick himself psychologically abused Wendy's actress to make her perform the character better, to make her stress and trauma seem real on screen. Kubrick is more like an abuser than a victim, if he did this sexual assault symbolisms so well I think it's more related to the fact that he is a perfectionist, and he most likely studied about the matter very well to get it into the film perfectly. He always criticizes violence in his movies, but he himself was violent with his crew so; if he criticizes sexual assault I don't think he is necessarily a survivor
@Critique Everything Thank you for the reply. He paid a long time ago. Got mouthy with a couple younger guys at a bar. They beat the shit the out of him in the parking lot. He stumbled back into the bar and collapsed on the floor mumbling in French (he was French Canadian). The bartender and regulars just figured he passed out again and it took awhile for anyone to call 911. Died in his own blood and piss on a dirty barroom floor. I'd say Karma kicked some ass that day. I just wish I could have been front row with a bag of popcorn.
@@moonchapter2053 Survivors of childhood physical/sexual abuse often end up becoming abusers as well. It's a very common phenomenon. Just because you were abused as a child and even if you understand how psychological mechanisms of this type of trauma work, does not mean you can't be an abuser yourself. That's why Kubrick may have been a survivor AND an abuser.
I never picked up on sexual abuse... abuse yes, but sexual - I didn't, and I find the reactions here interesting. This was a very compelling theory. Last night in Milwaukee, I went and saw a 35mm copy of "The Shining", the whole time I was like - there's the bear pillow and I was like, wait there's a bear costume towards the end of the denouement. I thought it was foreshadowing, but I am loving the more nuanced comments showing up.
I thought the same thing.. shes trying to protect him and not just from the Hotel "ghosts". Theres a reason I believe the Hotel chose Jack perhaps his deviancy and abuse made him a Great "guest" for that Hellhole hotel . the last scene is also giving hints, as is after "finishing" murders or violence, he Succeeds at being "one of the guys" - in the final photo.
I believe Jack has raped Danny in the rear and forced fellatio as symbolised in this grosteque demonic demon. Please protect the children in the power of Archangel Michael
Room 237 is a hotel room, the place where the Torrence’s stay is an in-hotel apartment (which is stated in the beginning of the film when they tour the place) for the winter caretaker and the hotel staff. The rooms are very supposed to look different because but they are same in layout which is what he’s reaching for. At least that’s how I interpreted what he said…but I could be reaching too lol
Also...they weren't? Literally when he shows the comparison in the video...they aren't laid out the same. Sorry I know this video is older, but I just watched it and I have...thoughts. Kubrick was a very intentional director, sure, but that doesn't mean spit=semen. STAAAHP. I think people in the comments have much better articulation of this theory than the narrator.
Kubrick was known for being maniacally methodical and detail oriented. literally 0.0000% of what we can see/hear onscreen of his movies is left to randomness. your analysis is excellent and as such extremely disturbing....
On the contrary, there is an interview where he jokes about people over analyzing his works and how how he tends to be random in some parts of a movie.
I agree, that seems to be the case with ALL of his movies. With that in mind, I've always wondered about the opening car drive in The Shining. It always bugs me that we can clearly see the helicopter's shadow throughout that scene. For being such a stickler on things, why on earth did he leave that in?!
@@lostfanatic6 he wasnt a stickler, he was notoriously sloppy and his reputation these days stems from Shining theories just spiraling in on themselves.
Danny’s wide-eyed expression of terror is one of the most disturbing images in all of cinema. It reminds me of nightmares I’d have when I was really young...at an age when scary things TRULY shake your foundation. It represents the purest form of terror. This place where no other emotion exists...
Such a perfect description of what that feeling was like as a child. I still vividly remember hiding under my blankets with genuine fear for my life after accidentally seeing something scary on the TV as a little kid
The wide eye terror scene mirrors the writers expression in clockwork orange starring Patrick mcghee strongly enough he uses the same make of typewriter,.Jack Nicholson uses when repeatedly typing the old sailor proveb. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy .
Like trying to scream in a nightmare. Full force but no sounds come out. I vividly remember yelling for my mom in the kitchen as I was being dragged away by a monster. This nightmare happened when I was 6 and I think about it all the time.
I noticed Kubrick used the color green as a cue to this theory; the shower curtain when Danny is brushing his teeth and has his episode. Out of place green hallway in the corridors outside the kitchen where Danny is riding his big wheel before he sees the twins, before room 237 there are double doors with small windows like lurking green eyes watching Danny, then of course all out green in the bathroom of room 237, and the doorway in the bear scene is framed in a shade of green and there is a green hue to the wallpaper in the bear room.
Damn...that makes Wendy and Danny even more sad as characters, especially Wendy. Imagine being trapped with this crazy man that sexually abuses your child and the fact that you yourself have had your mind so twisted by this man that you actually defend him to a medical professional. Like... Both Wendy and Danny are more tragic now and this movie just got so much scarier. *shivers*
Same. They famously disagreed and quarreled. This lands are hard subtext that King took VERY personally. I’m fascinated how this movie continues to grow thanks to observant people.
@@ageofdulltron2052 Kubrick never quarreled with King, he simply bought the rights to the book and King wrote a screenplay which Kubrick ignored. The director collaborated with another writer to produce the script that was used. King expressed disapprroval of the final film in 1980 but never belabored the issue-- only fans have kept the "dispute" alive through the decades.
@@MrDominex Though part about King taking it personally might be true. Let's not forget that King put lot of himself in Jack, so adding molestation of own child would be taken very personally by King.
@@AdamMichalMarkowski Kubrick didn't put anything in the movie about sexual molestation. The uneasiness that Danny felt toward his father was about the threat of violence, not sex. People just like to project sexual molestation into stories because it is currently a "hot topic." There are no hidden signals, hints or suggestions of it in "The Shining."
I always looked at the bear scene as nothing more than pure shock to make your skin crawl. That scene happens as the suspense and terror has been building for several minutes toward the end of the film and the camera is panned way out as you're looking at the bear and your staring at it wondering 'what the hell is that?' Kubrick then at just the right moment quickly pans in on it and it scares the living daylights out of you when you see something so bizarre.
Aunt Esther - you have made a very important point. I fully agree that when Wendy sees these two engaging what appears to be fellatio, it is WTF moment where we know what we're seeing is private and meant to happen behind closed doors. But what makes the "bear/dog" costume even more "interesting" is due to the fact that the mouth and jowls of that mask would not allow for proper fellatio. How could anything get past that snaggle-toothed mask....the teeth and fangs cover the opening near that mouth, thus not allowing any body part to be inserted there. The hint in the King novel is when the character of Horace Derwent is seen with one of his "friends" who likes to dress up in a doggie outfit, sit and walk on all fours and generally just be a common garden variety party favor. This is all we have to go on regarding the book.
@@michellemckillop8935 a lot of this seems like a stretch. It's so many stretches 99.999999% of whoever watches the movie wouldn't get it and the .000001% that does just sounds crazy to the rest of us now.
alot of the evidence in this video seems rather reaching, we already know that Jack has abused Danny in the past but im not sold on sexual abuse. at least not based on the evidence shown in this video.
Ironfukr 9 Some of the points he made were interesting, but when he started saying important scenes in the movie were dream sequences, I started to think it was a little ridiculous. Also I'm pretty sure it's a dog costume in the movie too. Bears don't have jowls like that.
67marlins wow...bc it has to be shown in a film for it to have happened in the world of a film...I’m going to be frank with you, this isn’t for you. Why did you even bother watching this video bc you don’t understand subtext or film criticism at all. 100% flex and I give no shits, I studied film criticism (I have a degree in it) and...I again am going to strongly urge you watch something else bc this isn’t for you.
This really cements how different Jack is in the film from how he is in the book. In the book he starts as a sympathetic character that you can have some level of empathy with...he’s a recovering alcoholic who was violent....but he’s trying to be better than that and the haunted hotel destroys him. If this interpretation is true, the Jack in the movie is a repugnant monster from the get go. Which might explain the casting of Jack Nicholson (not saying Nicholson is repugnant) since his version of Jack comes across as “off” from the very first time we see him.
yes, it's really a different and that is probably why Stephen King hated kubrik and his movie. Also because King admitted that his inspiration for the book was actually himself, when he was having bad thoughts on his family because of stress, and what could have become if he wasn't mentally stable unlike Jack Torrance. So probably Kubrik poked at him subconsciously telling King is a child rapist murderer
I remember watching this video for the first time and telling my wife later that after that I thought the underlying theory was both thought provoking but also very disturbing to me and that i’d never be able to watch this film again and just enjoy it as a standard ghost film and sure enough - when I watched it last Halloween I couldn’t get past your theory and i was unable to just accept it anymore as a ghost story - so yeah, you’ve added a layer of insight for me that’s thought orovoking but the while family trapped in a haunted hotel is somehow spoiled for me - it’s stil a horrific horror film of grand Kubrick visuals and ideas And Jacks performance is still as powerful and immediate as it’s ever been to me - Shelley steals many of the scenes by her sheer ‘emotional’ performance - it’s visceral!
@@PetePuebla Oh wow, he's a living person somewhere else communicating with (and controlling) Danny? Didn't even think of that. I had heard that he was an older Danny, which is pretty close to that concept.
@@jimhuber yeah according to the book that Tony is actually Danny from the future. So in essence Tony is another character with the shine ability. It's himself from the future.
I think you're missing the obvious... his sweater changed because its the next day. He talked to his father on a Tuesday, then it cuts to the next day (Wednesday), which is when he goes to Room 237. If this is the case, then his mother would have noticed the marks on his neck on Tuesday evening when she put him to bed. I'm pretty sure there's a ghost in Room 237, as there are obviously supernatural phenomena in this film, such as Danny and Halloran talking telepathically using the Shining. Now this doesn't preclude the possibility Jack's dream included abusing Danny, and that is when he really starts to go crazy, as Danny comes downstairs looking hurt and traumatized, so he starts to question whether it was a dream or whether it really happened. That Playgirl magazine was a good catch, which is why I think the theme is definitely there, whether or not it actually happened
I think you're both right. I think Jack is guilty but I don't think he's guilty for the marks on Danny's neck. I think the Shinning is a supernatural force, and I believe it's protecting Danny. Danny doesn't know he should be afraid of his dad, but he does knows he should be afraid of monsters and ghosts. That's why I believe the Shinning is responsible for the marks. It wasn't hurting Danny, it wanted to frighten him into seeking his Mothers protection.
This explains a lot: 1) why Jack Nicholson whom i love in most of his roles, here makes me uneasy. 2) why he mentions "sperm bank" in the conversation with the bartender. That bit seemed so weirdly placed, especially when discussing your wife and how much uou love your kid. 3) Tony's appearance in Danny's mind and why to me that's one of the most disturbing bits of the movie. 4) what does the black man see in his vision as he is lying in bed. He must have seen smth terrifying /disgusting enough to make him anxious for the child's safety. 5) why Wendy is SO freaked out when she sees the manuscript "all work and no play" and when she sees the bear costume scene. I mean, yea, it's a bit disturbing, especially since there shouldnt be anyone else in the hotel, BUT Wendy's reaction is way too intense. I think she suspected smth from the start, but wasnt sure. Maybe she even saw them in a door frame and only now realised what it was... 6) why the author hated the movie so much. He said "it hurts people". Compared to other horror movies, Shining is quite tame in visuals, BUT the it has a sort of atmosphere that freaks you out more than any gory scene.
This point has probably been made before, but at 13:35 when Danny enters the room and Jack along with Jack's image in the mirror create the effect that Danny is entering hostile territory, as though he is outnumbered.
This is why he lost all credibility by saying this with his parternalizing attitude towards people watching this video, like _"Listen to me. Listen to my monotone and calm voice. You must accept everything I say... or just leave because I know better than you, based on my personal opinion and feelings, and because I don't care about your opinion."_ . He's a pretentious imbecile with his maniac compulsive theories. And listen to his hilarious "observation" so evident for everyone about the bear costume at 17:50
I've seen The Shining dozens of times and I never even thought of the elevator floor dials representing terrified eyes and the door being a mouth opening. That's a great observation.
@Jagar Tharn That is always possible except a director like Kubrick looks at absolutely every detail of a close shot like that. There is every possibility he didn't care, every possibility it was an artistic choice, and every possibility it was a happy accident he saw in the camera.
Kubriks attention to detail is legendary. The eye being crumpled would have been 100% intentional. Read up on him www.itsnicethat.com/features/stanley-kubrick-the-exhibition-the-design-museum-obsession-and-creativity-film-230419
Movies have pacing. Deliberately edited scenes can be left on the cutting room floor because the director wanted a specific scene to appear next to another.
I'm inclined to say the theory is true, the father was abusive towards him, maybe even sexually. But most of the 'evidence' given seems far fetched and patently false projections by the author here. So I agree with his premise I just think he got to his conclusion the wrong way.
More than far fetched. I think this abuse. Diversion perversion. Is more of a rorschack test. I ve seen the movie several times and all i saw was a kid wearing a t shirt before the narrator pointed out the apollo 11 aspect. And i think the penis aimed at the kid s mouth is REALLY seeing what he wants to see. WHICH IS A TOPIC THIS GUY SHOULD take up with a psychiatrist not a youtube audience. Imagine some guy you know. A relative. A neighbour. A co worker telling you your son s apollo 11 t shirt looks like a penis aimed at your son s mouth. After you finished hitting the guy you d tell him if you ever catch him near your son again. you re gonna
Let's also not forget that this movie that is about revealing sins of the past - whether they be generally historical or deeply personal - takes place at the OVERLOOK Hotel. Overlook. IE ignore. Not only is the film about things that were overlooked, it is also composed in such a way as to make the audience overlook what is actually going on. On its face, The Shining is a well-made, but clichéed ghost story. But look a little deeper - IE dig into what you overlooked - and much more is revealed. Indeed, nearly everything this movie has to say is so obtuse that you can only really get a grasp of it through careful study of the film. It was deliberate. The film is designed to make you overlook everything that matters. Do you get it now?
Very interesting and great catch! I honestly always thought of the "Overlook" Hotel as referencing the psychic, all-knowing, eye in the sky, omniscience of the hotel and some of the people it attracts, especially when Jack appears to be watching Wendy and Danny on a model of the hedge maze in the Colorado Lounge. But "overlook"' as in not seeing it also makes a lot of sense. That's AMAZING!!! Wow, do I feel dumb! I've watched this movie dozens of times, and read the book. Honestly, I never thought of it like that before. Great catch!!!
Thus the corollary metaphor of "the shining". In as much the "evil" can be broken down into dark supernatural entities and sins of the past (Native American abuse, child abuse, etc), so can the "good": not just the King characters with special powers but also the "shine" of knowledge and willingness to open heart and mind. This duality is quite characteristic of not just King but also Kubrick (see the eponymous Eyes Wide Shut), as an example between those willing to "join together to close their eyes on their sins" vs those willing to confront and expose conspirators, and their inevitable battle. It is that pursuit of knowledge and confrontation that is to "shine"- to bring light to the truth and be willing to sacrifice ourselves in that action.
Do u mean like overlooking the fact that Indians were massacred and no one really seems to care in America? Or possibly the acts of child rape and stuff is supposed to abundantly be happening and ppl overlook it, things like child sex rings? Especially in Hollywood.
It's the traces of people and things that happened that Halloran explained to Danny. Danny's Shining gift is powerful but the abuse IMHO is manifesting unwittingly through Danny. Halloran told Danny that he has to shut off the bad things by warning him about Room 237-emphasizing that there's "nothing in there". Something really bad happened in there and Danny needs to learn to how to shut out bad traces because he can manifest them. Hallorann had a good teacher and childhood in the form of his grandma but Danny had an abusive childhood.
In the “fatherly love scene” he wore dark blue/black pants, and on the chair in front of the mirror, there was a pair of light blue jeans. When Jack stood up in the dream scene, he was wearing a different pair of jeans... the same ones that were on the chair in front of the mirror, conveniently placed in view. Also the bear scene could have been Danny subconsciously shining and giving his mom the vision as a way to tell her what happened.
It seems clear enough to me from Nicholson's performance, especially in the scene between Jack and Danny on the bed, that Nicholson himself absolutely believed Jack was about the molest Danny. You can see it in his eyes, hear it in his voice.
I had zero clue Danny was sexually abused, when I watched this movie at 10 years old. I just recently watched the whole movie again, and I'm 34 now. It shows little hints of it. But after watching this video it becomes very clear. The little hints you bring up are on point.
he wasn't sexually abused.... i don't agree with your theory and everyone who commented here. It looks like nobody has watched the film. Main theme of this film is not about abuse lol. Wendy overprotect her son Danny and she do not trust much Jack after the incident with Danny's broken hand. And Jack regrets it every day, he loves his son and he won't let a "single hair fall from his head". And the bear costume is simple: the bear symbolyze Russia who sucks off to Uncle Sam (USA), meaning Russia has lost in the cold war. Your theory is very stupid. This movie was made in the 80's, not woke 2015-2020
@@lovelovelove9523 I agree that I don’t think it was a main point. But bro it could’ve happen. The point of the movie is evil never dies. It’s a cycle of evil and death that will continue to cycle. The fact that jack is evil incarnate he could have molested him.
When you consider that Danny talks to Tony, which is manifested as a wiggly finger that hides in his mouth, it is quite clear what Kubrick is telling you.
The issue of Tony is interesting. Tony is telling Danny what is going to happen and Danny can see the horrors his father is doing without being there. Is Tony a supernatural connection to his father in some way?
@@allenho2778 Kubrick kept the 'shell' of the Stephen Kings' novel in the movie, one of the things he kept was Tony. Anthony is Danny's middle name and he is Danny in the future. Tony's presence is explained more in detail at the end of the book.
@@allenho2778 That is because Kubrick couldn't stick to the plot. He missed crucial parts and kind of went on a tangent. Read the book. Tony is Danny from the future.
@Kenji Polk Audio Just watched it for the second time with my brother a dad yesterday. It was even more enjoyable than the first time watching alone. It's a masterpiece to me.
@@faraazalarakhia4131 its a great movie but Kubrick was very sloppy. he wasnt nearly as detail-obsessed as people think, he just had impossibly high standards for his actors. ffs, the intro has the helicopter shadow.
11:55 Sleeps off his drunkenness???!!! That interaction with Lloyd and the drinking was a hallucination or more likely a dream. When Wendy found him in the ballroom, he was sitting there, no drink, no bottles at the bar. And he didn't react until Wendy physically moved him, implying that he was indeed, asleep until that moment. In the original cut of the film, it was established that Jack is a recovering alcoholic and there was even a conversation where Ullman said that all the liquor is removed from the premises. So there's no way he physically had those drinks, and it can't even be chalked up to alcoholic withdrawal (*as some other blogs suggest) since TWICE in the film, it's established that Jack hadn't had a drop in 5 months. Look, I can appreciate the depth of your analysis, but some of your theories just don't wash. Perhaps if all you've ever watched is the European cut of the film, more of it makes sense, but in the original 144 minute release (the one you reference here), there's just too much information here that contradicts your conclusions.
Kubrick was very fond of unannounced dreams and reveries. He hides his clues very well, so we, the audience are not aware we are watching a dream or an imagination.
Thank you! All this video is only reaching. This is exactly what is logical proof enough to debunk this bull crap of a theory. This guy is putting in his own narrative and he just wants others to believe so badly that he even badmouths LOTR. All for the clout and views. What a joke this guy is. No one should believe this and there is no reason to believe it anyways.
Its shown that the ghosts of the hotel can affect the physical world when grady lets jack out of the freezer, so why couldn’t jack be physically drunk? He acts like he is
I watched it for the first time, and what I picked up from the film was that it was attempting to explain how domestic violence arises in family settings. I couldn't help but notice how much Jack resorted to blaming his family for the lack of enjoyment in his life. The move to the caretaker role seems to be in response to him thinking he's bigger than teaching, as he shares in the interview, that he is wanting more out of his life. His version of more is to be a successful writer, to drink at leisure, to be secluded from his family but to be a life of the party at the same time. His violence that he afflicts on his wife and children, both physical and sexual, manifests from blaming his family for not having the life that he has always wanted. It's only when work is interrupted, the party stops and his family needs his attention (the sinister moment where Danny sits on Jack's lap) that's when the violence comes to surface. I loved your analysis. Absolutely not a fan of talking about moon landings lol.
I think you nailed it... Jack expected to be glamorous and successful, like the rich and famous who used to party at the hotel ("all the best people" as Halloran puts it) but instead he turned out to be a nobody -- the janitor who cleans up after the party -- and he can't help lashing out at his family in resentment. The woman in 237 represents this massively disappointing contrast between the fantasy Jack expected and the reality he got. Danny can "see" how this disappointment makes Jack a dangerous abuser they must escape. Wendy tries to "overlook" this and pretend that everything is OK, but the evidence of Jack physically abusing Danny again (the throat bruises) finally forces her to acknowledge the evil in her husband, and also in the world (hence her vision of the bear-costume moment). I don't think the movie intended to lean heavily on supposed hints of sexual abuse... the openly acknowledged physical and emotional abuse provides more than enough horror.
I feel a bit of the same way. While most super films are in fact, spectacles, Christopher Nolan's Bat-Man series is incredible. And the LOTR is nothing short of the story of Western Civilization seen through a fantasy film. But in either case, I can watch those movies over and over and know when I pop them in my disc player, I can sink back in my chair for a relaxing good time. I can't say the same for movies about child sexual abuse.
I noticed that when he was brushing his teeth there is the number 42 on Danny’s shirt, and when Wendy and Danny are watching a movie it’s The Summer of ‘42 which is about a boy that has sex with an older widow. That’s me grasping at straws here and trying to seem smart lol, but I thought that was a weird coincidence. Great video, definitely makes the movie even creepier!
It is fun to think about this stuff. One thing I wish he would talk about is when Jack leaves the room with the old hag the lights in the hallway are off and he walks backward. I was thinking maybe if it is Dannys dream maybe somehow he is thinking about how he will escape in the maze and that is why the lights are off? . I am probably over thinking it.
A few people have raised a good point about the eyes on the teddy pillow actually being folded up, not "trimmed" as I'd put it. Looking at it again I think they're right. At the same time it doesn't necessarily debunk the comparison with the elevator dial eyes. Note that the fold is still at the convenient angle to match the dials (there aren't two folds from diff directions or a fold only from the top downward or from one side). And when you put that in context with all the other significant props in the same set like the goofy figure and Wendy dressed in exactly the same colour combo plus the view of the bathroom shower curtain with rubber ducky sneakily peaking out, the chances of the pillow elevator eye comparison being deliberate remain a strong possibility. Thanks to those who gave that observation though.
In addition, triggered Batman and LOTR fans ... I offer no apologies! Hahaha
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Collative Learning thanks for the reply to my comments! As we know, nothing can be entirely ruled out when it comes to Kubrick. That's what makes all his work endlessly intriguing. What's your opinion regarding my opinion about the bear references having a role in symbolizing the predatory nature of the Overlook and the Torrence family dynamic. Outside of the sexual abuse angle, which may be there, I've made some other observations. Bears are notorious for killing and CONSUMING their own young. It is especially prevalent among males but females will also at times commit cannibalism of their own young. That may help in part to explain the often discussed final scene of the close up photo of Jack. It appears to me that the wall containing the photos is located in the center of the hotel. Somewhat like the hotel's belly. There's a lot more that hints at this idea but I've rambled on long enough. Thanks again. Love your work Oliver!
Oh I see some sharpseers here. 🤓👍
The giant gleaming knife Wendy carries (and which jerkily wobbles in her hand like an excited penis) could also be a rather prominent phallic symbol, and one which quite plainly signifies the violence of sexual assault, not to speak of the numerous candles on all the chandeliers in the room where Jack writes, as does the giant phallic-like motif on the Indian tapestry (to the right when Danny enters), a veritable plethora of firm, erect white cocks, all of which sharply stand out in the wide shot as Danny walks into the room.
Rob, is there a jumper jump between the apollo 11 jumper and the mickey mouse jumper in the scene your talking about around the 10 minute mark in this video?
dig your videos they're amazing.
forget that i hadn't watched the video till the end!
One comment is wrong here: Stanley did not want any music during the Jack/Danny bedroom scene. The use of the Bartok here was in fact my idea, and as music editor I laid it as 'an optional extra'. Fortunately, when Stanley saw it in the dubbing theatre, he liked it, and kept it.
Nice choice, Gordon. In fact, awesome job on the entire score. :)
WOW why is this comment not higher rated? If your account is real, then your comment is pretty cool to come across. Thank you for posting AND for your work on the movie!
@@KoH4711 Its simple. This isn't the real Gordon Stainforth lol.
@Life is Pain 4 comments is interacting often?
Lie lie lie if you want using a name that is not yours. If you he than write a book or do a interview about your work. I want to believe it but so many people lie lie lie.
I think that kids acting is highly underrated for a 6 yr old. He had no clue about the movie and still gave a convincing performance.
So much better than haley, Joel Osment in the sixth sense, even though he gets a ton of recognition for it, I thought the whole thing was completely forced and unnatural. Like he was trying to act like an adult, but he couldn’t really pull it off so it was just awkward.
This is a tour de force of a performance by a child.
Agreed, Danny Lloyd's performance (then aged just 6 - 7 years), is superb. He was totally authentic, natural and believable in the leading role, and contributed immeasurably to the 1980 movie's success and longevity.
In stark contrast, the experienced child actor Courtland Mead who played Danny in the 1997 TV mini series 'The Shining' was - like the rest of that Stephen King production - lousy!
I've always wondered how many takes did Danny have to do? I swear that scene wear he looks so terrified and yells I was 6 years old watching that. That primal mortal scream of Danny's scared the crap out of me.
I thought it was even worse than Tommy Wiseau's in that joke of a movie 'The Room'
@@Unicornsandufos Kubrick would have made it a game for Danny Lloyd to make scary faces. Then he dubbed in a scream during post-production.
Someone told me the shining was a bad movie.
I.....corrected them
Did you give them a good talking to? Or, perhaps a bit more???
Lmao! Love what you did there. :)
personally i don't like it
it's more comedic to me than scary
@@adrianpaul1985 its a bit dated as it was made almost 40 years ago
Windwalker76 it is but I feel as though if it was remade then it would not be near as good. Especially because they would most likely not have Jack Nicholson’s acting because he is much older.
This video made me realize what if the bear scene symbolized Wendy walking in and actually witnessing the abuse herself. Shes so in denial so afraid that she cant even SEE her son and husband so her mind sees the bear and the man....
That makes so much sense.
Just to be clear, do you think she caught him right in that moment when she was running around with the knife? If so, why would Jack choose that moment to abuse Danny? And with the door open at that.
@@owie4070 No not at that exact moment. That moment when Jack has gone crazy and his personality has been revealed its like all the demons and ghosts of their relationship has also manifested into something in the house. Jacks guilt is seen when he kisses the ugly lady. So i figured this weird scene is almost like a ptsd episode where in the past this is what happened but shes in denial that her mind cant comprehend it being her husband and son. Psychologically the brain tries to forget and replaces memories when theyre unpleasant. thats kind of what im getting at u know?
It's so weird that despite all the horror and psychic terror going on in this movie, the costumed bear scene is what creeps my out the most. If you want to induce fear, you don't need blood: just bring out the most ancient fear in us, like some monster crawling out right before our eyes. I'm sure japanese horror makers also know this...also the camera movement.
Doğru. O ayı oğlu yataktaki adam da kocası. Ne kadar dehşet verici bir sahne.
It is interesting that Wendy does not experience any visions or supernatural activity from the hotel until this scene.
She's got her head buried in the sand... she's blind until she's forced to wake up.
Pedro Hernandez yeah, it is on netflix indeed
She doesnt see it cause she doesnt have the 'shining' Danny gets it from his father! But did this guy read the book everything was explained n it's not all about sex and sexual abuse!?!?
He points out in the video that Kubrick only used the book and it's story as a general framework and jumping off point. King himself has complained over the years about how much was changed in the transition from novel to film, even going so far as to make a TV miniseries at one point in time that was more faithful to his book, though not nearly as good as Kubrick's movie
@@earlpipe9713 I agree with everything you said, I've read the book many many times and seen both movie/mini series as well plus I've seen so many interviews with him and that's exactly what he says! He hated that version but I've read not too long ago he has said he can now appreciate it for what it is! But my comment was about it not being about sex n abuse all through it, I personally think if a person were to have read the book they would prob not think it's about sex n abuse cause the book explains everything much better!
The bear freaks me out more than anything I don't know why
Agreed its something about the compilation of how big it is, the way it looks at the camera and the eyes
It's terrifying. I agree. Also not sure why. Pure evil?
It’s scary because it came out of nowhere and hadn’t been mentioned after that. I had that same feeling about the bathroom scene for same reasons.
Maybe all these small details he talks about register subconsciously. That's part of the magic of a real artist like Kubrick
I know what you mean. I read the book and it is a dog costume there but yeah it was only described in one little paragraph but it sent chills down my spine and I remember it more clearly than the action going on or even the end. I knew it was gonna be terrifying in the film and I was not disappointed
11:21 this is my favorite moment in the whole movie. He literally spent the last 20 minutes talking to an imaginary bartender and still his first words to Wendy are “... Are you out of your fucking mind?” 😂 His face too
You’d be surprised.
The Wendy theory is pretty sound imo.
@@RardTangler I can't unsee the Wendy Theory since watching it. This makes the entire movie make so much sense.
@@RardTangler please what’s the wendy theory?
@@fearless6734 do you want the link or explanation?
@@ExpensiveBruh explanation please
18:00 Along the lines of the theme, look how horrified Wendy looks as if she's catching Jack in the act with her son and suddenly realizing the full extent and nature of Danny's abuse. Also, Jack isn't going to kill them simply because he's gone insane, he's going to kill them because he got caught and has to prevent them turning him in.
I think moreso he wants to kill them to remove the evidence to himself, he has some guilt towards perverting his relationship with his son but his solution is to purify it by killing the family.
@@disappointedoptimist255 I agree that he does feel guilty about it -I guess I could have stopped after the first sentence. In any event, I think the horror she is expressing is that of catching Jack in the act and not of seeing ghosts.
Idk.... I mean she could just as easily been horrified because she's seeing a two weird men engaging in sexual acts in one of the rooms of a hotel she and her family are supposed to be alone in. Not to mention the creepy way they stare at her.
Also I just remembered that young children with a history of repeated sexual/physical abuse are the most likely to have Dissociative Identity Disorder, which causes multiple personalities. Danny talks to “Tony” quite a lot, maybe to deal with his abuse (Tony acts as his protector just like in DID, a personality can act as a protector to cope). This is probably a stretch because of how old the movie is. But hey I thought it was cool
You're right
Tony is Danny's ultimate protector. Read my other comment about that I believe there is even more to Danny being molested, the last part of the movie is how Danny plans, baites (after being molested, not by allowing himself to be molested) his father to finally kill his father. But you have to tead my comment on the main comment page. I am not retyping it.
Tony is part of Danny's Shine, and is in the books revealed to be Danny from the future, using the Shine to help young Danny and his mother survive the events at the Overlook Hotel. Before I finished the book I agreed with your theory on Danny having some form of disassociative trauma though.
Film theory did a vid on how kids who can shine were all abused
@@saarebas. the movie and book have different details. So I think it’s best to consider them separately
When praising Stanley Kubrick don't forget that he was horribly abusive to Shelley Duvall and she never got any credit for her amazing performance.
Panda Power that's true but she is ugly af
@@joshuaquinn1986 she's also a really creative songwriter
Swanky Butters jack Nicholason is cute her fuking teeth freaked me out
Oh, come on...cry us a river...he was creating one of the greatest masterpieces in film history! and he's alleged "abuse" , is what actually go that amazing performance out of Duvall. "The Shining" will always be the highlight of her career and long after she will be gone, she will still be remembered for it.
veilofreality if you see behind the scenes he did treat her like shit no offense but the scene where she hits him with the bat did over 300 takes just because and she got sick from the weather and toke over 6 years to edit never went into detail on his work or why or how i fuking lov this movie but not explaining himself defeats the purpose of our thoughts
That makes sence! The name of the hotel is the overlook. The mom overlooked all the signs of his abuse. When the psychologist was talking to Danny the mom interrupted and made excuses for his imaginary friend. She overlooked hotel being an indian burial, people being killed there, them being isolated for months and she overlooked dannys abuse believing it was the woman in the tub who choked her son instead of her husband. The mirrors symbolize having to look at yourself and deal with your eternal demons.
In support of this, Jack is outwardly friendly to strangers, but cold and distant to his own wife ( I recognize this abusive behavior trait from my own father). When Wendy and Danny are present together in his company, he's cold to both of them. During the tour, Jack would hardly respond to anything Wendy said. But when Danny is alone with Jack, there's a completely different demeanor from Jack towards Danny. Wendy subtly knows this abuse is happening, but can't confront it. Her talk with the child psychiatrist is full of denial; to the point the psychiatrist has a "WTF?!" look the whole time. The tour scenes are full of subtle physical indicators. When the hotel staff brings in Danny who got lost outside during the tour, Jack is the first to warmly greet Danny, but doesn't change his stance (trying to not be obvious of too much affection), Wendy quickly asks Danny to join her and wraps her arms around him, putting distance between father and son while Jack stares at Danny. Jack's eyes often linger on Danny in scenes. Wendy's character is full of submissive and survival behavior. She regularly keeps side eyes on people, her conversations with strangers are self-deprecating (she says she'll get lost in the hotel, she doesn't know how to use the kitchen), and her spoken voice is softer than other character's while her talking points are easy and inoffensive responses. The only time she's assertive, is when Hallorann calls Danny, "Doc", which she immediately identifies as a red flag of being too familiar.
Very insightful! Kubrick wanted her to be authentic in her acting so he abused and demeaned her during the filming
"No. Nothing serious. Just a little problem with the ol' sperm bank upstairs. Nothing I can't handle, though, Lloyd. Thanks."
What fascinates me about The Shining, is the way it captures how frightening adults can be as seen through the eyes of a child. When you first see your parents fight, when they smack you, or you see them drunk, they become different people to you, and that's truly terrifying. You can't contextualise that as a child, and they seem monstrous. The idea of the people you love turning against you, or trying to harm you, is nightmarish and I believe The Shining captures that so well. I'm with Kubrick all the way on this one, making Jack a nice guy turned bad would have lost a good deal of why the film is so effective.
I really love your takeaway from the movie
Exactly! I don't think this was "the point" of the movie, but it definitely was one of the ideas driving its making. Among other topics, that was one that informed the film in how it was made. And as every good horror film, it touches on universally relatable human feelings and fears. Like, I had both parents be extremely good parents and non-abusive at all, yet even then, I've seem them get mad-angry enough times to perfectly be able to relate to Danny's predicament, despite his situation being a very extreme one. Hell, I would bet that even kids with god-like perfect emotional control parents have some instinctive consideration of "what if" the adults they are supposed to trust go hay-wire. The film touches on some deep, almost instinctive, parts of most people's psyche and behavior. Not a surprise its a classic. Wells done indeed.
As someone who grew up with alcoholic parents, I can confirm I did feel that way as a child. I could tell something was off but I knew I did NOT like it, whatever it was. I didn't really realize until I got into middle school what was going on.
Yeah that's an interesting insight ...my father was a drinker and at times he seemed monstrous tho I loved him dearly
Damn, I feel this. Actually got triggered last night as Jack changes throughout, because of having had that experience of seeing a parent drunk out of their mind as a child.
The bear scene freaked me out as a kid, and I can still feel it. I think it was the sexual deviation being so goddamn out of place. She was in fear for her life. And that gets flashed at you? And it's so short. By the time you realize what the fuck you saw, it's gone. That moment has stuck with me more than any other scene in any horror movie.
I think it's in her crazed state if mind she picks up on the true energies of the hotel. That there must exist some sort of sexual deviancy amongst the staff or previous occupants. Like taking pyscadelic drugs or being next level paranoid, something you wouldn't usually see in normal state.
Bro you watched this when you were a kid?!?
@Blueberry they didn't let me. I was 11 spending a night with my friends.
It freaked me out as a kid even though I didn’t understand why. The idea of homosexuality never bothered me so still not sure why. In Halloween I always found the scariest moment of the movie to be when Loomis arrives at the hospital and all the patients are loose in the grounds. I didn’t know why that was frightening at the time but obviously insane people wandering unchecked still is scary.
@@adamgordon3163 you are correct. The party was described in the prequel chapters "Before the Play" and in the book. The party that never ended, absorbing people who had died there in violent ways.
Wendy's terror in this scene ( I'm sure Kubrick did not divulge to Duvall) is subconsciously she knew the abuse was going on all along and the hotel is showing her what she already knew deep down.
I always thought that the scene was simply a metaphor for the incest. It was basically a mirror in to her own mind that she had tried to ignore but was suddenly thrust in her face, to her horror.
@@DIVISIONINCISION Yes, very well said
Wendy's insanity, not her terror.
Or it could just be the horror that anyone would have seeing this go on in a hotel you thought you were alone in.
@@sabrinashelton1997 I bet you're fun at parties
Perhaps the scariest part about The Shining is you can interpret the movie multiple ways and none of them are wrong. It can be a story about a haunted hotel or child abuse or the treatment of Native Americans. And none of those are wrong. That's really what makes The Shining such a great film.
Or it can be what director or book author say out of own mouth. All media is subjective to anybody even with dumb opinions if quoted can be used, even out of context. It's even simpler with psychological horror. But Kubrick got his rep and I'm sure no movie follows book exactly. Long of short even if content creators put symbolism in stuff, having fiction for sake of it is fun too. Some my fave horror stuff don't over explain stuff or make think or over think and they are still wonderful. Intention, story telling, characters all matter. Now if for example Kubrick did something because author of book had symbolism ok. Otherwise most fandoms are dumb when they over analyze stuff that authors never intended. Now if for example in the story jack ever abused Danny and bear was symbolism, ok that's story universe, not over analysis to stupid point
I always did find that scene with Danny on Jack's lap extremely creepy. It's even more so now.
Do you have a son? Never had your son sit on your lap?
@@PetePuebla I think he means of how it's done. You can tell that Jack's starting to go mad during this scene.
@@lunarose698 yeah I understand that but this video is about Jack being a sexual abuser. He says that it's even more creepy now that Danny sits on his lap.
Pete Puebla he said it’s even more creepy now that the idea of jack as a sexual abuser was presented by this video
@@BornNoU CutiePie said that it was because he thinks that Jack is beginning to go mad. I'm trying to tell him that this video is about Jack being a sexual abuser.
When Jack sees the woman in room 237 in her 'beautiful' form, to me that signifies that Jack, like most child molesters, thinks of the act as being loving and as enjoyable for the victim as it is for him, at least during the act itself when the abuser's arousal is at its height (and especially when he's drunk). When he has the tables turned on him, and the woman changes form and causes him to be on the receiving end of unwanted 'affection' from a grotesque and frightening creature, the scales fall from his eyes and he finally appreciates how hideous and disturbing it was for Danny. There was no 'mutual pleasure' here, just horrifying abuse and degradation that he committed against his defenceless son, and now he knows it. Danny never saw the 'beautiful' woman, only the rotting hag. Jack, on the other hand, was self-deluded into seeing what he wanted to see to make what he did less abhorrent to him in his own mind. The hotel showed him the truth.
Thanks for sharing that - it strikes me as true and very insightful!
Nicely put. Thank you.
You must be projecting pal
@@crow_g1639 ?????
I think Stanley Kubrick would be highly amused at all the wholly unproven, very imaginative interpretations and psychobabble ascribed to 'The Shining'.
At the end of the day he deliberately made many aspects of the movie ambiguous, to encourage such debate and intrigue. But I doubt even he would have imagined the outlandish lengths that debate would go to!
Makes the film even more terrifying.
Aw shit dude it's you, love your videos
God it's a load of old shit. I mean this suggests Kubrick told Jack, "look I want you to spit because it is going to in someway symbolize you molesting your son". Really??
how scary is this fim?
kubrick would tell him to spit, probably for dramatization if not wanting to expose the meaning
and there is a part danny 'drools' too, i believe when jack is in 237 facing what he has done, as well as the already mentioned toothpaste
What I love about The Shining is how ambiguous and open for interpretation it is. This was a wonderful analysis and adds ever more to the psychological horror of the film.
agreed. but this guy think his thoughts on thematter are the ONLY correct ones
It is patently about child abuse. There is no other interpretation.
@@louisstevens6779 you’d agree it’s art though? And whilst I agree it’s most likely about child abuse, and of course the creator has their own interpretation, when it comes to art most the whole thing is open to be interpreted and considered in any which way.
@@louisstevens6779there’s 4 different interpretations.
Not sure if I can fully believe Danny was sexually abused, but physically abused definitely. It can still be as traumatic and frightening for a young child to experience physical violence from a parental figure.
nope, he was sexually abused there was too many hints proving said theory.
I'd honestly prefer it if it was only physical abuse, but aside from the evidence posited here, Stephen King has a very long history of including sexual abuse/assault in his novels. I've read only a handful of his books and they all contained sexual abuse; friends who have read different books than I have also confirm this theme. Furthermore, the acting in this is on point. Watch very closely when he picks his son up in the bedroom: the touch is very slow, deliberate, almost loverly. If someone touched you the way he touches his son in that scene, would you feel good about it? That scene in particular makes me ill.
9:35 No I thought the same. I always thought if Jack wasn't wearing a t-shirt under his robe he would force Danny to suck on his nipples...and that's just the beginning.
Right? So icky.
@@mrcokez1 You cant state an interpretation as fact. I agree, there are many sexual themes surrounding the child. The abuse was most likely sexual.
I was sexually abused by my extremely controlling and violent father. The parallels between him and Jack are terrifying. The part where he said he would never hurt Danny or Wendy, my father always did that, and then he would abuse us moments later.
This is 100% spot on.
I'm so sorry you went through that..big hugs 💖💖💖
Super sorry to hear you went through that, nobody should have to experience that kind of trauma
Your father must not be well. It wasn't your fault.
Sounds like he is a narcissistic psychopath
Sorry to hear that 😣
I always assumed that scene was just there to shock and weird out the audience (and Wendy), like the hotel ghosts were showing their true bizarre colors and grotesque things that had happened there.
That is partly the case. LOL Read the entire book (if you haven't already) to find out all the backstory behind this scene.
Brian:. I agree with you.
I agree. THIS theory was interesting but a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge reach in my honest opinion.
Yeah. Kubrick did change a lot from the book, but I think he just left a little Easter egg in there for the people who read the book. And for the people that didn’t it’s just creepy, and that works because it is a HORROR movie. I don’t agree with this video
@veronica carlson if you can read a phone screen you might be able to read a book if you just get it in a larger font. And, if not, you can always Google your question instead of asking someone to give you a synopsis for an entire novel in a TH-cam comments section haha.
If you dont wanna do any of that, maybe just say you dont feel like reading the book and want the plot spoon-fed to you instead lol.
Bear in mind the tone in my head as I'm writing this isn't meant to be insulting, I'm just teasing you
This theory states that Jack sexually abused and strangled Danny after the fatherly love scene, then Danny covered it up with a nightmare of entering Room 237. I don't think this is right because of the week day title cards. The fatherly love scene happens on a Monday, but Jack has the nightmare on a Wednesday which would have to be 2 (or more, we don't even know if it's in the same week) days later. Wendy sees the strangling marks on Danny's neck for the first time on the Wednesday that he supposedly got when Jack strangled him on the Monday and according for this to have happened, Wendy would have to have not seen Danny at all for 2 days.
I thought this but am open to correction (not from Mr Grady) I also think the theme of twins and doorways as mirrors comes to play here. The mask has the same starey eyes as Wendy could it be Wendy's twin, Wendy's shadow? I think this scene is Wendy realising she has always been the one putting in the effort while Jack sits back doing nothing. She feels abused as much as Danny.
I think he meant after that scene, on that Wednesday day
@Slambo Brand Oatmeal I was about to comment the very same thing. I find Rob's videos intriguing and though provoking, but I think he is way off on this one.
That's why the Shining is so great,it makes sense yet it absolutely makes no sense at the same time,the whole film is just fucking with you,a one never ending disorienting experience.
The most amazing thing is how Kubrick directed Danny without him having any idea it was a horror film.
He was 5! 😂
That makes it even more terrifying, actually.
@@mountainjayikr! Like just “here’s a knife to play with!”
He was too busy torturing Shelley Duvall…
@@richrelaxes1154 I think Shelly has whined enough about her alleged mistreatment. Nobody else has confirmed her story. Her acting was so bad, the film was nearly cancelled. It is clear Shelly suffered then and now from underlying mental disorders. I sympathize with her, but not to the extent I approve her false narrative.
I never noticed Jack was reading a Playgirl. What the hell is that doing in a resort hotel lobby anyway? That was creepy.
@Von_Nightmare_ Luciferian Assuming the abuse angle is completely correct, it could be tossed aside so film execs wouldn't notice it. Imagine you put millions into some film, and the guy making it is going for some weird sexual abuse angle. You would demand that shit be removed from the film. Kubrick's film Lolita had lots of stuff removed, and Kubrick apparently said he wouldn't have done the film if he knew how badly they were going to fuck with it.
The way Kubrick did this was fascinating. Maybe 5 or 10 years after the film has already been released, someone notices weird things like a playgirl magazine in a hotel lobby. Maybe it means nothing at all, but it generates interest in the film long after initial release.
@Von_Nightmare_ Luciferian But.. he buries it FACE UP. Wouldn't you at least flip it over?
Nobody would notice it at the time, with the action being the conversation. And VHS was hardly the greatest medium to even SEE what magazine it was. I don't think you could have seen it on a Betamax which was 10x better quality. And the then-stunning laserdisc might not have shown it, either.
I liked laserdisc for the flawless pause function, myself. Very expensive, tho. One disc was more than two full tanks of gas. Like 50 bucks.
Those Hollywood people are a bunch of hypocrites, ain't they?
No ...whats kinda creepy is seeing an old east indian man looking through a copy of "Hustler" on the Public Transit...turban an all... Must have been a great article.
@Von_Nightmare_ Luciferian Jack isn't gay, if that's what you're implying. He was interested in the incest article.
This isn't any ordinary hotel sir
Also why was Summer of 42, a movie about a youth who has a sexual affair with an adult, playing on the TV so prominently right before the cringy scene with Jack and Danny? And Jack becomes the abused youth when the young lady becomes an old decaying woman in the bathroom embracing him. Like cycles of abuse
That's a good pick up. Never noticed that- Easter Egg!
I don't know if the film is "about a youth who has a sexual affair with an adult," but that one scene is about black coffee and marvelous doughnuts.
summer of '42 was this young guy that liked the married woman, but her husband was away at war during WW2. They ended up making love, and her husband died in battle.
@@mexman000yeah that’s called a adult having a sexual affair with a youth. A person not of legal age thus making it a child abuse theme
@@deedeetee17 i don't recall the age of the kid in "summer of '42". that was a fast response for a year old comment you left.
I love this movie and I always got the feeling that Jack was more than just physically and verbally abusive. Danny's fear of his father always struck me as a child being molested.
Yep. His withdrawn, affectless demeanor and creation of an imaginary friend who serves to protect him are classic signs and symptoms of sexual abuse in children. I haven't watched the entire video yet so I don't know if this guy mentions that or not.
I agree. After repeated viewings I see this too. The psychology fits
These "signs" can be found in all kinds of children though. Even the doctor couldn't find anything wrong with Danny. It would be a lot different if we found clear signs of abuse or if the doctor suspected something. @@KarlMaldensNose
@@KarlMaldensNose armchair psych in the house. It's bad enough the guy on youtube is doing it and getting views/money for it
@@thegolfdude Dude, it's the internet. Armchair psychology is one of the least egregious thing going on here. But I hear you.
How Wendy is so repulsed by jacks action that she’s frantically looking for any other explanation to justify Danny’s injury and jumps on the crazy woman story for her own sanity sake is crazy to me
It happens irl all the time
i mean jack states that she's into ghost stories
@@paveantelic7876That's clearly a lie made up by Jack just so he could get the job. Wendy is disturbed by the mere mention of cannibalism and is never seen enjoying anything horror related in the movie.
@@marmiteflavoredcrocs4448unfortunately you are correct
that's actually the most common thing in abuse, cheating, addiction and many other emotionally damaging things among loved ones
I don’t think this was a “known thing” at the time but Danny is describing trauma triggered dissociation to the doctor, the idea of “Tony” hiding down in his “stomach” is very evocative of dissociative imagery
Wild to believe that DID hadnt yet been discovered in the 70s
Of course it wasn’t, but stories of people with multiple personalities has existed for a very long time
Beds. Bears. Sleeping. Hibernation. Unconscious. Subconscious.
That's odd... the blood normally gets off at the second floor
The Simpons lol
Hahaa
.... careful, ya wont ta geet sood!
@Mechagodzilla 123 Groundskeeper Willie is the best!
LOL.
God, I remember as a kid that dog/bear mask might've scared me more than any single image, and I had no idea why. Maybe just because, it's *so* ugly, there's no way any costume manufacturer would have made it. It has the uncanniness I sometimes see in AI art; of something that looks familiar, yet made by something that's never understood how a human would see its subject matter.
Same. And it had more of an impact because of the whole sexual component that we didn't understand at the time, but knew there was something more and dirty to it. The dead eyes and big teeth really didn't help.
I first saw the movie in my early twenties, and the image of the bear man straightening up and staring right at me really freaked me out...still does.
yeah, very uncanny quality to it. very jarring as a kid and as an adult still.
Adding to the theory: when Jack has the nightmare and Wendy comes to his aid, it seems to me that he is diverting the attention and care that Danny should be getting at that moment, being right after he abused him. He knows that Danny just suffered, but he wants the aftercare to be for him, as abusive men tend to play extremes very well, they'll yell at you one second then demand pity and play innocent the next ('real victim'). This type of hot and cold attitude is what keeps their victims around, since it mindmelts you.
Amen. Just got out of one of those. Grooming, abuse, hot and cold, all of it. I feel lucky to be out of it with minimal? damage.
Women do the exact same thing
@@alantinoalantonio Can confirm, abusers can be of any gender
Yes, today it's called narcissistic abuse, it is mostly practised by men but there are of course female narcissistic abusers too - as the recent Johnny Depp - Amber Heard trial proved!
Paging Anna Duggar...
It just struck me that the Overlook Hotel is symbolic in itself, especially if this theory is true.
Any house where domestic abuse is going on could feel like the Overlook Hotel to the victims, it could just be a normal house in a normal street, but to the victims it could feel like they really are in an isolated mansion in the middle of nowhere, unable to hide or escape, with nobody coming to help.
Sex abuse is often 'overlooked'.
At 9.13 in this video we see a pic of the hotel on the wall. So as Wendy climbs the stairs ( a Freudian etc symbol of enlightenment / realisation), she literally passes it with the knife in her hand- I think we are meant to read this as the truth dawning on her. Which is not to say I dispute the Wendy Theory- I think all the characters are battling their own demons internally as well as externally and between each other.
@@spaceengineer1452 ba dum tss
Also a haunted house literally
@@spaceengineer1452 All types of abuse can be overlooked, but same. It must've been intentional on Stephen's part to name the hotel like that.
Jack Nicholson smiling is terrifying enough
😂😅😀👏🏼😄🤣
Benjamin Froehlich Oh, yeah! LOL
I knew I was picking up the theme of sexual abuse; I kept having that sinking feeling while watching the scenes of Danny and Jack interacting together, I just couldn’t piece out the reasons why. Thanks for laying them out!
The sinking feeling is because he was going to ne murdered!
you know its there but you cant see it clearly. ecatly how it is in the real world for ppl around abusers noticing small pieces but most often dont put it together.
When Jack and Grady are in the red bathroom.
"Your son has a very great talent. I don't think you are aware how great it is. But he is attempting to use that very talent against your will."
Notice the facial expressions during this next exchange.
"Well... he is a very willful boy."
"Indeed he is, Mr. Torrance. A very willful boy. A rather... naughty boy, if I may be so bold, sir."
"It's his mother. She uh, interferes."
"Perhaps they need a good talking to..."
...
When talking to Lloyd for the first time, I think it was, he also mentions "his old sperm bank" not working so well....
I just realized it's never seen or implied that he ever had sex with his wife during that whole time.
🤥 yes that's odd
Old fashion Canadian folk what about him reading a play girl
@@faridjabba + "sperm bank", not banks in the monetary sense.
The bear's eyes are NOT "trimmed." I was born in 1972, and we had a lot of stuffed animals and dolls with felt circles around the eyes that collapsed and folded in very quickly, and stayed that way. That bear has typical folded felt eyes.
Such a buzz killer. /s
Exactly. Rob strangely misses the most obvious things sometimes when he's in aNaLySiS mode
Sometimes weathered fabric is just weathered fabric.
@@Evil_Noah pretty much.
Trimmed or not, it doesn’t really matter. The bear’s eyes are shown in a way that it looks extremely similar to the floor indicators on the elevator, which clearly wasn’t by accident.
To all of the people saying things like “you think kubrick would have jack spit? Or those are just props”. You obviously haven’t seen how he made shelly do the stair scene so many times she was hysterical, while he made jack do it once...
Thus actually abusing her to make the film more realistic.
Kubrick was an obsessive genius, every part of everything is planned out in his films.
So yes he picked those pictures.
Three things I believe about the film are
1. danny let jack out of the locked room, children of abusive parents will keep going back to them with the hope of love over and over..
2. I think halloran knew danny was in trouble, and it just hit him while he laid there that he left the boy...
3. The film is like the yellow title page says, a modern American horror story..
Its about being isolated in an alcoholic, abusive family, alone and afraid, there is no way out. And the only ghosts are in yourself, you see in all the mirrors.
I’ve had the displeasure, at my place of work to see children experience states of catatonic paralysis due to abuse ptsd. Kubrick did a scary good job of recreation of those states with dannys character.
The film is extremely high level. And i think it may be about more than one topic at the same time. That is to say one scene may have two or more meanings at once, and the film certainly speaks to more than one issue.
Hallorann also got his telepathic gifts because he was sexually abused also. That is why Jack has this gift as well.
@@nerdseyeview5017 wait, when was that mentioned in the film. It's been a while
@@cowboysunrae You have to read the book. If you want a shortcut to confirm this look online or on youtube. Halloran speaks of "Shinning" as a telepathic gift in the movie, however does not state how because Stanley Kubrik wants the audience to figure out how Jack has this gift. This video shows how Jack has the gift.
Stanley Kubrick had first-hand witnessed child abuse not of himself but of other children at the parties he attended with the rest of the elites. He was exposing what he saw and what he knew the only way he knew how.... in an artistic way.
@@kittykat632 I believe it. Nobody exposes the elites without being killed after a couple of years instead of instantly. I guess Stanley Kubrick was smart about it.
If he did it literally it would be a different story. Truth isn't obvious or popular, and only a handful of individuals with know the truth. I would ask you "how do you know?" but it would be wrong to ask you to put yourself out their like that.
it's also called the 'overlook' hotel - Danny's abuse was being over looked (by Wendy and maybe others) . Also, notice the eyes of Jack - notice how his eyes gradually begin to move up ward- imitating what eyes do when one orgasms - it happens in the fatherly scene - honestly Jack's eyes in this scene upwards make it look like he's getting turned on. Also the screams from his worst dream scene to me sound like he is orgasming also in a rough manner - he says it is his 'worst dream' not nightmare - alluding to the fact that it is a fantasy of his and something he is ashamed of.
The Shining has several well, well studied symbolic and literal interpretations. Kubrick was simply a mastermind in his craft. Most movies fail to land just one narrative concisely.
I agree. I am of the opinion that thw shining is his magnum opus and his his most complex and well done film, due to
All its hidden details and intricacies
What About Blob I'm kind of in two minds about Kubrick...one is that Kubrick had a lot of time on his hands to put so much effort into all the hidden meanings into his films that most people would never pick up and also the fact that at the same time it's really interesting. He was either into self-satisfaction and he really enjoyed doing it or he was really smart because he knew it was a way to keep his movies or name living on way past their run. No matter what his motives were, it's still pretty cool. It at least gives the viewer more way than one to watch his movies and have fun with, but surely must have been a lot of work for him, but then, if he really enjoyed doing that then it wasn't a lot of work I guess.
Just putting in my two cents:
What doesn't make sense to me about this theory is the timeline. The scene with Jack and Danny ended with the day changing to Wednesday, and him having the choking marks in the midday. We see Wendy serves them both breakfast throughout the movie, would she not have seen these scars then? It could be that the sexual assault didn't happen during the scene with Jack and Danny. Perhaps Jack was the one who lured Danny into room 237 and assaulted him at that point. I do believe there is a good foundation for this theory but it is difficult to believe it happened before Danny went into room 237 when he goes in looking put together and comes out with choking scars and disheveled. Also an explanation why Hallorann was scared of room 237 despite this not happening yet is that during the ice cream scene with him and Danny, Hallorann explains that those with the shine can see "things that haven't happened yet." He could have had a bad feeling off of this room because of what was going to be done to Danny.
Oh my God, this is definitely plausible! Something that adds support to it is that Danny is lured into room 237 by someone in there rolling a ball towards him. The only person in the movie we see with a ball is Jack, who bounces it around when he's bored.
@@edgarroberts8740 And the original ending featured Ullman giving Jack's ball to Danny. Which...even typing it, it sounds filthy.
@Lawn Mower Trauma and PTSD are complicated. Overall, to me, it's just a metaphor to keep the "horror" narrative moving along
@@edgarroberts8740 Great insight. I hadn't even considered this.
Lol yeah. Plus he’s wearing a different outfit when he shows the scars to his mom.
It's not a bear inside the "O" in the "choking" sign. It's a child's face with mouth wide open. Which is, if anything, MORE suggestive.
that’s what i thought too
Mkultra
@TubeSurferGeek I think people are reading way too much in this movie. I never picked up on any "sexual molestation" by Jack. Also never picked up that the bear was performing oral sex. I read the book a few times and molestation by the father was never written anywhere in the book. I felt the movie was long drawn out mess.
Its a fucking dog suit reas the book
@@sadiestoltzfus9798 do you think jack was,possessed?
I know I am late to this video, but my mind is seriously blown. I am a survivor of csa/psa and ironically enough my dad used to play this movie a lot as a child. And despite the parallels to my own abuse, it never crossed my mind that Danny was going through the same thing I was. But there was something about the scene where he sits on his father's lap that always made me feel really uncomfortable. Now I know why...and it makes the movie even more horrifying because the real horror is that this happens everyday.
Unrelated but related: I believe Tony is Danny's alter who allows Danny to disassociate from the trauma or uncomfortable conditions surrounding him. It's ultimately how he outsmarts his dad in the final hedge-maze scene. Danny even says that Tony lives in his mouth, which is even more suggestive considering what Danny has to endure at the hands of his father. It's likely that Danny has dissociative identity disorder, which many sexual abuse survivors are diagnosed with because we have to create alters in order to survive...alters who give us "superpowers" to cope with our horrors and survive. Danny's alter is Tony, who gives him clairvoyant powers. He even seems older than what he is, which is likely the Tony alter (also victims of psa often "act" older than they are because something so sexually deviant is happening to them--they "mature" quickly). The only way I knew how to cope with it was disassociating and altering.
Great insight and analysis my friend. You are spot on
Wendy probably knew, to a certain extent, about the abuse Danny was going through. She ignored the signs, and now the hotel is showing her the horror of being trapped in a home with an abuser, without someone to protect her... which is the fear Danny had to go through at home
this theory is very stupid. Wendy is overprotecting mother and if this was true Jack would be in jail. Jack broke Danny's hand when he was drunk and Wendy still cannot forgive him, as he can't forgive himself because he loves his son.
This movie is not about some hidden abuse. do not look for meaning where there is none, this is not the right path
but, she is still WITH him… duh.
@@lovelovelove9523 Your post is what is very stupid, the movie makes evident that Wendy suspect the truth, it's crystal clear in the doctor scene... unlike in the book, that it seems is what you are talking about
Or maybe you are a clueless assburgers sufferer and can't get a hint even if it hits you in the forehead
@@lovelovelove9523 This theory is for the Kubrick film, not the book. The two are basically different stories.
@@lovelovelove9523 I think you are confusing the book with the film.....
Wendy also reads catcher in the rye which has a child being sexually abused. Perhaps she was reading it because she was subconsciously drawn to it's themes
What are you talking about? Who is sexually abused in "the catcher in the rye"
@@Nick-kw9oz Holden by his Teacher…..
@@RandMontauk Where in the book does it talk about Holden getting molested by his teacher? Btw whats the point of putting a bunch of periods at the end of your statement? I can only assume its because the answer is supposed to be obvious? Yet ive read The Catcher in the Rye 3x and there isnt any mention of Holden being molested by his teacher.
@@Nick-kw9oz between the lines. Maybe look into some analysis of the book instead
@@RandMontauk Saying theres some hidden sexual abuse going on in Krubrics version of The Shining is one thing but saying theres sexual abuse happening to Holden is something else. Your reading too far into things if you think Holden was sexually abused by his teacher. There is one conversation that you could possible derive this from. Which isnt enough evidence to say that he was being sexually abused in the book. Thats what YOUR taking away from it, not whats actually there. The kids dealing with the death of his little brother and coming to terms with the harsh reality's of life. The same people spouting this theory of sexual abuse are the same ones saying Holden is a pedophile that has a incest attraction to his sister. People can find just about anything if they look hard enough.
Perhaps the biggest clue to the child sex abuse theory is the total lack of sexual chemistry between married couple Jack and Wendy Torrance. We never see them in bed together, of kissing, or acting like they are in love. He is seen eyeing up a couple of young women who pass them in a hotel corridor and has no hesitation in passionately kissing the naked woman in 237.
It's clearly an abusive relationship in which Jack is the abuser holding all the power, and Wendy acts like a compliant child, making excuses for his behaviour (hurting Danny's arm, drinking), terrified of upsetting him. Ultimately though she is a hero, saving herself and her child from Jack, their would-be killer.
do we REALLY need a child sex abuse angle to explain the lack of chemistry, sexual or otherwise between jack and wendy?
@@plasticweapon You have it the wrong way round! There is a long-standing fan theory (not mine), that Jack is sexually abusing his son Danny. Fans of 'The Shining' debate the movie's overt and covert (and in my view, sometimes non-existent) themes endlessly, on forums like this.
Chief among them is the sex abuse theory. I've heard all kinds of surreal garbage from fans presented as 'evidence' of supposed father-son incest, including that in one scene, Danny wears a sweater with a phallic-shaped rocket on it! That in my view is one hell of a stretch.
In an early scene between Wendy and a visiting child therapist she mentions that Jack once accidentally injured Danny's arm, but quickly defends her husband saying it was an accident. So the concept of child abuse is planted near the start of the film - though it's violent and there's no suggestion it's of a sexual nature.
I don't personally buy into the child sex abuse theory - and don't believe it was ever in director Stanley Kubrick's mind. My original post was intended to point out what I feel is the best credible evidence of Jack having sexual dysfunction (ie being a child abuser), which is the cold, non-physical nature of his relationship with his wife. It strikes me as surprising that those who passionately argue Jack is sexually abusing Danny, cite random symbolism like a space rocket on a jumper, or the surreal, homo-erotic 'bear costume' scene, to support that theory.
I haven't heard sex abuse theorists mention the frosty dynamics of Jack and Wendy's marriage in this regard, which I feel is far more compelling evidence of sinister, underlying family dysfunction/child sex abuse, if you are looking for it.
Why is no one talking about how stupid and harmful this is?
The director is basically indicating that gay people are predators..
Ofcourse, like so typical, i'm so sick of seeing this trope f* everywhere.
Why do they always have to make ped0s gay in movies?
As a gay man who's been taken advantage of as a kid, i don't ever want to hurt kids like that, i never would.
Movies like these make people hate us and assume these things about us.
It deeply pisses me off
Heroes don't excuse child abuse of any kind. "Oh, silly hubby was just a little too drunk pulling Danny's arm, teehee! He didn't mean to fucking DISLOCATE his shoulder!"
@@tiph3802 As I made clear in my original post, Wendy isn't a hero at the start of the movie - she's a frightened victim, who makes excuses for husband Jack's abuse (as victims under an abuser's control often do).
The Wendy we see at the start of The Shining, is a very different character to the Wendy who emerges a triumphant survivor at the close of the story. Wendy ultimately transforms into a hero, after saving herself and her 5-year-old son Danny from the abusive, homicidal Jack.
The plot takes Wendy on a journey, from down trodden victim and apologist for Jack, to victor, who with the help of Danny and Dick Halloran (who share the powerful 'Shining' gift), destroys their abuser and achieves a new life, free of him.
That's clearly why director Stanley Kubrick made the Wendy character so vulnerable at the start, and pushed for that fragile performance from actress Shelley Duvall. He wanted to achieve dramatic character development, and for her final victory to represent a surprising and satisfying conclusion to her story.
the exact moment jack becomes really nasty and decides to kill them is directly after he asks wendy in a calm voice 'you mean leave the hotel?' and she says 'yes', this is because the hotel (in the abuse aspect of the plot) is simply an ave family home, and she is saying im gonna leave and take your kid with me, this is the exact kind of triggering incident that could lead irl an abusive father and husband to murder his wife and child- you cant / you dont get to leave and humiliate me and take my kid away leaving me alone with nothing but a bottle of booze, i'll kill ya before i ever allow that to happen.
Kubrick didn’t make mistakes. Everything was there for a purpose.
Stephen King has come out against the film stating that he thought he misunderstood jack
Tyler Turner King hates it because Kubrick made it better.
He made one
In the end of the shining jack is in the picture from 1921 he is drinking alcohol which was illegal due to prohibition explain that
@@sonnyooo338 Just because something is illegal doesn't stop people from doing it.
As a victim of csa, I’ve recognized a lot of my behaviors in Danny. The theory seems far fetched to some, but I stand by it.
fellow csa victim and i agree
I hope you get lots of love ❤️
Fellow csa survivor and with parents who has a similar character dynamic, this film always struck a cord with me and I thought it was just because of the domestic abuse themes
Boy looks at all of us csa survivors, boy the world sucks
Same
Couple things. When danny walks into his parents bedroom in the overlook his father is sitting at the edge of the bed the same as the man who is receiving fellatio. When Danny is brushing his teeth, the bathtub and it's curtain is very reminiscent of the bathtub in room 237. I think the teeth brushing scene is the scene that links it all together. I believe when Danny walks into room 237, it represents what he as the abused experiences. When jack enters the room he goes in to experience sexual pleasure, when looking into the mirror he sees what he is doing as truly horrific, this is what drives him mad.
Totally! The ghosts of the house can make you see things like a young attractive woman who is actually old and disgusting so of course the house made Jack think his son was someone else and had sex
Wow two rooms in the same hotel have the same looking bathroom I am so surprised
Leo 🤣🤣🤣🤣 omg I know what are the chances
Maybe
@juneaug Lok i don't think they're stretching. you can't just say "nah" like an idiot
I just came up with a theory that I've never seen before. That doesn't mean that somebody hasn't actually come up with it already-- that's very possible. But I haven't seen it. So if it exists, it can't be very well-known. In this theory, *Danny* is the one who actually conjures up all of the events in his mind as a re-enactment of his father's abuse (and his mother's enabling of the abuse.) It's a revenge fantasy. That's also why his mother is in so much danger until she actually begins to actively work towards protecting Danny. Once she gets out into the maze with him and they escape Jack, the danger is over. In Danny's fantasy, this represents his mother finally believing that the abuse is happening. This theory would explain the scene with Jack's interview in the impossible room, the one that spatially can't exist. We are not looking at reality at any point except for Danny's breakdown scene. This would also explain why Kubrick pulled the film from theaters to cut the ending scene that also takes place in the "real world" (Wendy going to a police station and being unable to find out what happened to Jack.) I've never seen a theory that explains this strange and very expensive decision, and there had to be a good reason for it. Kubrick realized that it completely broke the storytelling device where Danny was the narrator and it all was taking place in his mind.
Which room is impossible?
Nice!!!
I was always angry with her watching the movie, but I didn’t know exactly why until I was a mother myself. The way she so nonchalantly talks about her son’s arm being broken by her maniac alcoholic husband was seriously disconcerting.
You know, I got a creepy "did he touch that kid?" feeling during their weird "talk" on the bed the very first time I saw the movie. I was very young at the time (14) and I was kind of upset that such a thought would enter my mind...I wondered if there was something wrong with me for having that impression. But I've never actually been able to watch that one quiet, very gore-less scene all the way through without averting my eyes or deciding that was a good time to go to the kitchen for a Pepsi or something. It squicks me out SO bad.
It's time to sit back and watch the scene, baby Capulet. In Psychology, we use "flooding" to overcome fears. If you sit through the scene, it will become less uncomfortable for you over time.
@@DIVISIONINCISION Uh-huh..."we" also call that desensitization, normalization, indoctrination, grooming.
@@DIVISIONINCISION very sus
I’m noticing an interesting pattern in the comments section for this analysis…
It seems pretty common for women to be on board with this analysis and the most vehemently opposed have been men.
I thought the same thing the first time I watched it the dads vibe was weird
Gotta add...that bear picture over Danny's bed is very similar to the pictures psychologists use to diagnose disturbed children. In a book called "Big Secrets", I believe, they show a number of these types of illustrations used to diagnose whether children have been molested or not. For example, there is one of a baby bear sleeping with a partly opened door in its room, and clearly the psychologist is wanting to hear the story the child makes up about the picture, like "the baby bear is pretending to be asleep" or "the baby bear heard something funny from the other room and wants to close the door" kind of thing. I should dig up the book, it's really fascinating material. Although I'm sure it's easy to find the original pictures on the Internet, I just don't know what you'd find them under. It was so much easier when we had card catalogs in the library that weren't mixed in with advertisements and clickbait! Let alone the googolplex trying to control what we can and can't see.
Poor bear animals..now they are associated with abuse by the sick humans..what next.Bear in mind that psychologists are often twisted themselves..lol.
Got it? BEAR in mind 😁
i know this comment is 2 years old, but do you happen to know the name of the author of the book you described? it sounds really interesting but i tried looking for a book called “big secrets” but i couldn’t find anything similar to the book you mentioned.
I didn’t think this movie could get more terrifying but you just did it for me. Sexual abuse wasn’t even a thought in my mind watching this film a million times. Well done analysis.
I suspected it from the first time I watched it.
No need to take an immature jab at people who are uncomfortable with the topic of child sexual abuse. It's a pretty normal thing to be uncomfortable with, actually.
Agreed
It may be so, but it can never be certain. Also curb your hubris, Lord of the Rings are great films in their own right irrespective of their "escapism."
I’d argue that film as entertainment is wholly escapism regardless of genre lol
Yea that was a cheap shot
I wonder if the previous caretaker, the axe murderer, might have sexually abused his twin daughters. Hence why Danny sees them so often?
ThePharaohGaming i dont see why not
That’s a reach boi. Sometimes, they’re just ghosts.
@@WhaleManMan Not when it's Stanley Kubrick. As this video highlights quite well, not a single component of a single frame of his films were unintentional.
sexual abuse. Jack broke his arm cause he was an acholic
@@pa.encema2821 no. Jack caught Danny Jacking off using his arm. So he dislodged it.
As an adult survivor of childhood physical/sexual abuse, I can tell you that Rob is spot on with this analysis, and Kubrick may have been a survivor as well, using this project to express some of the deep-seated trauma that he may have suffered. I'm not sure, otherwise, how he would have been so very knowledgeable about the intricacies of the abuser/victim dynamic. It took me a long time to even begin to understand, but as I grew older I realized that the physical abuse I suffered resulted from the guilt my abuser felt every time he looked at me. Seeing me would trigger this guilt, and shame, and would be instantly replaced by anger. And the only way to deal with the anger was to attack the "source" ... that being me. Of course, I never allowed this to justify my abuser's actions. He did tremendous, and long lasting, psychological harm that took me decades to, even partially, disassemble. But it did help me to understand, just a little, so that I could begin the process of healing.
Thank you for sharing
Thank you for sharind, and I'm sorry you went throught something like that; but, I don't think Kubrick is a survivor. Kubrick himself psychologically abused Wendy's actress to make her perform the character better, to make her stress and trauma seem real on screen. Kubrick is more like an abuser than a victim, if he did this sexual assault symbolisms so well I think it's more related to the fact that he is a perfectionist, and he most likely studied about the matter very well to get it into the film perfectly. He always criticizes violence in his movies, but he himself was violent with his crew so; if he criticizes sexual assault I don't think he is necessarily a survivor
@Critique Everything Thank you for the reply. He paid a long time ago. Got mouthy with a couple younger guys at a bar. They beat the shit the out of him in the parking lot. He stumbled back into the bar and collapsed on the floor mumbling in French (he was French Canadian). The bartender and regulars just figured he passed out again and it took awhile for anyone to call 911. Died in his own blood and piss on a dirty barroom floor. I'd say Karma kicked some ass that day. I just wish I could have been front row with a bag of popcorn.
@@moonchapter2053 Survivors of childhood physical/sexual abuse often end up becoming abusers as well. It's a very common phenomenon. Just because you were abused as a child and even if you understand how psychological mechanisms of this type of trauma work, does not mean you can't be an abuser yourself. That's why Kubrick may have been a survivor AND an abuser.
Sorry that happened to you. Hope the best.
I never picked up on sexual abuse... abuse yes, but sexual - I didn't, and I find the reactions here interesting. This was a very compelling theory. Last night in Milwaukee, I went and saw a 35mm copy of "The Shining", the whole time I was like - there's the bear pillow and I was like, wait there's a bear costume towards the end of the denouement. I thought it was foreshadowing, but I am loving the more nuanced comments showing up.
When the mother saw the bear costume couple in the room, she finally understood what Jack did to Danny. the realization hits her hard.
I thought the same thing.. shes trying to protect him and not just from the Hotel "ghosts". Theres a reason I believe the Hotel chose Jack perhaps his deviancy and abuse made him a Great "guest" for that Hellhole hotel . the last scene is also giving hints, as is after "finishing" murders or violence, he Succeeds at being "one of the guys" - in the final photo.
Jack beat Danny and broke his arm... he didn't bloody rape him
I believe Jack has raped Danny in the rear and forced fellatio as symbolised in this grosteque demonic demon. Please protect the children in the power of Archangel Michael
@@13thcentury then explain the purpose of the bear fellatio scene
wow that was good analyzing!
"The layout of room 237 is the exact same as theirs" it's a hotel sir
Right lol then in the room the layout isn’t even the same. This dude is really reaching for things that aren’t there in the entire video.
Room 237 is a hotel room, the place where the Torrence’s stay is an in-hotel apartment (which is stated in the beginning of the film when they tour the place) for the winter caretaker and the hotel staff. The rooms are very supposed to look different because but they are same in layout which is what he’s reaching for. At least that’s how I interpreted what he said…but I could be reaching too lol
Plenty of older grand lodges have rooms that vary in size.
Also...they weren't? Literally when he shows the comparison in the video...they aren't laid out the same. Sorry I know this video is older, but I just watched it and I have...thoughts. Kubrick was a very intentional director, sure, but that doesn't mean spit=semen. STAAAHP. I think people in the comments have much better articulation of this theory than the narrator.
Kubrick was known for being maniacally methodical and detail oriented. literally 0.0000% of what we can see/hear onscreen of his movies is left to randomness.
your analysis is excellent and as such extremely disturbing....
Eric Favre I agree he was very methodical and most things are intentional, but he reaches a lot, and id it’s buy this theory
On the contrary, there is an interview where he jokes about people over analyzing his works and how how he tends to be random in some parts of a movie.
I agree, that seems to be the case with ALL of his movies. With that in mind, I've always wondered about the opening car drive in The Shining. It always bugs me that we can clearly see the helicopter's shadow throughout that scene. For being such a stickler on things, why on earth did he leave that in?!
you are absolutely mad. Kubrick was, frankly, a sloppy film maker.
@@lostfanatic6 he wasnt a stickler, he was notoriously sloppy and his reputation these days stems from Shining theories just spiraling in on themselves.
Every time I watch it, I find something new. This movie is literally the gift that keeps on giving. Absolutely incredible.
The "Apollo" sweater Danny is wearing... Apollo being one of the Greek gods who had a homosexual lover (with Hyacinth, the son of the king of Sparta).
Is it wow
All the Greek gods had a homosexual lover all the Greeks did
@jlalewicz he gets turned into a flower at the end.
What a stretch lmao
Danny is just the occult light bringer/enlightened one. He knows what others don't.
Danny’s wide-eyed expression of terror is one of the most disturbing images in all of cinema. It reminds me of nightmares I’d have when I was really young...at an age when scary things TRULY shake your foundation. It represents the purest form of terror. This place where no other emotion exists...
Such a perfect description of what that feeling was like as a child. I still vividly remember hiding under my blankets with genuine fear for my life after accidentally seeing something scary on the TV as a little kid
The wide eye terror scene mirrors the writers expression in clockwork orange starring Patrick mcghee strongly enough he uses the same make of typewriter,.Jack Nicholson uses when repeatedly typing the old sailor proveb. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy .
Like trying to scream in a nightmare. Full force but no sounds come out. I vividly remember yelling for my mom in the kitchen as I was being dragged away by a monster. This nightmare happened when I was 6 and I think about it all the time.
Was Danny's injury 5 months ago--when Jack promised Wendy he'd stop drinking--or "three godammed years ago!" like he told Lloyd?
He could’ve drank before that. There’s no telling how much abuse Jack did before “stopping drinking.”
@@averys1738 is that the logic YOU use? Lol 🍷🍸🍼
That hilarious....
An alcoholic clean for 5 months might feel like 3 years especially after being accused of hurting his son
another thing i find weird is the guy that is interviewing jack said the sisters were 8 and 10 but they are twins
I noticed Kubrick used the color green as a cue to this theory; the shower curtain when Danny is brushing his teeth and has his episode. Out of place green hallway in the corridors outside the kitchen where Danny is riding his big wheel before he sees the twins, before room 237 there are double doors with small windows like lurking green eyes watching Danny, then of course all out green in the bathroom of room 237, and the doorway in the bear scene is framed in a shade of green and there is a green hue to the wallpaper in the bear room.
The eyes on Danny’s teddy bear were not trimmed, they are curled away from the base of the pillow itself due to wear.
I thought of that too.
I thought that tidbit was a bridge too far. Same for the referencing blood for the mouth.
Yeah the material looks wilted more than anything else, and this usually happens when fabric has been washed a few times
Yeah, bless his heart but Rob tends to read a bit too much into things at times.
They still chose that bear though
Damn...that makes Wendy and Danny even more sad as characters, especially Wendy. Imagine being trapped with this crazy man that sexually abuses your child and the fact that you yourself have had your mind so twisted by this man that you actually defend him to a medical professional. Like... Both Wendy and Danny are more tragic now and this movie just got so much scarier. *shivers*
If King caught this then it’s no wonder why he hated Kubrick’s film so much
Right i was just thinking that.
Same. They famously disagreed and quarreled. This lands are hard subtext that King took VERY personally. I’m fascinated how this movie continues to grow thanks to observant people.
@@ageofdulltron2052 Kubrick never quarreled with King, he simply bought the rights to the book and King wrote a screenplay which Kubrick ignored. The director collaborated with another writer to produce the script that was used. King expressed disapprroval of the final film in 1980 but never belabored the issue-- only fans have kept the "dispute" alive through the decades.
@@MrDominex Though part about King taking it personally might be true. Let's not forget that King put lot of himself in Jack, so adding molestation of own child would be taken very personally by King.
@@AdamMichalMarkowski Kubrick didn't put anything in the movie about sexual molestation. The uneasiness that Danny felt toward his father was about the threat of violence, not sex. People just like to project sexual molestation into stories because it is currently a "hot topic." There are no hidden signals, hints or suggestions of it in "The Shining."
Watched this movie many times, and I didn't realize half of this. You have a true talent for recognizing symbolism. Great work!
I always looked at the bear scene as nothing more than pure shock to make your skin crawl. That scene happens as the suspense and terror has been building for several minutes toward the end of the film and the camera is panned way out as you're looking at the bear and your staring at it wondering 'what the hell is that?' Kubrick then at just the right moment quickly pans in on it and it scares the living daylights out of you when you see something so bizarre.
It could also be some deviant stuff from the Roaring Twenties. Some decadent sex practices by high society guests at the time.
Aunt Esther - you have made a very important point. I fully agree that when Wendy sees these two engaging what appears to be fellatio, it is WTF moment where we know what we're seeing is private and meant to happen behind closed doors. But what makes the "bear/dog" costume even more "interesting" is due to the fact that the mouth and jowls of that mask would not allow for proper fellatio. How could anything get past that snaggle-toothed mask....the teeth and fangs cover the opening near that mouth, thus not allowing any body part to be inserted there. The hint in the King novel is when the character of Horace Derwent is seen with one of his "friends" who likes to dress up in a doggie outfit, sit and walk on all fours and generally just be a common garden variety party favor. This is all we have to go on regarding the book.
If this guy was right, Danny would see those 2. NOT the mom. This narrator is really stretching it. Pardon the sexual pun
@@michellemckillop8935 Would Danny see it from 3rd person view or 1st person view? The latter. Wendy would see it from 3rd person view.
@@michellemckillop8935 a lot of this seems like a stretch. It's so many stretches 99.999999% of whoever watches the movie wouldn't get it and the .000001% that does just sounds crazy to the rest of us now.
alot of the evidence in this video seems rather reaching, we already know that Jack has abused Danny in the past but im not sold on sexual abuse. at least not based on the evidence shown in this video.
Ironfukr 9 Some of the points he made were interesting, but when he started saying important scenes in the movie were dream sequences, I started to think it was a little ridiculous. Also I'm pretty sure it's a dog costume in the movie too. Bears don't have jowls like that.
@dandagod official The book is vastly different from the Kubrick version. You cannot use it for an explanation.
...reaching lol? The devil is in the details. I think this video does an excellent job of laying that out. I’m unsure of what video you watched.
@@contentdaddy6467 The one where no sexual abuse is shown.
67marlins wow...bc it has to be shown in a film for it to have happened in the world of a film...I’m going to be frank with you, this isn’t for you. Why did you even bother watching this video bc you don’t understand subtext or film criticism at all. 100% flex and I give no shits, I studied film criticism (I have a degree in it) and...I again am going to strongly urge you watch something else bc this isn’t for you.
This really cements how different Jack is in the film from how he is in the book. In the book he starts as a sympathetic character that you can have some level of empathy with...he’s a recovering alcoholic who was violent....but he’s trying to be better than that and the haunted hotel destroys him.
If this interpretation is true, the Jack in the movie is a repugnant monster from the get go. Which might explain the casting of Jack Nicholson (not saying Nicholson is repugnant) since his version of Jack comes across as “off” from the very first time we see him.
yes, it's really a different
and that is probably why Stephen King hated kubrik and his movie. Also because King admitted that his inspiration for the book was actually himself, when he was having bad thoughts on his family because of stress, and what could have become if he wasn't mentally stable unlike Jack Torrance.
So probably Kubrik poked at him subconsciously telling King is a child rapist murderer
I remember watching this video for the first time and telling my wife later that after that I thought the underlying theory was both thought provoking but also very disturbing to me and that i’d never be able to watch this film again and just enjoy it as a standard ghost film and sure enough - when I watched it last Halloween I couldn’t get past your theory and i was unable to just accept it anymore as a ghost story - so yeah, you’ve added a layer of insight for me that’s thought orovoking but the while family trapped in a haunted hotel is somehow spoiled for me - it’s stil a horrific horror film of grand Kubrick visuals and ideas
And Jacks performance is still as powerful and immediate as it’s ever been to me - Shelley steals many of the scenes by her sheer ‘emotional’ performance - it’s visceral!
The "T" face in The Shining is allegedly Tony, Dannys imaginary friend.
Travis B
The face you can see I the shining posters
I've always thought it looked like am alien...
Tony is another character with the Shine.
@@PetePuebla Oh wow, he's a living person somewhere else communicating with (and controlling) Danny? Didn't even think of that. I had heard that he was an older Danny, which is pretty close to that concept.
@@jimhuber yeah according to the book that Tony is actually Danny from the future. So in essence Tony is another character with the shine ability. It's himself from the future.
I think you're missing the obvious... his sweater changed because its the next day. He talked to his father on a Tuesday, then it cuts to the next day (Wednesday), which is when he goes to Room 237. If this is the case, then his mother would have noticed the marks on his neck on Tuesday evening when she put him to bed. I'm pretty sure there's a ghost in Room 237, as there are obviously supernatural phenomena in this film, such as Danny and Halloran talking telepathically using the Shining. Now this doesn't preclude the possibility Jack's dream included abusing Danny, and that is when he really starts to go crazy, as Danny comes downstairs looking hurt and traumatized, so he starts to question whether it was a dream or whether it really happened. That Playgirl magazine was a good catch, which is why I think the theme is definitely there, whether or not it actually happened
I think you're both right.
I think Jack is guilty but I don't think he's guilty for the marks on Danny's neck.
I think the Shinning is a supernatural force, and I believe it's protecting Danny.
Danny doesn't know he should be afraid of his dad, but he does knows he should be afraid of monsters and ghosts.
That's why I believe the Shinning is responsible for the marks. It wasn't hurting Danny, it wanted to frighten him into seeking his Mothers protection.
@@Slackmana what a retarded theory. I'm reporting your commentary so no one else need to read this crap
the playgirl magazine was a joke between Nicholson and Kubrick, it wasn't actually part of the story or anything
Mateus Rezende
Ribeiro well that action was just as retarded as the comment he made lol.
@@Dom_510 I heard that as well. I'm sure Kubrick knew it would drive the batshit nuts even nuttier years later. He truly was a genius.....😔
This explains a lot: 1) why Jack Nicholson whom i love in most of his roles, here makes me uneasy.
2) why he mentions "sperm bank" in the conversation with the bartender. That bit seemed so weirdly placed, especially when discussing your wife and how much uou love your kid.
3) Tony's appearance in Danny's mind and why to me that's one of the most disturbing bits of the movie.
4) what does the black man see in his vision as he is lying in bed. He must have seen smth terrifying /disgusting enough to make him anxious for the child's safety.
5) why Wendy is SO freaked out when she sees the manuscript "all work and no play" and when she sees the bear costume scene. I mean, yea, it's a bit disturbing, especially since there shouldnt be anyone else in the hotel, BUT Wendy's reaction is way too intense. I think she suspected smth from the start, but wasnt sure. Maybe she even saw them in a door frame and only now realised what it was...
6) why the author hated the movie so much. He said "it hurts people". Compared to other horror movies, Shining is quite tame in visuals, BUT the it has a sort of atmosphere that freaks you out more than any gory scene.
"You're scared of room 237, ain't you?"
Hallorann was sexually abused by his father.
How did you came up with this conclusion?
Simon Frisk
Grandfather
Cineva
It was in the Doctor Sleep book
Kira Aisling oh yes, you’re right!!
@@kiraaisling9603 oh
This point has probably been made before, but at 13:35 when Danny enters the room and Jack along with Jack's image in the mirror create the effect that Danny is entering hostile territory, as though he is outnumbered.
Right! Also: identical to jack w/ the bag: mirrored: so the viewers can join the similarities (even if we subconsciously connect the two)
I don’t like the condescending attitude you take towards people that might not agree with your theory. That being said good video
Alexander Supertramp the point of your comment?
This is why he lost all credibility by saying this with his parternalizing attitude towards people watching this video, like _"Listen to me. Listen to my monotone and calm voice. You must accept everything I say... or just leave because I know better than you, based on my personal opinion and feelings, and because I don't care about your opinion."_ . He's a pretentious imbecile with his maniac compulsive theories. And listen to his hilarious "observation" so evident for everyone about the bear costume at 17:50
Ok boomer
Morgan Walz bruh your old lookin ass has no right
@@morganwalz3938 Damn what a comedy master
I've seen The Shining dozens of times and I never even thought of the elevator floor dials representing terrified eyes and the door being a mouth opening. That's a great observation.
The bear eyes haven't been trimmed, they are just folded up a little.
Yes. Does seem to be intentional, though, and does make it look more like the elevator "eyes."
@Jagar Tharn That is always possible except a director like Kubrick looks at absolutely every detail of a close shot like that. There is every possibility he didn't care, every possibility it was an artistic choice, and every possibility it was a happy accident he saw in the camera.
Yep
@Jagar Tharn It's a prop you fucking moron.
Kubriks attention to detail is legendary. The eye being crumpled would have been 100% intentional. Read up on him
www.itsnicethat.com/features/stanley-kubrick-the-exhibition-the-design-museum-obsession-and-creativity-film-230419
I can understand the theory, but it just seems a little far fetched.
Movies have pacing. Deliberately edited scenes can be left on the cutting room floor because the director wanted a specific scene to appear next to another.
@@cocharles563 Therefore we the audience are left not getting the meaning of the scene/movie...
I'm inclined to say the theory is true, the father was abusive towards him, maybe even sexually. But most of the 'evidence' given seems far fetched and patently false projections by the author here. So I agree with his premise I just think he got to his conclusion the wrong way.
More than far fetched. I think this abuse. Diversion perversion. Is more of a rorschack test. I ve seen the movie several times and all i saw was a kid wearing a t shirt before the narrator pointed out the apollo 11 aspect. And i think the penis aimed at the kid s mouth is REALLY seeing what he wants to see. WHICH IS A TOPIC THIS GUY SHOULD take up with a psychiatrist not a youtube audience. Imagine some guy you know. A relative. A neighbour. A co worker telling you your son s apollo 11 t shirt looks like a penis aimed at your son s mouth. After you finished hitting the guy you d tell him if you ever catch him near your son again. you re gonna
_"I think he did it to himself"_
Let's also not forget that this movie that is about revealing sins of the past - whether they be generally historical or deeply personal - takes place at the OVERLOOK Hotel. Overlook. IE ignore.
Not only is the film about things that were overlooked, it is also composed in such a way as to make the audience overlook what is actually going on. On its face, The Shining is a well-made, but clichéed ghost story. But look a little deeper - IE dig into what you overlooked - and much more is revealed.
Indeed, nearly everything this movie has to say is so obtuse that you can only really get a grasp of it through careful study of the film. It was deliberate.
The film is designed to make you overlook everything that matters. Do you get it now?
Very interesting and great catch! I honestly always thought of the "Overlook" Hotel as referencing the psychic, all-knowing, eye in the sky, omniscience of the hotel and some of the people it attracts, especially when Jack appears to be watching Wendy and Danny on a model of the hedge maze in the Colorado Lounge. But "overlook"' as in not seeing it also makes a lot of sense. That's AMAZING!!! Wow, do I feel dumb! I've watched this movie dozens of times, and read the book. Honestly, I never thought of it like that before. Great catch!!!
Shut the fuck up you sound like a liberal college dumbass
Thus the corollary metaphor of "the shining". In as much the "evil" can be broken down into dark supernatural entities and sins of the past (Native American abuse, child abuse, etc), so can the "good": not just the King characters with special powers but also the "shine" of knowledge and willingness to open heart and mind. This duality is quite characteristic of not just King but also Kubrick (see the eponymous Eyes Wide Shut), as an example between those willing to "join together to close their eyes on their sins" vs those willing to confront and expose conspirators, and their inevitable battle. It is that pursuit of knowledge and confrontation that is to "shine"- to bring light to the truth and be willing to sacrifice ourselves in that action.
Do u mean like overlooking the fact that Indians were massacred and no one really seems to care in America? Or possibly the acts of child rape and stuff is supposed to abundantly be happening and ppl overlook it, things like child sex rings? Especially in Hollywood.
It's the traces of people and things that happened that Halloran explained to Danny. Danny's Shining gift is powerful but the abuse IMHO is manifesting unwittingly through Danny. Halloran told Danny that he has to shut off the bad things by warning him about Room 237-emphasizing that there's "nothing in there". Something really bad happened in there and Danny needs to learn to how to shut out bad traces because he can manifest them. Hallorann had a good teacher and childhood in the form of his grandma but Danny had an abusive childhood.
Halloran could have been abused as well. His grandma might have just been the coping mechanism that helped him live past the madness of his childhood.
In the “fatherly love scene” he wore dark blue/black pants, and on the chair in front of the mirror, there was a pair of light blue jeans. When Jack stood up in the dream scene, he was wearing a different pair of jeans... the same ones that were on the chair in front of the mirror, conveniently placed in view. Also the bear scene could have been Danny subconsciously shining and giving his mom the vision as a way to tell her what happened.
sorry to burst your bubble but the sequel movie Doctor Sleep debunked this theory
@@akhtarjaviero3627 Yes I remember when Stanley Kubrick burst out of his grave and ghost-directed Doctor Sleep.
@@gob9852 i know that stanley doesn't direct Doctor Sleep, but like it or not it's now part of The Shining movie canon
@@gob9852 even if the theory is right and that stanley was hinting at an abuse. It's now not canon
@@gob9852 just because Stanley Kubrick doesn't direct it doesn't mean it's not canon
It seems clear enough to me from Nicholson's performance, especially in the scene between Jack and Danny on the bed, that Nicholson himself absolutely believed Jack was about the molest Danny. You can see it in his eyes, hear it in his voice.
I had zero clue Danny was sexually abused, when I watched this movie at 10 years old. I just recently watched the whole movie again, and I'm 34 now. It shows little hints of it. But after watching this video it becomes very clear. The little hints you bring up are on point.
i love ur pfp
he wasn't sexually abused.... i don't agree with your theory and everyone who commented here. It looks like nobody has watched the film. Main theme of this film is not about abuse lol. Wendy overprotect her son Danny and she do not trust much Jack after the incident with Danny's broken hand. And Jack regrets it every day, he loves his son and he won't let a "single hair fall from his head".
And the bear costume is simple: the bear symbolyze Russia who sucks off to Uncle Sam (USA), meaning Russia has lost in the cold war.
Your theory is very stupid. This movie was made in the 80's, not woke 2015-2020
He wasn't Sexually Abused this guy's a Dumbass that don't know what he's talking about
@@lovelovelove9523 I agree that I don’t think it was a main point. But bro it could’ve happen. The point of the movie is evil never dies. It’s a cycle of evil and death that will continue to cycle. The fact that jack is evil incarnate he could have molested him.
@@lovelovelove9523 bear symbolises russia... please tell me you're joking. That's so random that you have to be 😂😂
You know when someone once asked Kubrick some question about themes or something, he simply leaned back, chuckled, and said "It's just a ghost story."
I'll take Mr Kubrick's word for it. All of these dissecting psychobabble theories are just rubbish.
@hyacinthlynch843 absolutely. Some of these theories are so over the top that it becomes comical.
When you consider that Danny talks to Tony, which is manifested as a wiggly finger that hides in his mouth, it is quite clear what Kubrick is telling you.
Tony is Danny from the future. There is no sexual reference.
There is nothing in the film to imply that Tony is Danny from the future.
The issue of Tony is interesting. Tony is telling Danny what is going to happen and Danny can see the horrors his father is doing without being there. Is Tony a supernatural connection to his father in some way?
@@allenho2778 Kubrick kept the 'shell' of the Stephen Kings' novel in the movie, one of the things he kept was Tony. Anthony is Danny's middle name and he is Danny in the future. Tony's presence is explained more in detail at the end of the book.
@@allenho2778 That is because Kubrick couldn't stick to the plot. He missed crucial parts and kind of went on a tangent.
Read the book. Tony is Danny from the future.
Kubrick was an extreme perfectionist, every single shot is equally important to the script and heavily influences the watcher’s vision
@Kenji Polk Audio Just watched it for the second time with my brother a dad yesterday. It was even more enjoyable than the first time watching alone. It's a masterpiece to me.
@Kenji Polk Audio Counter point: your opinion is hot garbage
@Kenji Polk Audio you're an idiot. I don't have anything else to say
@@faraazalarakhia4131 its a great movie but Kubrick was very sloppy. he wasnt nearly as detail-obsessed as people think, he just had impossibly high standards for his actors. ffs, the intro has the helicopter shadow.
11:55 Sleeps off his drunkenness???!!! That interaction with Lloyd and the drinking was a hallucination or more likely a dream. When Wendy found him in the ballroom, he was sitting there, no drink, no bottles at the bar. And he didn't react until Wendy physically moved him, implying that he was indeed, asleep until that moment. In the original cut of the film, it was established that Jack is a recovering alcoholic and there was even a conversation where Ullman said that all the liquor is removed from the premises. So there's no way he physically had those drinks, and it can't even be chalked up to alcoholic withdrawal (*as some other blogs suggest) since TWICE in the film, it's established that Jack hadn't had a drop in 5 months.
Look, I can appreciate the depth of your analysis, but some of your theories just don't wash. Perhaps if all you've ever watched is the European cut of the film, more of it makes sense, but in the original 144 minute release (the one you reference here), there's just too much information here that contradicts your conclusions.
@Pumpin George , what a stupid response.
Kubrick was very fond of unannounced dreams and reveries. He hides his clues very well, so we, the audience are not aware we are watching a dream or an imagination.
Thank you!
All this video is only reaching.
This is exactly what is logical proof enough to debunk this bull crap of a theory.
This guy is putting in his own narrative and he just wants others to believe so badly that he even badmouths LOTR.
All for the clout and views.
What a joke this guy is.
No one should believe this and there is no reason to believe it anyways.
You're right. Jack was hallucinating from his past life as Grady. Nothing there was real.
Its shown that the ghosts of the hotel can affect the physical world when grady lets jack out of the freezer, so why couldn’t jack be physically drunk? He acts like he is
I watched it for the first time, and what I picked up from the film was that it was attempting to explain how domestic violence arises in family settings. I couldn't help but notice how much Jack resorted to blaming his family for the lack of enjoyment in his life. The move to the caretaker role seems to be in response to him thinking he's bigger than teaching, as he shares in the interview, that he is wanting more out of his life. His version of more is to be a successful writer, to drink at leisure, to be secluded from his family but to be a life of the party at the same time. His violence that he afflicts on his wife and children, both physical and sexual, manifests from blaming his family for not having the life that he has always wanted. It's only when work is interrupted, the party stops and his family needs his attention (the sinister moment where Danny sits on Jack's lap) that's when the violence comes to surface.
I loved your analysis. Absolutely not a fan of talking about moon landings lol.
I think you nailed it... Jack expected to be glamorous and successful, like the rich and famous who used to party at the hotel ("all the best people" as Halloran puts it) but instead he turned out to be a nobody -- the janitor who cleans up after the party -- and he can't help lashing out at his family in resentment.
The woman in 237 represents this massively disappointing contrast between the fantasy Jack expected and the reality he got. Danny can "see" how this disappointment makes Jack a dangerous abuser they must escape. Wendy tries to "overlook" this and pretend that everything is OK, but the evidence of Jack physically abusing Danny again (the throat bruises) finally forces her to acknowledge the evil in her husband, and also in the world (hence her vision of the bear-costume moment).
I don't think the movie intended to lean heavily on supposed hints of sexual abuse... the openly acknowledged physical and emotional abuse provides more than enough horror.
This is a great video but "Dumb Batman super hero movies, or LOTR, or whatever escapist stuff makes you feel better" is a little petty. Meh
Triggered? He's not wrong.
I feel a bit of the same way. While most super films are in fact, spectacles, Christopher Nolan's Bat-Man series is incredible. And the LOTR is nothing short of the story of Western Civilization seen through a fantasy film. But in either case, I can watch those movies over and over and know when I pop them in my disc player, I can sink back in my chair for a relaxing good time. I can't say the same for movies about child sexual abuse.
....I still really enjoy these movie reviews though and I'm thankful to have exposure to these idea's and observations.
Scrolled down and read your quote at the exact same time as he was saying it. I agree too btw
as soon as he said I scrolled down to see if anyone else though this was unnecessary
I noticed that when he was brushing his teeth there is the number 42 on Danny’s shirt, and when Wendy and Danny are watching a movie it’s The Summer of ‘42 which is about a boy that has sex with an older widow. That’s me grasping at straws here and trying to seem smart lol, but I thought that was a weird coincidence. Great video, definitely makes the movie even creepier!
Knowing Kubrick, that was an intentional parallel so good eye!
@@Trenz0 thank you! I’m sure that was already explained in some other video 😂
u r a genius! what a great catch
It is fun to think about this stuff. One thing I wish he would talk about is when Jack leaves the room with the old hag the lights in the hallway are off and he walks backward. I was thinking maybe if it is Dannys dream maybe somehow he is thinking about how he will escape in the maze and that is why the lights are off? . I am probably over thinking it.
@@drn13355 there are no coincidences with Kubrick, so could be! 😂 great observation!
"in this marketing poster for the film note that the face within the lettering looks both like a child and like a teddy bear." ...Umm...no??
I don't see it either.
If you squint and cross your eyes while drunk you’ll see it
Looks more like 8=D probably done that way purposely.
One thing to remember with Kubrick is he is the easter egg king. His attention to details is immense.