But there are also plenty of ludicrously far-fetched The Shining conspiracy theories that made the cut as well. The Shining's Overlook Hotel itself also has a history of cyclical violence: it was built over an Indian burial ground, and by its existence is a testament to the violence of colonization. ", Danny: "I dont wanna talk about Tony any more.". But that hasnt stopped people all over the world from trying. The bear symbolizes homosexuality and sexual abuse. But, to be perfectly honest, every other piece of evidence in support of this theory is beyond far-fetched and not to be taken seriously. Traces of his films can even be seen decades after their release; Interstellar and The Tree of Life (2001 : A Space Odyssey), Trainspotting (A Clockwork Orange), almost every heist movie pays tribute to The Killing, Alice in Wonderland (The Shining) or House of Cards (Eyes Wide Shut). Its understood for people to develop a separate identity as a result of trauma, with the identity built upon the very details of such incidents, i.e, Tony living in Dannys mouth and Dannys reluctance to talk about it. There seems to be many hints in the film that Wendy is aware of her sons abuse and is covering up and denying the issue. One of the most persuasive is the reoccurrence of The Shining bear symbolism. There are many reasons why Stanley Kubricks The Shining is considered one of the most influential horror movies of all time. Also to be noted, this is the first time we see Jack in the burgundy jacket, the color similar to that of the liquid gushing out of the elevator in Dannys vision. This interpretation suggests that the changing layout of the hotel and moving objects aremetaphorsto indicate that the Torrance family is suffering from hallucinations. In the scene, Wendy Torrance (Shelley Duvall) is roaming through the halls of The Overlook Hotel with a knife when she approaches a door at the end of. 'The Shining:' Who is the Man in the Bear Costume? Tony is a little boy that lives in my mouth, Danny states, complaining about his mental condition, to which the doctor replies: If you were to open your mouth could I see TonyDoes Tony ever ask you to do things?. The sequel to The Shining, 2019's Doctor Sleep movie managed to walk a delicate tightrope between adapting King's Shining sequel book and being a follow-up to Kubrick's Shining movie. #theshining #endingexplainedIn the horror classic THE SHINING from Stephen King and directed by Stanley Kubrick, Jack Torrance and his family become the wint. Further evidence includes the cases of Tang in the Overlooks pantry and the otherwise innocuous change from Room 217 in the novel to Room 237 in the film. But also the sexual abuse is shown in a scene between Jack and his father in the bizarre scene with the man in the bear costume and older gentleman. While some fans felt this missed an opportunity to add some meaning to The Shining bear suit, Flanagan felt trying to give the bear from The Shining a backstory would disrupt the rest of the movie. The most obvious parallel is that both stories feature their combating opponents showing down in a sprawling maze. The video was called The Shining Who is the man in the bear costume. In particular, we see Jack Nicholson and James Mason having a personal chat, while the rest of Masons family meet Kubrick himself. Coming back to The Overlook, Jack then starts hacking through the main door of their quarters with an axe, while Wendy and Danny run into the bathroom. Either way though, it's a haunting moment in The Shining, as the dynamic between the two men is uncomfortable, to say the least. Danny goes back to his room to get his firetruck and sees a grim looking Jack, his face shown through the mirror again. Theres an evil side to it. This is one of the more compelling The Shining theories and there is a lot of ancillary evidence to support it. He also informs Danny about the hotels ability to shine owing to its tragic past from being built on an Indian burial site to the murders, discovered and undiscovered. This is the same mirror in which Wendy hugs Danny before seeing the REDRUM graffiti on the bathroom door. The Shining Explained . Strangelove, at once scary and comical; the brutal pop future of A Clockwork Orange; the raw intimacy of the exchanges between Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in Eyes Wide Shut. This is the kind of influence he had on other directors in the industry including legends like Spielberg and Scorsese, who aimed to shoot as precisely as him. Danny and Wendy explore the maze and tired of throwing the ball around, Jack proceeds to gaze over the model of the maze, which is very complexly built compared to the actual maze and symbolizes a sense of psychological entrapment. However, skeptics would say these could easily be a result of simple continuity errors. Quite sensibly quoting Martin Scorsese Watching a Kubrick film is like gazing up at a mountaintop. Jack gets annoyed by Wendy coming in while he was working and tries hard not to completely lose it. Jack then goes after Danny, who runs into the hedge maze all this during a snowstorm. In the psychiatrist scene Danny lays on the bed with his jeans removed and his hands curiously covering his groin area, just as Jack did in the fatherly love scene. Some details supporting the latter is that Jack leers at other women several times in the film. The ghost is Delbert Grady, and the past caretaker was Charles Grady. Stanley Kubrick's iconic Stephen King adaptation is intentionally dense and even nonsensical at times. The second obvious factor is that Kubrick has omitted the entire back story associated to the dog costumed man in the book, leaving his audience at a complete loss as to the scenes meaning. There are lots of parallels going on here. The film within a film parallel is also hinted at by the television content initially filling up our entire view of the scene before zooming out to reveal Danny and Wendy in the lobby. Because of that, The Shining book and movie are very different entities, and details that are explained or at least easier to interpret in the novel are either not included or left very ambiguous in the film. Danny cleverly retraces back his footsteps and makes a false trail to confuse an already transfixed Jack and audience (the high pitched score literally tears you apart with anxiety and the fact that Kubrick changed the whole story in favor of a more pessimistic theme leaves you wondering about the outcome), who follows the footprints to get nowhere. Its also possible that the framing of the bear picture is a parallel of the felatio bear being seen within a door frame. The Shining Ending Explained: Why Jack Is In The Photo, The Shining Movie's Most Significant Difference From Stephen King's Book, IT Chapter Two's Shining Reference Hints At Stephen King's Shared Universe, The Shining Has An Alternate Ending You Will NEVER See, What Jack Nicholson Was Really Like Filming The Shining, Lloyd the bartender was never a real person, The Shining: The True Story & Real-Life Hotel Behind The Movie. About the Jack in the picture, Kubrick confirmed that it wasnt taken at The Overlook and doesnt serve as an evidence of Gradys claim that Jack had always been the caretaker. In this post, well break down the six biggest theories on The Shining, including our own theory that its actually a Christmas movie! Is this implying that Jack forced his son to perform felatio in the fatherly love scene? Roger in his costume, jumping, running, barking, howling, and absolutely humiliating himself in front of an assortment of celebrators. His name is a rightful synonym for perfection, with even his errors draining the life out of you in deciphering the genius behind them. At first glance, the scene in which The Shining bear appears seems brief and, quite frankly, somewhat forgettable given all the other intense imagery in Kubrick's classic. This fan theory posits that Danny is Theseus and Jack is the minotaur in Kubricks extended metaphor. Perhaps the most analyzed part of The Shining is the ending; the final shot in the Stephen King movie adaptation is a 1921 photograph showing Jack with other guests in the hotels ballroom. This is thought to reference the estimated 237,000 miles between the Earth and the moon, even though this number is inaccurate. In an interview (via Huffington Post), Doctor Sleep director Mike Flanagan discussed why he didn't include this particular character, and his reasoning makes sense. Notice how we are shown a symmetrical window centered shot, this is because the placement of the window is impossible. Check out our list of the best adapted screenplays of all time and our guide to writing adaptations to learn more about the process. Lover of foreign films; hater of American remakes. The Bear Man is the biggest evidence of Dannys sexual abuse. Did Jack put them there? The sighting of the pair in the novel, then, doesn't have much to do with Danny and Jack Torrance, at least not as clearly as in Ager's film analysis. Specifically, the spaceship sweater with Apollo 11 written on it, which was the name of the rocket used in the moon landing. Danny writes REDRUM with a red crayon on the door of the bathroom while Wendys sleeping and starts repeating it to wake her up. Charles Grady killed his family with an axe, and Jack was on track to replicate that. He was a figure associated with a variety of grand adventures throughout his life, the grandest of which being his ordeal with King Minos minotaur in the labyrinth. This led to him intentionally reversing a lot of features from the book, changing them, experimenting with them and using disrupted continuity. This is typed inconsistently throughout , with typos and no punctuations highlighting Jacks own ever-growing trance or unstable mental health over the course. Notice how we are shown a freaked out Jack through the mirror (reality) calling Danny to come to him. So how can you break put from the pack and get your idea onto the small screen? Its understandable: Kubrick asked for freedom to change whatever he wanted, and he wasnt kidding. A popular theory, and one that has gone very deep into the symbolism of The Shining, says that the film also addresses sexual abuse. Mr Ullmann converses with Jack regarding formal details and warns him about the history of the Overlook. Kubricks mind is the limit to its extensiveness. Because what we really see are two different versions. It's certainly an impactful moment that brings the movie full circle, seeing Jack become a part of the famous Overlook hotel ghosts once and for all. The Shining bear is no different, and, if Rob Ager's theory is correct, could explain a much darker nature to the relationship between Danny Torrance (Danny Lloyd) and his father, Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson). Believers in this theory also suggest that the tidal wave of blood in the famous elevator scene represents the collective spilled blood of Native Americans. The number 42 was shown on Dannys shirt as a parallel with the sexual relationship content of the film Summer of 42, and Danny is wearing it in the early summer scenes of the film. These observations could easily be interpreted as evidence that Wendy has also had an incestuous relationship with Danny, but my guess is the older woman relationship refers to the woman in room 237, who we know is simply a dream manifestation of Jack. Parents just don't understand. For all of the supernatural twists and turns in The Shining's story, knowing that it's based on a real location makes the film (and its ending) all the creepier, even though King reportedly hated many of the changes. King famously hated the adaptation in Kubricks film because it was such a far cry from his original story. The young woman had inexplicably transformed into an old lady who walks after the frantic Jack laughing all the while. Because the movie's Overlook Hotel was built on an Indian burial ground, the blood coming out from the elevator has been interpreted as that of the Indians buried there. Master the art of visual storytelling with our FREE video series on directing and filmmaking techniques. Perhaps the Overlook hotel is merely something of a mental prison for Danny, with his peculiar powers bringing in the consciousnesses of his mother and father in order to process his sexual abuse. He was an auteur with an exclusive vision and wouldnt settle for anything less. Here he is discussing said adaptation. This imagery in itself is enough to unsettle some people. Danny who witnesses this screams from the cupboard he was hiding in, runs towards the maze when Jack starts getting closer. Jack calls Danny and makes him sit on his lap while asking him about the Overlook and if he liked it, saying I want you to like it with a weak smile while rubbing Dannys shoulder, emphasizing the control he is inflicting. The Shining is full of allegory and mystery, but none are as wild and potentially insidious as what could be lurking behind that strange man in a bear suit. All the aforementioned signs, and many more, point to the likelihood that Jack sexually abused Danny, making sense of the childs fragile mental state where he frequently has terrifying visions about the vast hotel. There are emotional passages and images and spaces in his films that have an inexplicable power, with a magnetic force that draws you in slowly, mysteriously: the boys rides on his Big Wheel through the endless corridors of the hotel in The Shining; the monumental silence of outer space in 2001: A Space Odyssey; the inhuman pace of the first half of Full Metal Jacket, building up to its logical, murderous conclusion; the grandeur of the war room in Dr. However, there are two different levels to this theory, and one is far more apparent than the other. Jack had a history of anger issues and violence, mainly against his family. Theres something inherently wrong with the human personality. The bear man appears to be giving felatio to the man on the bed, just as the dog man in the book was carrying out a sexual submission role with his partner. Since the movie is so extensive, lets discuss about three independently primary talking points : Jack, Overlook Hotel and the Bear Man. Wendy Torrance, (played by Shelly Duvall) frantically roams the halls of the Overlook Hotel looking for her son Danny while her husband, Jack Torrence ( played by Jack Nicholson) goes on an axe rampage. Keen-eyed viewers have pointed out before that the issue of Playgirl magazine Jack Torrance is reading in one scene has an article titled "Incest: Why Parents Sleep With Their Children" featured on the cover. the scene really doesnt make sense in the movie and i've never read the book so idk if its explained there? Supporting this theory are the way Danny/Theseus overcomes Jack/the minotaur which parallel each other to a certain degree but not explicitly. Jack goes to check out the room and finds a naked lady who seduces and begins to kiss him and Jack gives in, only to be taken aback by seeing a decaying old lady with him in the mirror. Wendy distraught over Dannys deteriorating state goes looking for Jack and finds hundreds of pages by his typewriter, all of them clustered with the sentence All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. This broader theory became directly connected to The Shining as Kubricks subtle way of validating the claims. While he may be one of the weirdest Overlook Hotel ghosts in the movie, Mike Flanagan decided to keep all the ghosts that would've stuck with Danny the most, and that wasn't the bear man. Theres barely any ambiguity about the end, since it only exists if we are certain of any one explanation, but there isnt one in this case. While it may not work for Stephen King, Stanley Kubrick's ending perfectly fits the film he created. Jack has clearly gone haywire and absent-mindedly proceeds to the Gold Room. Therefore, it makes sense why Doctor Sleep didn't include The Shining bear man. Related: The Shining Has An Alternate Ending You Will NEVER See. The server responded with {{status_text}} (code {{status_code}}). In the games room, Danny encounters the two girls who are supposed to be the Grady twins. But that hasnt stopped people all over the world from trying. Privacy Policy. One of the many mysteries of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is why Jack appears in the photo at the end, and it actually has a semi-simple explanation. This theory posits that the Overlook Hotel represents hell (or another form of afterlife for the ghosts such as purgatory). Kubrick didnt just show us random footage from the set. One might expect that explaining The Shining could be done by reading the original novel written by Stephen King. The core of this theory suggests thatThe Shiningis secretly about CIA mind control experiments. With a narrative that's as puzzling and confusing as the hedge maze found in the terrifying climax, The Shining has led fans to rack their head for it's various meanings for the past 40 years. Our partial view of the felatio bear, before he leans back from the bed, matches our partial view of Danny brushing his teeth before his first Shining vision. Here's the trailer. It is less of a stretch to consider this interpretation as a distillation of clear subtext on child abuse that some viewers might miss. Its a new day, and Jack shows an increasing sense of depersonalization in a chilling conversation if you notice the details. How did these pictures get there if Wendy does all the menial chores. Now comes the most shocking question. Realizing that he is leaving footprints in the snow, Danny carefully maneuvers backwards over his own . Copyright 2023 Metaflix Media LLC. There are actually several other references in the film to bears. For King fans, check out our list of the best Stephen King adaptations. Was hiding in, runs towards the maze when Jack starts getting closer any more ``... Towards the maze when Jack starts getting closer on it, which was the name the! 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