NFL
By: Brock Vierra
As Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 cultural phenomenon continues to age like fine wine, we take an in-depth look inside The Shining. A film based on Stephen King’s novel, it serves as a piece of American cinema and culture. It is Americana itself with its scenes constantly being referenced till today. A straightforward film till its shocking ending, I take a look into the classic and present my interpretation of one of the most beloved films of all time. Spoilers throughout.
I recently watched this film on a whim, and I was initially left with confusion. However, through quiet thought and a pondering of online opinions, here’s my take on the film. We start at the end. After Jack Torrance froze to death while his wife and son escaped in Dick Hallorann’s snowcat, we seem to have drawn a final conclusion to a complete narrative. If you thought that, you’d be naive like me. The shocking final scene where we see Jack photographed in the hotel’s ballroom almost 50 years before the film’s events has drawn questions about what it means. Here’s what I think.
In that photograph, Jack is in front. He is the first person we see. The reason is that he wasn’t in the photograph until he died. I believe the Overlook Hotel doubles as sort of a heaven or an afterlife. A place for departed souls. While Jack looked over the hotel over winter, his son Danny used the empty halls to explore on his tricycle. Jack’s wife Wendy is a curious soul. In their time at the hotel, there’s no chance that neither saw a picture with Jack on the forefront. Especially with the lack of things there to distract them. Therefore, Jack wasn’t in the photo until his demise.
But then that brings us to the position he was hired for. The Winter Caretaker position. A position that already has a rough history with the Grady family murder at the hands of patriarch Charles Grady. As previously mentioned, I see the Overlook as a sort of heaven. Gifted the power from being built on a Native American burial ground, we see Jack overlooking the maze from the hotel. Like God watching his children, Jack sees Wendy and Danny navigate through the hedges. Vested with this building that operates as a live look into the world, not only do we see Danny’s use of “the shining” when he witnesses the murdered members of the Grady family. In the same way, Jack also has “the shining” through his interactions with Lloyd, Delbert Grady, and the deceased members of the ballroom. Keep in mind that in the same way, Jack sees the maize, his constant glances into the camera act as a fourth wall as he watches us as well. Shining a light into the confusion we experience.
However, we notice that Jack’s interactions with the deceased and Danny’s never intertwine. Danny doesn’t see what Jack does nor does Jack see what Danny sees. Even in the one interaction they both share which is with Mrs. Grady, something even Dick Hallorann knows about, they see her differently. Hallorann sees her as a monster, just like Danny. However, Jack sees her as this beautiful woman whom he subsequently tries to cheat on his wife with. I think this illustrates that “the shining” has two separate threads connecting the good with other good to defeat evil while the bad connects with the bad to promote evil.
Jack’s interactions with “the shining” are with Lloyd, a bartender who provides him with the vice that caused him to abuse his son, Delbert Grady who quote on quote “corrected” his family, and Mrs. Grady who hurt his son, Danny. The alcohol gives him the liquid courage to do what Delbert asks of him while the old Mrs. Grady shows Jack how to do it. In the same breath, Danny’s shining allows Hallorann to come back to the hotel to save him and his mom while simultaneously giving him the courage to trap his father in the maze.
As Hallorann is the cook and Jack is the caretaker, those positions are held for good and evil. The manager Stuart Ullman is God and he allows these forces to battle in the secluded Overlook Hotel. Keep in mind that despite the appearance that Ullman’s office is within the walls of the hotel, there is a window that lets light shine through. We also see moral ambiguities throughout the hotel as well possibly illustrating the constant battle between right and wrong, good and evil. The blood coming out of the elevator signifies the slain Natives, killed to build the hotel. We see the man in the bear costume performing fellatio on the rich man. We see murder, violence, and death at every turn. This is a battleground between morality and the violent tendencies of humanity.
I believe that the caretaker and the cook are replaceable positions that are inherited by those who are meant to put forth the message from each side. Like Lucifer versus Michael, the story is Jack versus Danny. Good versus evil. So when Jack dies and he is then imprinted in the photograph, he is now trapped in hell like Lucifer was when he was expelled from heaven.
When we think of hell, the common image is a fiery pit but those who live in cold temperatures understand the burn from the cold. The frozen Jack looks to be a victim of a freezer burn.
Now for what was Danny and Jack battling for? I think it was Wendy. As Ullman alludes to, the history of the hotel has made those who applied for the caretaker position withdraw their name for consideration. Maybe there isn’t always a winter caretaker, only those called to settle a score. Jack is irritated by his family from the first time we see them all together. The car ride where Wendy mentions the Donner Party and their demise. Maybe Jack’s entire purpose was to kill Wendy. She is the one Jack is always after and the only confirmed murders in said hotel were of the Grady’s, two daughters, and the wife. All women.
Maybe it goes back to the traditions of a female sacrifice. The problem is that we never know what happens immediately following these events. Yes, a sequel came out in 2019 but Kubrick didn’t direct it and as there were major differences between the film and the book, this is Kubrick’s narrative.
What I do think is that a film made over forty years ago is still being debated about today. That is a testament to the work of Kubrick, Stephen King, Kubrick’s screenplay partner Diane Johnson, Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Scatman Crothers, Danny Lloyd, and the rest of the cast and crew. This film is a timeless classic that continues to make me question it.
