CPF Reviews #17- Hiding in Plain Sight: The Meaning of The Shining
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ต.ค. 2024
- Stanley Kubrick's The Shining has long been one of the most over-analyzed films in history, going to often ludicrous extremes...the question is, is it warranted? CPF delves into the film in an attempt to separate myth from reality.
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Just discovered you. Absolutely brilliant vid, both production and content! I especially liked the, “ Pardon me, coming through” bit! Thank you for dispelling the idea that Kubrick could make no mistakes. His subtlety and brilliance get used as a magic wand to cover over rough edges of these theories. The man was good but everybody goofs up now and then. New subscriber
This is a pleasant surprise. Thanks, CPF.
I've never found the film confusing. Kubrick gave a one-sentence description that elegantly sums the narrative, if not the actual film itself:
"Just a story about a family going quietly insane together"
(Paraphrased)
Totally agreed. That's my entire point.
@@Corn_Pone_Flicks Right. But "theories" propagate like lice. Then people start "scratching that itch" and join the Torrance family in their madness.
Your takes are always grounded and justified in and by the text. It's appreciated.
Edit: it's also entertaining af. So entertaining! Thanks man.
@@Corn_Pone_Flicks Hello! Is it possible to DM you?
He really said "quietly insane" and "together"? I realize he did not want to spoil his movie, but that is not a conventional description either. A conventional description would have been "A story about a family isolated from the world with insanity creeping in."
@@wrathofatlantis2316
I believe he worded it like that, but I can't find the interview or source to support my recollection. It stuck with me when I read it, for whatever that's worth.
I could watch videos about The Shining forever, and ever, and ever...
My overall point is that you probably shouldn't....
@@Corn_Pone_Flicks Yeah I got that right off the bat, but I'm still always curious what people come up with. Doesn't mean it all sways me.
Come and play with us, Andy...
(or not, maybe not?)
@@Corn_Pone_Flicks This is not good. There are a few really good documentaries covering Kubrick.. this is not one of them.
I second that emotion.
Kubrick did film the moon landing. But he's so particular that he demanded they actually go to the moon.
sigh
If I were a conspiracy guy, this is the one I would endorse! Stanley would not leave something as consequential as landing on the moon to a novice! He would be up there with proper crew in tow with space suits!
AWESOME
Best coment ever 🎉
If only he did. It would've looked real.
When it comes to the film, I think Dick Halloran's explanation is really the best summary of what is happening. A lot of bad things have happened at the hotel, and there are psychic echoes of all that, like the smell of burnt toast long after the toast is gone. Jack and Danny are both psychics ("shining"), so they sense those echoes, and interpret them in their own ways. Jack is mentally ill and guilt-ridden and can't really deal with all that, so the "echoes" end up driving him crazy. Danny, who is just a child, senses the echoes but isn't really influenced by them. In the end, there are no ghosts. The hotel is just a place that is saturated by psychic echoes, and two psychically sensitive individuals who don't understand their abilities end up getting exposed to them for a long time.
I interpret that Danny being child, felt the influences of the hotel but rejected them and was able survive for that reason. The temptations of lust, glory, luxury did not tempt the young boy same way as they did his father who wanted to be a successful writer, felt he was owed a certain dream life of status and he would prefer to erase his mistakes versus own up to them. Jack as a man and representation of a history of manking who doubles down on a victim mentality, birthrights and oppression
Edit: forgot to mention danny's imaginary friend tony is a coping mechanism or power that helps him see the past/future, this helped him too obvi
Please don't stop making these videos. I've been following you for years and the quality and depth of your work is amazing. I never click faster on a video than when I see you have uploaded one! Thank you for your effort!
My favourite bit by Jay Weidner is where he says 'It was scary but I wouldn't describe The Shining as a wave of terror' then in the next sentence says 'As i watched the film a wave of terror came over me'
Reading the title of this video i thought "what else is there to explain, i thought the movie was pretty clear". Then i clicked anyway because i like this channel.
Glad i clicked, very entertaining and informative.
There's something so presumptuous about saying "my theory explains the shining" rather than "here is my interpretation of the shining." If people said the latter, they couldn't argue that their interpretation was "more better er" than anyone else's. Nor could they pretend that, by occupying what they imagine to be the mindset of the director of a great piece of art, that they are as smart as that director who they idolize, maybe smarter.
Just do what the rich people in Barry Lyndon does, the opposite of the Law of Jante, so instead of living by "Don't think YOU'RE better than others", rather go by "I'M not gonna be worse than others."
The best thing about Kubrick is that EVERY theory is right. He thought about em all!
"The truth of a thing is the feel of it, and not the think of it."
- Stanley Kubrick
Many straw men died to make this video.
Well, this is why people bet on things, and go further than that.
The point of any 2nd (or 3rd) theory is, presumably, to _make more and better sense than the 1st theory did._ People seem to forget this quite often, however.
@@runarvollanWhenever people roll out various Kubrick theories, I think about a particular scene from the 1986 movie,Back to School. (It has a great cast including Rodney Dangerfield, Sam Kinnison and Robert Downey Jr.) Dangerfield plays a wealthy businessman who enrolls as a freshman at the University his son attends in an attempt to improve the relationship. The scene in question is a phone call between Dangerfield’s character and Kurt Vonnegut. Rather than making an effort to complete an assigned paper on the author’s writings, he has paid Vonnegut to write the paper for him. He tells Vonnegut that he will be stopping payment on the check because according to the professor, Dangerfield doesn’t understand Kurt Vonnegut at all.
There’s a ton of hidden messages in Kubrick’s movies that he put there intentionally, but I believe there are plenty of things that he was completely unaware of on a conscious level. One thing for certain, his films are so complex, that I’m always discovering something new.
The best thing about Kubrick is that EVERY theory is right. He thought about em all!
"The truth of a thing is the feel of it, and not the think of it."
- Stanley Kubrick
I'm blown away by how good this video is. Such a great take and so well produced. Absolutely brilliant, I love it.
Thanks for the production value placing yourself there. Very snappy work. I appreciated all of the effort. I came for the Twin Peaks, stayed for the Overlook.
As much as I enjoy The Shining, this proves it could be improved with a cat in every scene.
Really well made video. But, I do disagree woth you on most things. I think you underestimate the kind of director Kubrick was. His films are always made to be dissected. He's always been a master of details, so i believe the details in his films are supposed to be looked into, because he's always telling us a story without telling us a story. He was a literal perfectionist with his directing, so i dont think everything is as clear cut and easily explained as you believe it is. But still, I enjoyed your video, and we can agree to disagree 😊
Fantastic video. Thank you for your time and effort. Inserting yourself in the movie is really neat. Growing up watching this on our bought VHS copy (still got it), I kinda had the impression that both parents had a bit of psychical powers or maybe just Jack along with Danny. Their union, after-all created Danny. Any psychic attenuation Jack might have, in conjunction with his own incurred stress and alcoholism, encourages him to come under the hotel's evil influence.. ? And then Danny's ability is intensified due to the stress, the intense terror experienced at the evil hotel. His Shining also becomes more pronounced after meeting Hallorann, before any of the shenanigans. It seems like up until the hotel, Danny didn't exhibit psychic powers otherwise there may have been a scene where his parents imply as much, but he did exhibit the effects of trauma and physical abuse at home, which is likely a type of catalyst. With the events at the hotel being a further catalyst building upon the previous abuse. All that said, the audience is meant to ponder the mystery. That in large part what makes it so compelling. All the bullshit theories on the film, one way of looking at it, is that it's a testament to its magnificence.
That's also what's implied by Doctor Sleep, essentially, especially with Danny's presence "waking up" the hotel, along with the fact that he and Abra were actually related in the novel, indicating it's passed through families.
Great "Fawlty Towers" reference, that great, mean spirited, but hilarious sitcom.
Yes! Analysis is BACK on the menu boys!
That bit where you asked the girls to stand aside made me spit out my coffee. I like your style, i'm subscribing and a new fan.
My theory, is it's an extension of The Beatles story. I'll give you a couple of examples. When Ullman is showing them around at the begining, they are walking in a line that resembles the cover of Abby Road. In order, Ullman & Lennon (the respective leaders), next, Wendy & Ringo (the goofy ones), 3rd, Jack (soul trapped) & Paul ("Paul Is Dead") and lastly, Watson (barely says a word) & George (the quiet Beatle). The attractive woman in the tub transitions into the hag. This represents John going from Cynthia to Yoko.
Joe GIRARD
Ahahaha.
@@owennelson7081EYE SCREAM
Then by the time Dick Hallorann (Billy Preston) shows up right at the end it's more or less already all over?
That's interesting since Shelley Duvall actually dated Ringo Starr during the filming of this movie
Nice touch at 12:06 when you say "excuse me coming through" then later see it was the twin children you were speaking to. Love it 😅
Regarding fact vs fiction in The Shining, it seems more and more apparent that at some point all we are watching is the horror novel Jack is struggling to write in the hotel. The red jacket is a huge tell, so is the smoking cigarette on the ashtray beside the changing typewriters.
ahahaha. How do you know Wendy didn't write the book, after she escaped?
This was much needed. I adore Kubrick’s movies and a good theory of the meaning behind them, but people always go full crackpot. Love your channel. ✌️
I've been balls deep in lengthy Shining video essays over the past few days, and this is a wonderful way to cap it all off.
A thoroughly excellent video, with some incredible filmmaking thrown in as a bonus.
Will deffo check out the rest of this series!
Typical 'i don't understand it so I sweep it under the rug and humiliate those who do understand it.' It is not the nature of Kubby that needs to be addressed. It is the nature of the world and people who run it that needs addressing. A Mystery/Underworld cult is what runs this world. Magicians. Everything you see on TV is not to entertain. Entertainment is what puts asses in the seats only. They want to condition your mind, have you take part in their rituals, plant ideas in the subconscious. It is like being in the jungle, with the jungle types, and being the only one to knows chemistry. A secret curriculum. A certain set of skills. That is like 'movie magic.' Every pixel of every frame matters. Those aren't mistakes you are cataloguing. You just don't understand the purpose and effect of what you are seeing. Or maybe you do. And your enterprise is to veil. Distract. Mock. The naked night is full of mystery. You are a man, with no torch, claiming to know what only moonlight touches.
They used to call Hollywood "The Dream Factory" and brag about how much influence film makers had on the so-called American Dream.
The axe moving in front of you at 8:56 looks perfect
And the display showing "Room 237" and "Dumb and Dumber" at 31:26 was such a great detail
Parts of this were really hard to watch, they were so nuts lol. Thanks for bringing a little sanity to the conversation. It's strange that these people don't think domestic violence is horrific enough by itself. I think theories like these partly stem from people being so obsessed with lore and easter eggs, they've forgotten how to watch a film.
Wow! Tour 'de force! Truly a masterful effort for a movie you clearly loved.
I always though the oddities (everything well lit, lights going on and off between cuts, continuity errors) were a conscious choice by Kubrick to make watching the movie intentionally unsettling and creating dread in the viewer. Great work CPF!
Hey look everybody, a SANE person talking about "The Shining"! Thank you for this. There are other debunk videos and videos that just ignore the usual conspiraceh stuff, but I loved the really saucy and creative style you used here. Automatic sub. Quick note about the Duvall thing: she has said, MORE THAN ONCE, that Kubrick wasn't "abusive", but man, people have their favorite narratives, don't they? This applies to the issue of the ghosts too, of course.
I had noticed the moving furniture at the hotel and I always liked to think it was The Overlook being creepy. Stuff dissappears and reappears and the family never notices, which is just a neat little bit of atmosphere that spooked me out.
Granted, I didn't really care if it was deliberate or not (and I doubt it was) but it was a neat thing to notice.
The moment “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”started playing at the end, I couldn’t stop laughing. There couldn’t have been a more perfect song to end this video with lmao.
Great to see you back, excited to watch this. I already know I’ll love it!
I feel the date discrepancy can be chalked up to a combination of Jack having had a drink more recently than he has told Wendy and an addict's propensity to lie.
I'd agree, but for the fact that the hotel manager specifically says there's no alcohol on site, so he wouldn't have had the chance in the intervening month.
@@Corn_Pone_Flicks "Think more fourth dimensionally."
Jack tells Wendy that he has stopped drinking ....June
Jack takes a beer on July 4th from best bud, Enabler. Does not tell Wendy of the sobriety restart.
Maybe, but I'm never willing to invent events not seen or described to explain discrepancies. Something tangible has to suggest it.
@@Corn_Pone_Flicks Let's suppose that Jack's encounter with Lloyd happens "ONE MONTH LATER" plus, say, another WEEK -- so, maybe 5 weeks after CLOSING DAY. That would be a total of 6 months pus one week since Jack had had a drink, when he told Wendy he'd never touch another drop.
Wendy presumably believes that Jack hadn't had a drop to drink for 5 months at the time she told the Doctor about the injury Danny suffered. But if Jack actually HAD snuck a drink during that 5-month period -- say, about 5 weeks into it, i.e. about 3 months and 3 weeks before he got the job as the Caretaker -- then Wendy would've been LIED TO by Jack, who had actually snuck at least one drink after having vowed NOT to, and Jack would've been telling Lloyd the truth about it being 5 miserable months rather than around 6 months plus a week or so (as Wendy thought).
Also, keep in mind that we don't know how much time passes between THE INTERVIEW (and Danny's 'episode' in Denver) and CLOSING DAY. We know that CLOSING DAY is on October 30th -- the hotel's "season" being from May 15th until then -- meaning that the first day the Torrance family is alone there is Halloween. THE INTERVIEW could have been conducted a month or two before CLOSING DAY, for all we know. I'd presume that they would've had to pack up all their belongings, storing them into some Storage facility before the end of October, since they didn't bring all their furniture & books & whatnot up to the Overlook.
If Jack was hired by Ullman -- after "the Denver people" recommended him -- say, in mid-September, that would mean that they had some 6 weeks to get ready for their CLOSING DAY tour of the hotel (etc.), with, say, another 6 weeks until Jack's encounter with Lloyd after that CLOSING DAY tour. Counting back "5 miserable months" from then (say, mid-December) would mean Jack secretly drank booze in mid-July or thereabouts. Hell, maybe he secretly tied one on on the 4th of July (some 57 years after the 1921 July 4th Ball (the PLAYGIRL magazine dating from 1978), and he chatted with Lloyd roughly 1 week into December -- say, ONE MONTH LATER + one week, i.e. from 31 October until the 4th or 5th of December.
Jack could easily have gotten drunk in July -- two to three months before THE INTERVIEW -- all while keeping Wendy ignorant of it. Jack lies to Wendy more than once in the film, so it's not as if it's out-of-character for him to have lied to her about his drinking after vowing not to drink.
It would be nice if there was a shot during the "INTERVIEW" sequence showing a Calendar with a specific MONTH depicted -- with all the past days having an 'X' drawn through their boxes -- to clue us in as to how much time passes between THE INTERVIEW and CLOSING DAY (30 October), but barring some sharp-eyed person noticing such a detail -- either at the Overlook's LOBBY or Ullman's office, or at their Denver apartment -- we just can't know how much time elapsed between those scenes.
@@patricktilton5377JESUS my brain hurts now.
These videos are criminally underrated given the above and beyond effort put into them. Great work.
Nonsense...I don't have a single video rated below 94% last I looked. Those are very good ratings.
Oh thank God for you! I'm sick to the back teeth of all these outre explanations for The Shining. Well done sir. Yours sincerely, a video essay maker for Eureka Masters Of Cinema.
I’m always skeptical when someone puts out a Kubrick movie analysis, but this was awesome. Great job.
This film fried my child mind back in the early 80s didn't watch it again till late 90s but I was on acid 😮 so I avoided it again until 2010s now I actually like it 😅
Thank you for this. I know it's difficult to be reasonable on the internet.
I compensate with wheelbarrows full of sarcasm.
This is the first video I've watched by you and I'm very impressed. Also you kind of remind me of Brad Dourif (it's a complement I promise)
It's not the first time I've heard that.
Really love when you have a new video. I saw that crazy doc on netflix a few years back and had lots of laughs and very similar thoughts to you.
Very entertaining. Just discovered your channel right now. Loving your commentary on debunking all these silly theories. Instant subscribe. Love the editing and production of this video. Keep up the great work, mate.
THANK YOU! An intelligent (and funny) debunking of the BS that has grown up around Kubrick's truly great movie!
Incredible video, as always. The knowledge, editing, and humor make these top tier content. I stumbled on your channel originally from Twin Peaks recommendations, but have loved everything I've seen on here. Keep it up, these are all fascinating and a great value to movie lovers.
I think people's own personal theories that they believe explains a movie, somehow on a deeper level-as in subconsciously or in some other meta or esoteric way. They're really telling more about themselves and what the film and their own theory says about themselves and their own history of their life. And this isn't some new idea or revelation. That's just what personal interpretation does and says.
The Shining is a great film because of how well it was written, filmed (directed and produced), framed, edited, and promoted/distributed. It being a Kubrick film and due to Kubrick's reputation-rumored and made legendary by fans own personal theories and interests. That is what has made films like, The Shining, and Eyes Wide Shut his two biggest theorized films for so many years.
I really appreciate and thank you for your honest and explicit breakdown of what Kubrick and the source material has really said this movie is about. It's "hidden in plane sight" because so many people are looking for something more than what already is a really good film and story that is in itself a clear warning of the dangers that humans are susceptible to.
Hey brother, I really enjoyed your video on The Shining, it's my favorite film of all time..I've literally watched everything on this movie that's out there my friend, and I have to correct you on one thing sir..when that set burned down, Stanley had already finished filming ALL of the scenes in The Colorado Lounge (which is the only part of the set that burned down) and that's why you have that picture of him laughing..they NEVER rebuilt that set unfortunately brother..I am also not sure about the continuity thing either..you are correct, many directors change things around and such, but this was Stanley Kubrick my friend, can any of us actually know how a man with a 200 IQ thinks?..I mean Einstein's IQ was 165 - 170 and we're still trying to figure him out completely..either way, I really enjoyed your take, and it was cool how you put yourself in the many famous places at the Overlook..nice job buddy, any chance of a part 2?..thanks and be well brother..Peace ✌️🪓
If only the Torrances had brought a cute lil cat with them; maybe that could have countered the insanity factor.
I’ve watched all your twin peaks videos. For the past two nights I’ve had insomnia and been watching analysis videos of the shining, and then this pops up? Eerie!
Thank you for pointing out the absurdity of Wendy being the villain/abuser and hallucinating the whole story. While she did stay with Jack keeping her son in a dangerous situation this made her an enabler of abuse not the main abuser. I do think the ghosts are real. That always seemed clear to me. Great video. LOVED the Gordon Cole scene.
F***in THANK YOU.
3:40 The Tennis ball is YELLOW in Danny's play scene.
Every recent version of the film I've seen has had a pink ball in that scene, and...it makes me wanna go all Jack Torrance on whoever made the decision to change the color in that scene.
Little details in movies might mean...something.
Room 237 fact: 2x,3=6X7= 42 ...fact the word devil or d evil is in the KJV Bible 42 times...much or about this.but im not esposed to esposed to talk about it.
I'm sorry; what language is this? "Esposed" isn't even a word.
Oh man, this was so Genius.
I've seen tons of mock-and-documentaries about this movie, but yours is among the best. I laughed my ass of the whole time, best scene was the twins singing for Mothra😂
Great sense of humor.
Can't thank you enough for this❤ Absolute brillant
Gotta say your fx work is excellent - fun ideas, great execution.
Rob at Collative Learning has done a few examinations of the Shining. One amusing point is, as you note as well, how bright everything is. As Rob puts it, as Jack first tours the hotel, everything Shines.
Matt Murray, if you read these comments, forgive me if dissing another TH-camr in the comments is considered bad form, but, Rob Ager is an idiot.
Me doing it might be, but your opinion is your opinion no matter where you post it.
I basically quit watching his stuff after he made a video allegedly discussing his dislike for seeing girls beat up guys on film because it killed his suspension of disbelief, but then went on to cite as examples the prequel to The Thing, which is in no way about physically combating the monster, and Logan, where the girl has literal superpowers that keep her from dying and claws that cut through anything...by those criteria, she will eventually win every fight for the same reason Wolverine will. It felt very much like he just didn't like female protagonists in general and didn't want to admit it. The whole thing felt very dishonest and made me doubt the sincerity of his arguments as a whole.
Rob Ager is a hack and is incorrect on nearly every hypothesis he suggests
@@Corn_Pone_Flicks This is just the tip of the Ager is an idiot iceberg.
@@Corn_Pone_Flicks Does anyone else read Matt's comments and hear it, in your head, in Matt's voice?
Watch out. Rob ager from collative learning will freak out about this. 😂😂
Every time someone makes a video about the shining that he doesn't agree with he'll make videos about the them. Pretty passive aggressive and cringe but gives the other person some good exposure i guess!!
Epic, just epic. As much as I’ve enjoyed seeing things like the Wendy is the abuser thesis, it always seemed like a stretch. You are Occam’s Razor, and a fine one at that.
I remember an old TH-cam video called something like “Ancient Aliens Debunked” where an archaeologist went story by story of that awful show and showed with scientific proof why each idea was a crock of shit. This video joins that one in my pantheon of favorites.
I should look that video up, if it's still here. I've read lots of books and the old CSICOP journals about UFOs, and I'd probably find it entertaining.
My personal favorite piece of nonsense about UFO footage, which goes on to this day, is the constant attribution of movement to the blurry object at the end of a long zoom rather than that of the camera taking the footage. Do these people look through telescopes and wonder why the moon is bouncing around in the sky, too?
@@Corn_Pone_Flicks Exactly! My personal favorite of that Ancient Aliens debunked video is one of geographic simplicity. They highlighted a Stone Age society and mentioned this giant wall with perfectly carved boulders of such precision and size. Obviously this Stone Age settlement did not have the tools to make such precise cuts in the rocks……
cue the Aliens meme guy.
The real answer was that although the settlement didn’t have the tools to make the wall, a Bronze Age settlement lie just over the hill a few kilometers away- and they sure did, and with the archaeological evidence of stones in both sites, it’s easy to put the pieces together. I’ll try to find a link for you. It’s a classic.
Found it:
th-cam.com/video/j9w-i5oZqaQ/w-d-xo.htmlsi=AKpMGqUmx5Pvul8v
Thanks for debunking all that nonsense out there about this movie. I’ve watched them and thought they were really reaching, but when you pointed out that they attached to theory to subjects they were themselves interested in. Good job.
As someone who has watched every shitty Shining analysis video on TH-cams, I want to thank you for making this one which is not shitty. I've loved a lot of your Lynch vids but this is an absolute tour de force my friend
You really don't have to look far to see the film hidden within the film, but it is the hidden film that is well known. The horror film, hidden [in plain sight] within a Kubrick film.
Kubrick films are about the human condition, and here he discusses fear, and how horror feeds on our fears. Jack's biggest fear is that he might be the type of monster who could hurt his family. Confronted with the isolation that so many other authors benefit from [I haven't checked the numbers on how many go stir crazy], and reminded of the Hotel's history, he finds his inspiration and writes a horror story that will still be discussed 40 years later.
And the Torrances lived happily ever after.
Did anyone notice @02:43 to @02:48 the tagline at the bottom of the bookcover of The Shining? Christ, now I'm committed to rewatching this.
I always thought the Apollo 11 moon landing theory was pretty compelling.
Weren't they also watching the movie Summer of 42 on the TV that wasn't plugged in?
You give off Brad Dourif vibes and I think that’s awesome.
This is really good. I speak with some authority on the issue as I have made video essays about the same topic. No, I'm not dropping a plug. This day belongs to Matt Murray.
I'm of the mind that the continuity errors are merely continuity errors, but the idea that the two Grady first names might be a mistake was something I had never considered. I was happy to say that the disappearing chair, the revolving carpet, these were clearly unintentional, but the idea that they could get the first name of a character wrong--I assumed that was beyond the pale. I actually had, what I thought, was a very plausible explanation for the two first names, but Murray has wielded Occam's Razor with greater determination and whittled down the mystery to barest essence.
Huzzah!
Which “supernatural/paranormal” phenomena is Kubrick referencing in the interviews? Ghosts or ESP?
He doesn't say. It's not as if one is more logical than the other, though.
I really enjoyed that this video went down the bizarre "Shining Rabbit Hole" so I did not have to, and I'm grateful to your efforts. ❤
Nice job and quite refreshing after some of those whack-a-doodle theories out there.
Nice, what about the shone report?
We need to stop worrying about "authorial intent." Once the film is cut and released, that it! Just because David Chase says Tony Soprano was shot after everything went black has NO BEARING on what we can take from the artwork.
The artist needs an audience. What the audience sees in the art is not up to debate, really. It's a reaction. I once read a newspaper column where people were asked what is their favorite song and why. Six out of ten named a song and said, "This song is about ME and my mother/brother/father (fill in the blank.)
Depends if whether or not authors are honest about their intent or not.
@@rmj8905 Yes. In fact, all our pop culture needs to be examined for: who were these people who made these "entertainments" for us? Because when you look into it, it's not a slice of apple pie America making the films!
I love The Shining. I've been watching videos about it here on TH-cam over the last few days, and yours is by far my favorite. I laughed a bunch of times and I'll probably watch it again. I totally agree with you about how batshit most of the theories about it are, including those laid out in Room 237. Like you, I think it's stupid to come up with convoluted theories about tiny details that can probably be ascribed to continuity/human error and could never have been expected to picked up on by viewers in the pre-home theater and computer era of the late 1970s.. Nevertheless, I love Room 237 and will probably continue watching more of these videos "explaining" the film just because it's fun to see the perspectives of people who are are intrigued by it as I am.
I remember a professor totally blowing my mind by pointing out ways that small details foreshadowed later events in a short story I wrote, none of which I had intended. Since then I've been a little more open to the idea that the interpretations people come up when experiencing art (a term I use extremely loosely re: to my college short story) are valid/worth considering even if they aren't in line with anything the artist intended when creating the piece. But yeah, the moon landing and backwards/forwards theories are insane.
Thank you for pointing out how ridiculous these "conspiracy theories" and "easter eggs" can be. Funny enough, I watched the video you referenced before yours.
Which one? There's so many.
It's not complicated. Danny and the cook early on show that the telepathy 'shining' is real and that there is darkness in the Hotel. This is not all going on in Jack's head. The Hotel has an evil presence and works through certain people like Jack who are susceptible and can be manipulated. Jack already has the darkness in him and the hotel uses it by getting Jack into debt to gain Danny but Danny outsmarts him. All the changes aren't of any significance they are not even errors, they are things that they had to change in order to get the shots they wanted and didn't expect that years later people would be analysing it on youtube. If they walk out of wrong store room it's because they wanted the camera shot of going in to be tracking through the big kitchen but then going somewhere else afterward, they didn't think people would notice in a single f#%king viewing in a movie theatre. look at all the changes in any movie at the time, Their job is to make a creepy movie in a few months so that people pay to see it and tell their friends it was good so that they pay to see it in the 8 weeks while it is still in movie theatres. That's It!!! No hidden messages!!! 😂😂😂
A Friday treat. Another great video. So nice to hear your take on this. I have always taken this as an allegory for addiction and how it affects families and can be passed on.
Definitely, and Doctor Sleep only made that more obvious.
Jack T. and Mandy C. in EWS have a similar problem.
This was an awesome video, and I will add this theory to the list of all the other theories about the movie! Can't get enough of them.
The video got the like, but the way you say MSTRMND got the subscription. Thank you, it was a very nice snowball to the face after I went too far down the Shining rabbit hole.
Thanks...my wife laughed at that bit, too.
Obviously a lady of taste. I look forward to watching you guys' back catalogue!
You contradict yourself several times. What is worse is quoting the film maker and then disregarding what he said about the film that he made. This is just another Shinning video on TH-cam.
It's "Shining." Jesus Christ....
Would you care yo actually specify what contradiction I supposedly made, or am I supposed to guess?
Great Take! Your editing and comedic style is second to none in The Shining videos! Well done!
How the hell does this not have over a million views? Absolutely excellent video!
It's only been up a few months...by my general standards, it's doing incredibly well. It's basically everything else on this channel that has no views.
@@Corn_Pone_Flicks I don’t think that’ll be the case much longer. Keep up the good work dude!
@@flynn6854 As I've discovered, TH-cam traffic is much like music sales in the 1980s...just because people loved the single doesn't mean they go out and buy the album. They just buy the single and then move to the next single by someone else. This platform wants people to just churn out content on the same topic over and over, and I'm just not doing that. My real job is boring enough without my hobby being boring, too. But glad you enjoyed it.
That was almost as entertaining as the as The Shining it's self
great and dont forget the elements of mother and sons. Represented en the morning breakfast. a mini portable camera from Dany. And later when they enter the labertinth, Wendy carries a polaroid and Dany his camera but when they are inside de maze, Dany have no longer his camera. I dont know may be The Shining indeed start with a new gender, the Analogic Horror. snuff movies, the death on video, its the camera and the video culture. I dont know I give up. Stanley´s intention is hide Dany´s camera over his legs and remarc with the face of the horror in the expression of Jack...the begining of the horror...the horror...the horror...like Coronel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now.
And that adds up to what, exactly?
@@Corn_Pone_Flicks I dont know...
I do think there's stuff under the surface narrative. Kubrick said as much, IIRC. Probably not as much as some people have theorized, but definitely some. The Native American stuff is for sure there, and I think the theory that Jack sexually abused Danny in room 237 (and that the scene with Jack in the room is a symbolic version of that) holds water. I also think that one can make references to things without the movie necessarily being "about" that thing. (I.e., yeah, maybe there's a reference to the Holocaust here or there, but that's just there for thematic resonance.) It is certainly true that Kubrick meant his films to have meaning beyond the surface story.
I do think the spatial impossibility of the hotel is deliberate. I think it's mean to keep the viewer disoriented. Likewise I take many of the continuity errors to be along the same lines. One could also interpret it as the hotel itself moving things around.
The reincarnation stuff I think I understand. All of the "ghosts" (Grady, Lloyd, etc) are not people, per se, but faces the hotel uses to interact with Jack. The picture at the end shows that Jack is now one of those faces.
What about the theory that what's going on in the film is spliced with the story that Jack writes? I thought that was simple enough, yet can allow for a number of discrepancies.
Like all the others, I simply see no evidence presented in the film to suggest this. It's trying to complicate things unnecessarily.
I think why people do this with The Shining in particular is that it's a perfect storm of a movie. It's made by a meticulous filmmaker. It's made by someone who has done 'deep' movies before(2001). It's approachable because it's a horror movie. It stars Jack Nicholson in peak Jack Nicholson form. It's based on a story written by one of the most popular writers of all time. Last but not least, all this overheated analysis provides opportunity to create content at a time when there are lots of people creating content. No internet in existence means no 10000 theories on what The Shining is really about. My theory on that topic is that I think what Hallorann tells Danny is the truth. The shining is some kind of psychic power, the hotel IS haunted, but only people with the shining can see the ghosts. Everything in the movie is consistent with that and Kubrick devoted a lot of screen time to that conversation. I'm supposed to believe that conversation was a lie or just Wendy or Jack's delusion? No.
So Wendy has the shining too? Because she saw ghosts at the end
@@merrillolen9555 If you notice, she only sees them AFTER the family has been there for awhile. I think this is because the hotel needs to feed off Danny's shining in order to start manifesting ghosts in a way that anyone can see. That also explains why Jack didn't see anything when he went for his interview. He didn't have Danny with him.
I hate how so many people approach art as a puzzle to be solved rather than something to experience. Sure analysis can often give us a deeper insight into how they present their themes and what it might say (intentionally or not) about the culture it came from, but that's very different. Like I think the Native designs and art throughout the hotel is reminding us of the building's origin and the idea that it might be cursed, but that doesn't mean the movie is *about* native genocide.
Having said that I actually really enjoyed Room 237, not cos I believed the theories or thought they were good insights, but cos I think it's an interesting look into the ways that people essentially read what they want to into media
In all my research this is the best breakdown of The Shining I've seen. Thank you for sticking to the evidence.
3:05 Basil Fawlty nameplate. Ok, I’ll watch. 😂. The Adler typewriter is probably just what the set designer could get as it was shot in England, the U.S. Much more common to find Europe brands in EUROPE.
I'm pretty sure it was Kubrick's actual typewriter, but I'm not certain.
@@Corn_Pone_Flicks So . . . what was with "Basil Fawlty?" Is it just a random reference or is there a joke I'm not getting?
Enjoyed this thoroughly. How many hours did it take to do this? Insane amount of work I imagine. Perhaps the movie drives people mad, just like the hotel?
"Perhaps the movie drives people mad, just like the hotel?"
I couldn't have said it better.
"however if you have some elaborate notion that outside the hotel where you can't even see there's a horde of zombies running around, that's a delusion"
Or it could be imagination, like the type an author would use to write a book.
Yes, but that's not the subject I was discussing there. I was discussing the Wendy Theory and why blaming it on Wendy hallucinating doesn't work. Context matters.
The fact that the name was changed in both the script and in the finished film, would suggest that the name change wasn't in error. Therefore it serves a purpose. Or two. Firstly it triggers the audience into thinking "Ooh, that's scary" Secondly, it points to the fact that Jack has changed the name, for the purpose of his book.
The continuity errors are not the hallucinations of any character, it is the weak imagination of the reader. When we read the book, we do not get a detailed description of the hotel on every page. And so our imaginations forget irrelevant details.
Just found your page and wow what a great analysis. Your video work/editing is awesome as well. Following you and will definitely check out your other videos 👍
You have the gift. Thanks for SHINING on some real truth. My theory is, if Kubrick was still alive, he might have done a 50th anniversary re-edited version, "corrrrecctttingg" these errors, ... to be released in 2030??
I only disagree that the continuity "errors" weren't there on purpose. They're just red herrings. They have nothing to do with anything, it's just the hotel being enigmatic and Kubrick just did it to mess with us. They filmed all of these scenes numerous times, so there is no way this stuff wasn't caught.
Also the "partly-obscured Calumet can" theory is really silly and while I think the image of the Indian was intentionally highlighted and shown to the audience, I think the guy missed the forest for the trees when he focused on it in Room 237.
I'm really enjoying this, great work with all the self-insertions into the film. At 6:26 though both the question and the answer about the supernatural are explicitly about the novel; Kubrick even takes care to repeat "the novel" in his answer.
Wow the work that went into this video is amazing. Love the video. The script and visuals you add are very well done. The editing is spot on and very well done. Just subbed
this was hilarious...all this overthinking the film has made my head hurt for decades
The best “The Shining analysis” video intro ever!
Always love a new video drop from this channel. Love the production, your approach to analysis and the humour. Please keep doing your thing.
Damn! This Video is awesome!!!
WOW Matt! You fully and intelligently expressed everything that I have thought about all these crackpot theories. You made it fun, you made sense, and you made your points well. THANK YOU. I’m now a fan and look forward to viewing the other things that you have to offer. VIVA MATT MURRAY!
Are deliberate tropes, paintings on walls this paintings very precisely chosen to be in exact place and represents exact motif. Fact alone that people investigates and search meaning you can not dismiss. Secondary subconscious choices of Kubrick, person which not aware this interpretation open to debate, people makes choices not aware of them. subconscious makes 1/3 of our life so you cannot dismiss 1/3 information just because it not fits your perfect rational perfectly controllable life.
Kubrick does a lot of copying of other films, check out Shining Insight's and Tankard of Tales' channels.
@@watermelonlalala Yes I know and Tankard of Tales' also trending and I watch. I think video entire argue that people and conspiracy theorist in demeaning notion of that term.
What psychologists call apophenia-the human tendency to see connections and patterns that are not really there-gives rise to conspiracy theories.
His argument People try see meaning in Kubrick movies where is not meaning, which this video essay premise. And he loosing a lot on this argument. Kubrick inserts: Deliberate surroundings props, , dates, phrases, cryptic cypher HAL=IBM is "Caesar cipher" have meaning do you like that or nor.
@@phyarth8082 Yes.
Great Video, Thank You 😀
Your math bit made me spit out my drink. So now I have to pour my 4th drink for the 2nd time. Holy hell Batman!
This is the type of video I wish I could push the Like button more than once! Great image to the “All work and no play” scene. Thank you!
Beat me to this exact sentiment.
You have done a FANTASTIC job!! Finally a Shining analysis that makes sense! By the way, I did enjoy the mini series because it was closer to the books which are my favorite telling of the story hands down (the Shining and Dr. Sleep). The books are tied into Kings other stories which is a detail that I absolutely love. Anyway, well done. 🙂
I very much enjoyed King's book and Kubrick's film, but that mini-series...my biggest beef with it is that the directing is terrible. It's utterly lacking in subtlety-Horace Derwent exploding into a shower of sand for no reason, CGI fire hoses with teeth, doors moving and lights flickering every single time the characters leave the room...honestly, Kubrick's directing feels more like the novel's approach to scares even when the actual events are different.
I think the main reason people love talking about this film still is the mystery of what it all means. Would anyone be particularly interested in the Jack The Ripper murders if the criminal had been caught and no mystery?