The Shining - The Meaning of the Photograph Explained

[@juanramirez-wk8ty]

I have always preferred to think of the end reveal as a sort of Twilight Zone twisting of reality where Jack's spirit from the present (1981?) has been "absorbed" into the evil legacy of the place the photograph being the only tangible evidence of this phenomena . I have also thought that perhaps the photograph itself is just an "apparition" breaking the 4th wall only meant for we the audience to see not visible to anyone in the film's reality.

[@RetrofIex]

I like to agree and think that Charles Grady suffered a similar fate and would also appear somewhere in that photo in his butler uniform. That would be a nice detail

[@ProfessorPrel]

If youIf you Ask this guy, there are no ghosts in the movie

[@juanramirez-wk8ty]

@@ProfessorPrel I love movies that can be interpreted different ways.

[@ProfessorPrel]

@@juanramirez-wk8ty I do to, my problem comes when this youtuber claims there are no other way you can view the movie, and that if you do you are just gullible

[@juanramirez-wk8ty]

@@ProfessorPrel Agreed. You make a good point.

[@keveardo]

I like to believe that it was meant that the Overlook hotel took his soul like how that old Indian saying of how photos take one’s soul, showing how Jack lost his battle with his sanity and the ghosts haunting him and he has now became a ghost himself

[@andrelegeant88]

This. I think Kubrick just thought it would be a good twist. It shows that the hotel consumed him.

[@michaelmoraga2926]

That would be a further Native American reference in the film, and the long-time popular theory that the bloodshed of Western Expansion, and/or the existence of Native American burial grounds under/nearby the hotel, are a significant factor in the madness of the caretakers. Alternatively, the Native American references could be a reminder of the historical atrocities of a more general, cultural, collective madness, reflecting the worst impulses of humanity, and which often surface in individuals. It's madness!

[@jessebradley1720]

If no one else has ever noticed, the lady in the bathtub is the Receptionist in the lobby when Jack first arrives. Thats where he gets the idea for writing the tub ghost (the wife of Charles Grady) into his story.

[@SonOfTheChinChin]

lol no different actresses

[@VoiceUnder]

How would you explain Delbert Grady telling Jack about Danny communicating with the "****** Cook"? Clearly Grady was not just an illusion. Plus Danny could see the future, not just his, but other people's futures (only Wendy saw the blood in the elevator). Supernatural abilities and ghosts were in this movie. The fact that it was done with enough subtlety to make people doubt they were real is a testament to how well this movie was made.

[@juanmanuelsanteiro1238]

In my opinion lloyd and grady are part of jack's mind: are his thoughts, opinions and knowledge: such coincidence that grady uses a racist word after we've already seen jack quoting a racist remark from rudyard kiplying (white man's burden) and keeping a gollywog doll among danny's toys....grady tells jack that danny attemps to bring an outsider but in the movie we never see him asking halloraan for help...even when dick arrives danny didn't bother to look for him...that's the fascinating thing: we could throw theories for ages and never came to one conclusion

[@ceo_of_fascism]

There are no racist words​@@juanmanuelsanteiro1238

[@funkyflights]

@@juanmanuelsanteiro1238… Stanley said Grady was real, the ghost were real, and he made that clear when Grady opened the locked door, that’s impossible to be in your mind …

[@markwrede8878]

Kubrix film of the Shining is the film of Jack Torrance's novel of the Shining, which is why the script cannot appear. The elite celebration of July 4, 1922 is about the March on Rome, no longer America.

[@redwolfsworld9938]

you fail to mention the door opening. the fact that the kid has psychic powers that play into the film. there’s def something supernatural going on in the film

[@ralphburnette]

He also failed to mention that Kubrick himself stated that Grady is a ghost. kzbin.info/www/bejne/sJK1Y6OAn7Fjbsksi=Et8OmJCToUEHBkee

[@thesayerofthelaw]

I know right. the film is named after and about magic powers. But ghosts, now that's crazy.

[@neotek303]

​@@thesayerofthelawpsychic, not magic.

[@happinesstan]

I believe Kubrick stated that the door was "obviously" opened by ghosts.

[@happinesstan]

@@neotek303 Not even psychic. Just human nature. Halloran explains 'The Shining' quite clearly. It's a belief that he and his grandmother could hold entire conversations, without opening their mouths. A belief isn't necessarily true, but as long as you have faith, as in more positive reinforcement, than negative, you will retain that belief your entire life. Halloran's positive reinforcement would have come in the shape of his grandmother, simply providing the love and care for her Grandson. Grandmothers have the knack of healing your wounds without ever telling them what is wrong. They are also very good at spotting when you are lying. I imagine she called it shining because it is like being a guardian angel, of sorts.

[@SuperCuttyBlackSow]

Nothing supernatural in the Shining but there is in Sopranos as Phil Leotardo turned into a house.

[@jbfulgencio]

After reading and watching thousands of "The Shining" 's theories about everything, I discovered something fantastic. The shining does not have any hidden messages at all. It's only a movie that tries to include the audience at the movie making them to have the same feelings from the characters. And that' s why this is really a masterpiece.

[@ALLNAMESAREALLREADYT]

there are hidden messages , one of them is about genocide over native Indians done by settlers in North America (see river of blood from the elevator , indians symbols on the wall Jack hitting with the ball , Wendy looks like a indian woman constantly abused by Jack etc.) also hidden messages about fake Moon landing , just like in Odyssey 2001

[@chrisv7004]

It absolutely has messages, but I don’t think its a cypher. It certainly does have illusive qualities tho

[@colelevel2654]

​​@@chrisv7004 I'd say it's an impressionist painting in film form. It's concrete enough that you know what it's trying to tell you and it has intended meaning, but it's abstract enough that that meaning will resonate with everyone in unique ways. As long as someone's not sying Wendy is the bad guy like a moron, I don't think they're wrong.

[@jessedavis3506]

Who then let Jack out of the locked food pantry?

[@mowazeem644]

*crickets*

[@benabel7326]

Yep completely massive point of the story which he seemed to forget to address.

[@354Entertainment]

Danny let him out...

[@RealBallsofSteel]

​@@354Entertainment😂

[@guskogs]

It is been said that danny did it.

[@paisan8766]

The Doctor Sleep slander is unwarranted. Don’t treat Flanagan & McGregor like some glorified crew.

[@edwardhinton1615]

The bigger question is who opened the storage room door for Jack.

[@78deathface]

EXACTLY

[@78deathface]

EXACTLY

[@78deathface]

What about psychic phenomena? That’s what “The Shining” is. Danny explicitly has psychic abilities as well as Halloran, it’s a major plot point of the film. It’s how Halloran knows to come back to the hotel. I think the hotel is haunted by the past and Danny is able to pick up on it and then so is Jack later because it’s implied that he also has psychic abilities that aren’t as strong. I can accept that the ghosts are psychic projections from Jack and Danny, but the film implies that the hotel is evil in some way or at least stands on “cursed” ground. I guess I don’t really understand why the ghosts existing or not changes anything about the film. All the things you mention in your videos are true and valid, but I honestly think the actual text of the film implies some supernatural element at play in the hotel and explicitly portrays Danny and Halloran as having psychic abilities. The other thing is how is Jack let out of the pantry? I can maybe see Danny letting him out, but its not implied. Clearly there are several layers of narrative going on subtextually and symbolically. I need to rewatch with your ideas in mind and see how if it’s changes my opinion. Great video as always!

[@jamescampbell39]

I totally agree with you the Overlook is much like the Belasco House from R. Matheson Hell House the Overlook was a giant psychic battery absorbing all the energy good or bad and what and who Jack spoke to were not a ghost but memories made solid the hotel leached off of Jack and Wendy while Danny due to his Shining was partially immune to the overlooks influence.

[@jimmyjames2621]

I disagree. The shining is the result of a child who has been exposed to adult knowledge. In the particular context of the film, it's a result of sexual abuse by his father. Thus, they are wise beyond their years. People subject to abuse are hyper-perceptive, hyper-aware, hyper-observant, and, yes, you've been exposed to things you shouldn't be. That's it. To put it another way: just try and listen to Scatman--knowing that his character's a victim of sexual abuse and more likely than not a pedo now--telling Danny how he and his grandmama used to have whole conversations without any words said........ewwwwwww.

[@weldonanderson5124]

@jimmyjames. Nice! I had never considered that idea, which I think is great. Explaining the 'shining' as a colloquialism for hypersensitivity is a really good idea to support the 'no ghost' and 'no supernatural' argument. Halloran may have taken a liking to Danny because he recognized familiar clues of abuse that he himself had experienced in some way. Halloran seems *extremely* upset to the point of traumatized when he's lying in bed in Miami thinking about Danny. He may explain his intense 'hunch' as psychic communication, as sometimes people may do when they don't know how to explain or justify their feelings. He had put his 'shining' idea to Danny at the kitchen conversation, but Danny seemed skeptical; maybe halloran is trying to talk in code about something unmentionable. The whole 'cursed ground' idea I can take as a metaphor for cycles of abuse in general; you can't escape having unresolvable problems down the line when your whole american culture only exists as a result of a systematic genocide, white man's burden indeed. Stephen Kings book is, of course, explicit in the existence of actual supernatural elements, but I could see Kubrick taking on the challenge of subverting this, while depicting a reality possibly even more horrifying. The ghosts are a coping mechanism of the traumatized.

[@jimmyjames2621]

@@weldonanderson5124 much appreciated. Agree but I'd push it further to Halloran is a bad dude. That's why Kubrick kills him. I was kind of shocked to learn that King did not kill him. I agree King was very upset by what Kubrick made of his book, especially since Jack, the King character, is not wholly separated from King the author.

[@happinesstan]

That''s not what "shining" is. Halloran is the only person to mention "shining" therefore his exlanation is the truth. It's not a psychic ability, it is Halloran's belief that his Grandmother's love gave her a psychic ability which was, in actuality, nothing more than an understanding of her grandson.

[@burke9497]

All work and no play makes Rummy a dull boy. ❤

[@batgurrl]

When I saw it in the Theater, I took is as a reference that Grady said to him that he’s always been the caretaker and then as the camera slowly panned down to show the year, i didn’t feel the need to over analyze. I had read the book before, despite the fact that it barely resembled the book, but i Loved it. Now hearing that there were NO ghosts makes the movie nonsensical. What about all those things Wendy saw later in the movie. Loving your analysis.

[@WowLynchWow]

Thank you very much once again for your kind and generous support! Most appreciated. Happy Halloween!

[@patrickperalta59]

@@WowLynchWow we all have our own opinion....you believe there are no ghosts in the movie..that is fine your choice to believe. as for me there are ghosts in the movie always has been always will be and nothing is going to change my mind...I love the Shinning and one of the best movies ever..........thanks for shareing your video.

[@Ameara-LaVey]

I always thought of it this way, too: no ghosts at the Overlook Hotel. The last scene in your video suggests a question: who opened the locked door of the warehouse where Jack was "locked up"?

[@thisisnotachannel]

Delbert Grady did... one of the ghosts of the Overlook. Clearly there is something supernatural at play.

[@ProfessorPrel]

@@thisisnotachannelNo it was Danny who opened the door because released his abuse father who tried to kill him and his mother just for funsies

[@wendaltvedt4673]

And if there's no ghosts then who rolled the ball over to Danny just before he entered room 237?

[@JanetVJohnson]

Danny

[@wendaltvedt4673]

@@JanetVJohnson Why would Danny do that? And Jack wasn't pleading with Danny to unlock the door he was pleading with Grady.

[@robertlandrum1971]

It’s a masterpiece of horror because, instead of a fantastical horror, we are confronted with a horror that is all too familiar and everyday. The horror of being isolated with a spouse/father who’s violently abusive and growing more-so by the day. The thing with horror films is that the plot tends to be fantastic and unrealistic. One can experience the horror, but from a safe distance as it’s far from reality. The horror in The Shining is far too real and thus eliminating the safe distance we usually enjoy in watching horror films. I also like The Omen (1976) for the same reason. Yes on the surface, the plot is about a child of Satan. But is it? Or is it about the BELIEF in a child of Satan? What if all those tragedies are just that: tragedies, accidents, unfortunate circumstances that lead to death throughout the film. And it’s not until near the end of the film when you finally see the “666” mark on Damien’s head that you realize that these things might actually be a result of supernatural forces. Think the mysterious unlocking the deadbolt on the kitchen dry goods door near the end of The Shining. Kubrick took a decent ghost story and made it so much more. It bothered King because King saw Jack as a victim of his own vices who wanted to change. But Kubrick wasn’t having any of the wishy-washy, feel good redemption plots interfere in his version of Jack Torrance. Kubrick’s Jack was a monster before he even took his family to the Overlook Hotel.

[@025harsha9]

The way the Ghosts of the Overlook are like some kind of beings we cannot really understand or fathom makes it all the more sinister. The fact that Jack is the one so affected by them, and how Kubrick makes no attempt at actually explaining Tony or the ghosts is what makes them so much more unsettling, than trying to explain them which took away the mystiqur factor in Dr. House and the book itself, Kubrick really understands how to make an audience FEEL

[@ButtersCCookie]

Once I heard the book, I've never been able to watch the movie ever again. I listen to the book if not everyday, every week. I see myself in Jack. Although without any moments in life there was celebrated or lucky. No skill or gift. Just the longing of better, greater and more. The alcohol and hotel are excuses where you can hide in. Especially when all you can control is just yourself. A tool, punching bag, and victim of everyone's whim. What a wonderful world.

[@TEM14411]

❤🎉🙌🙌🙌🙌

[@glennlesliedance]

If no ghost or other paranormal activity, how does the locked pantry get unlocked so Jack can get out; or the ball rolling to Danny while he was playing; or the door to room 237 being open? What compels Mr.Hallorand to return to the Inn? What informs Danny/Tony? What "possesses" Danny to write and repeat REDRUM?

[@wendaltvedt4673]

All that, and how did both Wendy and Danny see the same river of blood visions? The no ghosts theory just doesn't make sense.

[@patrickperalta59]

@@wendaltvedt4673 there are ghosts in the movie I will always believe that. the Shinning is a great movie.

[@happinesstan]

Kubrick himself stated that Jack being released from the stores, is the most obvious evidence of ghosts. Which to me, confirms that the ghosts exist within Jack's story, not Kubrick's.

[@happinesstan]

@@patrickperalta59 There are ghosts in Jack's book.

[@cowboy6993]

@@wendaltvedt4673 i think the elevator blood river was al the blood the hotel claimed it was a vision danny saw and Wendy really witnessed.

[@clintvanderklok7269]

well said sir...well said. I've been a fan of your theories since Twin Peaks Season 3. The way you talk about it and the cadence of your voice is somewhat hypnotic as i'm sure others have said. Keep on trucking my guy.

[@GRUSTLER]

What else would Kubrick mean in regards to reincarnation? If you pause the film when the little girls are on screen you will see that them girls are not twins. One is taller than the other and looks a little older. I believe there are ghosts in the hotel because all 3 of them saw them.

[@donnamaree4920]

If the girls aren't supposed to be twins, why did Stanley specifically choose a set of identical twins to play the two girls?

[@cosmosadorabilis7677]

Twins can have slight differences. These girls are /were definitely twins.

[@GRUSTLER]

@@cosmosadorabilis7677 twins are called twins for a reason. Just pause the movie when the “twins” appear and you will see.

[@donnamaree4920]

The fact that all three family members saw "ghosts" means nothing when you consider what Kubrick himself said about the movie: "It's just the story of one man's family quietly going insane together." There is no ambiguity in his statement...he plainly tells us that it's a movie about insanity, not a haunted hotel. The most obvious clue that the supernatural events were products of this dysfunctional family's imaginations is the fact that each ghost just happens to be a manifestation of exactly what each one of them fears/desires the most - Jack, a recovering alcoholic encounters the ghost of a bartender offering him liquor (one he knows by name because he's met him in several different cities over the years, presumably every time he falls off the wagon, definitively proving that Lloyd is not a ghost who resides at The Overlook). He resents his family and - lo and behold - he just happens to encounter a ghost who gives him a way to "correct" this problem. He sees the ghost of a beautiful, naked woman who turns into a rotting old hag once Jack spies her in the MIRROR...this is because he gets a glimpse of HIMSELF. In fact, Jack *only* sees ghosts when he's peering into a mirror which tells us all we need to know. What does Wendy see? She, the "ghost story and horror film addict", encounters your typical, generic, "ghoul" type of ghost exactly the way you'd expect them to appear in cheesy horror movies...Kubrick would never resort to employing such tropes unless it served a purpose. At the start of the film, Danny laments to his mother that there's no one to play with...who does he encounter at the hotel? The ghosts of two children who chant "come play with us"! The argument that there are no ghosts haunting the halls of The Overlook is pretty self evident in my opinion - SK is spoon feeding this information to the audience in a manner which isn't remotely ambiguous.

[@artistluke4]

I don’t expect you to know what this means but you are so goated bruh

[@batgurrl]

Excellent analysis. A masterpiece of horror, even if it barely resembles the book which i had read first. The concept that there were No Ghosts makes it harder to digest👻🎃🦇

[@juggernautomnimedia1038]

I have to agree with the crowd that suggests we are watching a film about the writer typing his novel and the Jack in the burgundy coat is the character he is creating.

[@wrestledeep]

Great Analysis! (it looks like your talents go way beyond the limitations of Lynchian philosophy). I would like to say that all too often (as shown in your video), Wendy is kind of left out of the analysis and everything is generally put onto Jack. There is an alternative theory that the reason that states that the Jack that we see in the movie and hotel is actually the scenes from the novel being written out or the over-active imagination of Wendy, the wife "....she’s a fan of horror stories". Kubrick clearly displays this at the beginning of the movie with all the books lying around the apartment. Not the books of Jack the writer but Wendy the "reader". Basically either Jack or Wendy saw the picture of "Jack" at the hotel and used him for the character that we are seeing playing the role of Jack from the novel. When you look at it from that perspective, it does make more sense (ie. regarding the picture).

[@kaewonf8]

The beauty, and true horror, of The Shining, is that it works on so many levels. This takes multiple viewings (for me at least) to fully understand. Even now I'm not sure I understand it. This is the case for most, if not all, of Kubrick's films.

[@LogicalReasons]

I actually really just made at this analysis when The ending is supposed to be able to be analyzed in two different perspectives. This is actually done much better in the most underrated film of all time the 2010 Sutter Island by Martin Scorsese it's probably the best film ever made because it's genuinely perfectly told to be impossible to deduce if you are going into the head of the protagonist or if you are seeing it from the outside end

[@MrRyan-wu4jx]

His stuff is pretty straight forward aside from Shining, 2001, and Eyes Wide Shut.

[@mowazeem644]

If there are no ghosts then who unlocks the food storage room door? Kubrick was interested in where the psychological meets the supernatural. It’s not really an either/or situation, the trauma suffered at the Overlook created ‘ghosts’ which connect with Jack’s demons.

[@354Entertainment]

It's easy, Danny let him out...

[@peteg475]

@@354Entertainment Why would Danny let him out?

[@354Entertainment]

@@peteg475 Why? Because in his trauma he has to do that, what his father says! It's really easy to understand this. This is a kind of "stockholm syndrom" if you want. The abusive father, who has totally control about his son! But this time, it is the last he will do what his father says. He lead him to the maze and get rid of him... The child grows with time, in strength and wisdom. He turns the tables at the end...

[@peteg475]

@@354Entertainment Yes, but you're just imagining him doing it without it actually being in the movie. Like you're inventing something to cover a plot hole? Isn't that what the maker of this video would accuse the pro-ghost people of doing? Imagining things that aren't actually in the film?

[@354Entertainment]

@@peteg475 There are only two people who can unlock the room... Wendy and Danny! The genius of that scene is, that everybody knows it must be a ghost, but it isn't! So everybody get fooled by Kubrick. Kubrick turns everything from King's book upside down, why he wouldn't do that with the ghosts? Do you ever think about it? Such a strong element in the book, he simply copied that? No way my friend!

[@mlsaulnier]

Great gift on Halloween to see a Wow Lynch Wow video, and even better a Shining video

[@gregsmith7949]

Like 2001, you can ask a dozen people what the movie is about and you'll get a dozen different interpretations. That is the brilliance of Kubrick.

[@Thin447Line]

What about Dick Halloran's warning to Danny about room 237? And who opened the door to the storage room and let Jack out?

[@bradb3248]

I was wondering how Jack got out myself, I remember one person speculated Danny let him out 🤔

[@victoriabean6279]

​@@bradb3248yeah 👍🏾

[@steviedow1701]

Do you have any thoughts on why Danny and Wendy see ‘ghosts’ too? I would very much like to agree with you, I do think the film is stronger if the ghosts are figurative, but I think that where figurative devices are used a story also needs to follow its own internal logic. Kubrick may have had a different opinion, though

[@Bishop228]

Regarding there being “no ghosts”, who unlocked the door & let Jack out of the pantry? It’s got to be a ghost or the hotel itself, right?

[@genlob]

Danny opened the door.

[@thisisnotachannel]

@@genlob not possible. Not even feasible.

[@genlob]

@@thisisnotachannel But ghosts and a living hotel are? Lol.

[@doctorhandsome]

Using the Monolith as a censor bar was a nice touch.

[@rosenfield10]

Great video. One thing bothers me. Who let Jack out of the locked storage pantry? I have a hard time believing a ghost did it, but it remains unexplained for me.

[@robertbusek30]

If I recall correctly, our host’s previous video about the lack of ghosts provides an interesting answer to this very question.

[@Leon-zu1wp]

Probably when Danny was under the influence of Tony. Hence "Redrum" he wanted Jack to murder Danny and Wendy. The bigger question nobody asks... Why is there a heavy-duty lock on the outside of a freezer to trap people inside?

[@robertbusek30]

@@Leon-zu1wp There are also other doors in the freezer and pantry. Indeed, the floor plan of the Overlook is really, really weird. I saw another video all about that as well.

[@BearPawSwipe]

Look up Rob Ager. He explains this perfectly.

[@N0rlight]

I think what makes the Shining truly a horror story is that it happens in real life. We heard countless times about domestic abuse leading to murder. And many of them ends with this argument; voices in my head told me to do it. The only thing thats fictional is their minds. And the shining captures that.

[@godzillasimp]

If they hear it then it's clearly not fictional though, it's a real phenomenal whether there's actually a ghost talking to them or not. Regardless the whole story is fiction. It never happened.

[@N0rlight]

@godzillasimp Actually, there have been cases like this all the time. Husbands kill their family. Wives killing their family. Brothers and sisters... This stuff is more real than anything you seen. Parent abuse is a thing. That includes them going crazy. Everyone can become a jack here. No one is safe. I know ghosts exists, but i can also acknowledge when people starts going kookoo. I have a sister who claims to talk to 5 different voices. It happens whenever she takes drugs. Sometimes, she says stuff like her neighbors are hacking her computer despite them having 0 knowledge in technology. Yes what happens in the movie is fictional. Just like the movie titanic, the movie is fictional but the events can be as real.

[@DrDoohickey]

For someone who advocates for a loose interpretation, you certainly seem to be setting a lot of rules. You don't need to insist there are no ghosts, or explain the inconsistencies by deciding it all takes place in Jack's head. And you certainly don't need to imagine Jack simply visited the hotel in a prior era because you lack a 'logical' explanation.

[@rini6]

Seeing this reminds me of how terrifying this film truly is.

[@alrifr5786]

I believe the gold room is has to do with the money system. That is the reason Jack's green (fiat) money is no good there. The bathroom is red to symbolize blood money and how Jack ultimately is requured to pay his debt. I am pretty sure 1921 picture has several famous people in the banking industry.

[@adamofgrayskull7735]

Hello from Ireland you F..kin hero 🤘😆🤘

[@robertbusek30]

15:33 - I don’t know if you covered this in the previous video, but Rob Ager over at Collative Learning has pointed out that every time Jack interacts with a “ghost,” there are mirrors close by. Even when he talks with “Grady” when locked in the pantry, the metal surface of the door is semi-reflective.

[@ralphburnette]

Kubrick literally said that Grady is a ghost in his movie. You just totally left out that part of the interview because it completely contradicts your no ghost theory. Here’s the full interview for people who want an accurate accounting of how Kubrick described his film: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sJK1Y6OAn7Fjbsksi=Et8OmJCToUEHBkee

[@nihilismistheonlyway4680]

Thanks for the link. I just listened to whole thing and it what I thought too. This guys theory falls flat .

[@thisisnotachannel]

Rummy and I agree on a lot... but yeah, he's 100% wrong here. Isn't that interview from the special edition dvd? I'm pretty sure it's on the copy that I have, anyway. Seems like it should be common knowledge to anyone who ever watched that interview that there are supernatural forces at work in "The Overlook".

[@mikerivera7509]

Excellent video. Cuts thru all the bunk theories and nonsense. Everything in this video is on point and makes the most sense of many of the critiques and analysis on this film

[@WowLynchWow]

Thank you very much. Cheers!

[@Oranjee1089]

Definitely enjoyed this! Great narration!

[@WowLynchWow]

Thank you very much!

[@hamsandwich6685]

Im curious why the typewriter physically changes models (color, make/shape, ect.), at a certain point, i think around the time that jack is overlooking the hedge maze model, and then surreally the camera zooms over head on the maze and danny and wendy are in it. It mught imply that the rest of the "movie" is what jack typed up as a story and we see it play out.. I don't think it's obvious though, and the typewriter changing seems deliberate and like it hints at something. Kubrick was very clever though, and maybe was purposely playing with loose end hints and ommit just enough to entice curiosity without actually revealing anything definitive.

[@robertbusek30]

I never noticed that about the typewriter! Nice catch!

[@jorgereyna1796]

Absolutely wonderful analysis

[@ozricaurora]

Okay but why does the naked woman turn into a old zombie lady???

[@Phillip-n3g]

Room 237 2×3=6×7=42 the word devil or d evil is recorded 42 times....much more on this.

[@A_real_Ha_So]

So I have one of two ways I can take your thesis of this film. One, you believe the film is taking place in Jack's mind, which I'm fully on board with or, Two, much like Cheech Marin at the end of, "From Dusk Til Dawn" that you think the vampires just blew up at the end because they were just insane so henceforth Jack was able to open that door because of his abusive nature. These are the only two options that makes sense to me considering it will ALWAYS come back to who let Jack out of that larder if not a supernatural presence? Also. Speaking of twins, do you have one that narrates the Space Ice KZbinz channel? 😂

[@MechanicalDragonfly]

I think you're right; and while the possibility of the horror bring purely mundane is a fun mental exercise, it is clearly not the intended reading. The obvious point being - If there's no supernatural element then how come Danny and Halloran can communicate telepathically? Why does Halloran give Danny the talk about the Overlook being dangerous but it's only pictures in a book if he hasn't experienced weird stuff there too? Halloran isn't abused, or an abuser, and he's not isolated there during winter. That conversation kills the 'no ghosts' argument dead on arrival because it's all confirmed by a third party in the first 20 minutes. On the other hand, the idea that it's all in Jack's head does have some merit. A few sequences show Jack dishevelled and acting weird, only to cut to a well-put together Jack typing intently. As if the last scene was what he's just written out - and isn't that similar to King, himself, writing characters much like himself but much more sinister, in similar situations but immensely more spooky? So we'd have an ex English teacher and writer, writing about an ex English teacher and writer, writing about an ex English teacher and writer. That's kinda fun! 😂

[@78deathface]

@@MechanicalDragonflyyou expressed what I was thinking much better than I could

[@giommariaarru7405]

Rummy I can't wait for your take on Fury Ngannou

[@erog418]

This is by far the best interpretation of the film. The ghosts are a scapegoat. It doesn't matter that they are even there because Jack has always hated his family and wants to kill them. He knew about the murders going into the interview. I think Dick knew Danny was abused, and invented the Shine as a form of comfort because he had been abused and empathized with the situation. He could tell Jack was a piece of shit.

[@ThePhotographyHobbyist]

3:13 That was a real, old photo they airbrushed Jacks head into. Pretty wild :)

[@robertbusek30]

Rob Ager has a whole video on that on his Collative Learning channel, IIRC.

[@burtonthegrape9217]

I still am of the opinion that Yes there are some supernatural aspects to the shining just not as blatant as people think. Maybe the ghosts/entity in the Overlook is a metaphor for addiction and greed, while not being there for us to see it still influences the actions of people, Jack was easy to influence due to his vices, weaknesses and insecurities, Wendy becoming mentally more susceptible because of what's going on begins to see what's hidden and Danny being a child was able to connect and experience things at a different level while being a threat to the Hotel because he's the key to preventing it gaining power. I see it as this, it's more then just a ghost story, it's about the evil creeping in subtle ways and changing people and how your actions while being influenced can cause repercussions for a long time, Jacks photo was to show that the cycle of destructive behavior won't just effect you, it can effect the people around you and the places you are and create a cycle. It's like Ullman said, the Overlook was built on an Indian burial ground, the actions of the people who took the land and built the Overlook still effect people decades later and how greed and the evils humans can commit will always be there and persist no matter how much time passes. Jack was the Caretaker, a man who fed into the gross vices and lost his humanity, just like the one before him and the one before him. Just calling it a ghost story takes away a lot of aspects and ideas that can make it scary, yeah human nature is scary but so is the unknown.

[@78deathface]

I like your take

[@burtonthegrape9217]

@@78deathface super late reply but thank you, I always thought that people were looking at it the right way but the wrong way and through a perspective that they don't realize takes out a lot of context and story elements. The ghosts were there but it wanted it to be a process and happen over time because that build up of doing wrong and negative energy is what it wants the most.

[@CNTconnoisseur]

Amazing video! BUT, are you saying that there's no ghosts in a movie about telepathy? It's called The Shining. How does Hallorann show up at the end? BTW, I think that Doctor Sleep is brilliant, but I find it completely valid if you don't want to consider it canonical to Kubrick's original film.

[@AlanDavidDoane]

What do ghosts have to do with telepathy?

[@wareforcoin5780]

​@@AlanDavidDoaneOk, so yes, one doesn't necessarily need to exist because the other does, but consider: Halloran literally tells Danny that there's "ghosts", but what he talks about is just imagines that can't hurt Danny. Most of the occurrences are nonviolent, although scary.

[@AlexDeLarge1]

My view is that Delbert and Charles are indeed incarnations of the same being, with the surname Grady. And we also have to factor in the scrapbook, because even though it is a deleted scene, the scrapbook is still in the film, and this is where Jack learned about Delbert Grady. The Torrance we see in the photograph, nothing is known about him. We just know he is somehow Jack's doppleganger. That's how it all falls into place. Jack is just like Grady. The hotel is a place of very dark powers, and it uses these powers to send these beings to the world to capture prey. The hotel is largely based on the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite, which is a word for "wide, gaping mouth" in the language of the local tribes. The elevators in the hotel resemble huge gaping mouths. Open mouths and eating and food and drink are a common throughline throughout the film. The hotel lures its victims in to consume their life force and keep the cyclical horror show going. The being they send is pre-programmed to go on a killing spree. This is all the literal stuff though. Ultimately The Shining is Kubrick's darkly comedic revenge for the Native American genocide and a huge dunk on white supremacism; the hotel is a theater where the vengeful spirits who haunt their desecrated sacred burial ground host a party every so often to laugh at the stupid white people killing each other. They feed on violence, hence the elevator vomiting blood. And after it's all over, the ghostly audience leaves, well-fed and satiated. So, you're almost right. There are almost no ghosts really appearing in the film. Except Jack, the dude who says "great party!", the skellybones, and the lady in room 237, but that's offscreen when she hurts Danny. When Jack sees ghosts, they aren't really there to anyone but him, because he is directly connected to the Overlook, being that he is one of their servants. When Wendy sees ghosts, they are legit apparitions. Danny has special powers because he is the offspring of one of these beings. But he uses his powers for good and isn't fooled by the hotel's tricks. I think the reason Jack lies about the corpse hag is because if he told the truth, Wendy would be a lot more confident about wanting to leave in the scene that follows. He wanted her to question her own judgment and Danny's honesty, and she only weakly say she thinks they need to get Danny out of there, when Danny was indeed being honest. Jack is afraid of confident people. He's a weak person and he picks on people who are weaker out of his personal inadequacies. He bows down to his master, the Overlook, a symbol of Manifest Destiny expansionism and America's dark past. "All the best people," so Ullman says.

[@LuxVivens9]

It is also my opinion that Twin Peaks is nothing more than a fantastical, drug fueled dream that Laura Palmer is having as a defense mechanism against the waking horror of being abused by her father, Leland while her mother does nothing. Her dream is balancing the sweet with the terrifying and creating this intricate dreamworld with all different characters in it including the hero, Cooper. She wakes up in the 3rd season when Cooper asks her "what day is it" and she looks at her house and hears her mother's voice calling her name, waking her up. She then realizes that all this was a dream and she is waking up and is trapped in the unimaginable horror of her Real Life

[@Garrison1971]

You sir, are awesome at analysis!👊🏼

[@patriciagrandjean8205]

Clearly, the book and the movie are about violence and addiction going hand in hand, as was Misery. But the idea that there are absolutely no ghosts in this story tends to fall apart in the details. I think the ghosts actually are made flesh due to the interaction of Jack’s rage and frustration with the power of the hotel. If he hadn’t been there, they wouldn’t emerge, and as the story progresses, he gives them more power.

[@thisisnotachannel]

We agree on a lot... But there are definitely supernatural forces at work in "The Overlook Hotel". It's made clear as day by the movie and Kubrick in an interview once. I'll find the link and edit it in. Edit: ralphburnette posted the link a few comments down.

[@CoreyT127]

Didn’t the ghost unlock the pantry and let him out?

[@brettspeeler7166]

That's what I wanted to ask as well...

[@MichaelVLang]

The simplistic All Work and No Play. He was trying to write and resorted to something from his youth. A simple charming tale interpreted by a lunatic.

[@jaysonraphaelmurdock8812]

"No tv and no beer make Homer something something"

[@neotek303]

In the photo Jack is doing the Baphomet pose, what that signifies beyond signalling part of elite secret society beliefs (ie. Being both genders as part of their apotheosis) I'm not sure. Reminds me of the lady on the plane who freaked out claiming "that 🤬 is not real" while briefly making the Baphomet guesture.

[@thehackmusician]

Great work

[@adamofgrayskull7735]

It's all in the mind

[@354Entertainment]

I love your videos! Keep going that good content

[@biancachristie]

I'm really digging your analyses of Kubrick's stuff. I feel so lucky to have shared the planet with both him and David Lynch while they were working and creating, and knowing the excitement of anticipating something new from creators of their stature. I realized today that I've been watching this film on the regular since I was about Danny's age--for basically my entire life. I think I was 9 or 10 when it was released, and it was frequently on our new cable service after it left theaters. It's a different movie when you're a kid--especially if you have an alcoholic, abusive father (which I did) and a mother who feels trapped and also obligated to try and keep a "normal" front for the people around you. Even though the abusive context was all to familiar to me, I preferred to see the Shining as a ghost story I could get lost in, and one where the abuser is finally frozen out. Age and cynicism, and having read the book and seen the obvious textual differences (plus King's famously negative attitude towards Kubrick's film--which I have never understood: why not accept that it's just a different story?) has led me to understand how beautifully The Shining illustrates the idea of "hiding in plain sight." The tension that underlies the whole movie is not the destabilizing creepiness of the hotel and the visions--it's the growing tension between the family members, and that terrible feeling that anyone who has grown up in an abusive family knows, the silent dread that the violence is coming. In The Shining, it's a matter of scale--the house is bigger, the emotions exaggerated, but it's still a family in a house with a monster of a dad. Thanks for drawing attention to this---domestic violence flourishes in darkness and secrecy, and Kubrick dragged it out into the light. It helped me, and my brother, and lots of other people like us, knowing that we weren't alone. When you're a kid, you don't always know.

[@WowLynchWow]

I read this comment when you originally posted it. I was on my phone and had meant to reply to you, and although I had forgotten to do that until now, I just wanted to say that your comment stuck with me. I wanted to thank you very much for sharing this here. The way you articulated everything is deep and compelling stuff.

[@robertbusek30]

Mr. King’s antipathy towards the final film may be the result of his self-identification with Jack. King also is a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, but his version of Jack is a more or less decent guy who loves his family and is loved by them; his Jack fights against his demons (feeling massive guilt for hurting Danny as a toddler) and loses the fight because the Overlook is just too powerful. Kubrick’s Jack, on the other hand, is a vicious abuser from the very beginning; he’s doomed to be a psycho from the start and no redemption is possible at all.

[@DrWrapperband]

Wasn't Dilbert in the scrapbook? Which points more to a Wendy Hallucination? Also, we only know Wendy says Jack injured Danny, remember Jack drinking in the Gold room could be a Wendy hallucination. I find the mistakes indicate a Wendy hallucination as she didn't go to the interview, but might have read the scrapbook? If the photo is real, Wendy maybe even hallucinated Jack from the photo, particularly, she was doing all the caretaker work, Wendy's split personality was in room 237 mistaking Danny for Jack. "Wendy's" apartment didn't look like Jack really lived there.

[@v.m.9198]

I've never heard kubrick's voice before and it sounds like someone doing a parody of a film snob and now I wonder if *thats* where that tone comes from

[@genlob]

Art isn't literal, it's symbolic. Kubrick works his films on many levels, full of subtext and metaphor. The surface layer isn't the actual story. Same with all his films. Like Hitchcock, and many others, he uses Expressionist techniques to give us some understanding of the story he's trying to tell - the visuals convey the warped psychological state of the character. The real horror comes with the realisation that there are no ghosts and it's about an abusive father/spouse. Who opens the larder door? Danny. Poor kid is so traumatised but still wants his father's love, who's just beat the shit out of him.

[@robertbusek30]

I’ve seen videos that claim that Danny is actually looking to murder his father and let’s him out so that he can eventually lead him into the maze to freeze to death.

[@moodyharvest]

When the ghosts leave, madness seeps in.

[@Anti-CornLawLeague]

How did this come out the day after I rewatched your original video on there being no ghosts in the movie? Weird coincidences.

[@mowazeem644]

Halloween confluence

[@MistyOne]

Near the beginning of the movie, Wendy describes the place as a ghost ship.

[@eugeniaskelley5194]

You are right.

[@happinesstan]

The final photograph simply confirms that the Jack in the film, is not the same Jack that tries to butcher his family, and kills Halloran.

[@EricGray-zr2es]

The reason the Grady first names change is because it hints at a generational curse. The names refer to Father Grady and then Son Grady. Just like Jack and Danny would have the same last name. I thonk

[@jaymenjanssens720]

I've never cared for watching this movie, but damn it's well made. Ya talked about generational trauma and didn't leave a word for the tapestries and the history (dates) given. Not exactly killers of the flower moon but not not

[@taxesrtheft]

i cant get over the fact in the picture he is doing the as above so below gesture

[@fbomb7184]

Jack says he’d sell his soul for a drink and a devilish bartender appears. Its’s demons, house full of demons. The bear suit guy? Definitely a demon who forgot to manifest a human form for Wendy.

[@wareforcoin5780]

Nah. That's just two dudes being bros.

[@funkyflights]

I love this movie, so glad it was made …

[@sourpatchkid394]

I thought it was like whoa he was here before… alternate universe ? Reincarnation? A weird loop

[@princessbearpoker]

Or could The Unexplained ghosts just be a bit of plagiarism in Jack's head for this book he's writing? Taking what people have already said but getting the names different twisted or just renamed for the book... and somewhere along the line he decides to act that out... wrong place wrong time a good stolen idea about a murder and an actually possessed mansion🤷‍♀️

[@robertbusek30]

Interesting comment! Especially considering that another later King novella (Secret Window, Secret Garden) involves a writer who stole a story by another writer who died and then is haunted by the memory of his deed, driving him insane.

[@voodoochild1975az]

Ya know, in terms of films warranting seriously deep analysis.... Well, Kubrick and Lynch are always on the top of the list aren't they?

[@VersusArdua]

Two of the characters in this movie have fucking super powers, for god's sake. Why are ghosts such a stretch? 😂

[@colelevel2654]

If you wanna explain the photo without saying there's anything supernatural, I think the photo is Jack's father. It's all about generational trauma and that's what Kubrick means by saying evil is reincarnated. It's passed down from generation to generation and it will come out no matter how hard you try to suppress it. And rhat's what Grady means when he says "you've always been the caretaker." Jack has always been his father deep inside.

[@steampunkster2023]

Ghost or no ghost, Kubrick just wants us to form our own conclusions. Not objective, but subjective. So this video essay, could be right, or very wrong about the film.

[@adamofgrayskull7735]

As you stated before theres no ghosts in the film

[@mowazeem644]

Who unlocks the door to the storage room then?

[@VNYLDNYL]

This analysis is terrible

[@MechanicalDragonfly]

You barely touched on the photograph, man...

[@gregpettis1113]

The 1920s version would wind up committing suicide after the 29 crash.

[@stevenedwards4470]

How does he get out of the freezer? Why are the visions as they are? Do you think Wendy for instance, has some correlation to a guy in a tux getting blown by a guy in a dog suit? Or any of the other spectral visions? I think you're wrong about the ghosts. They're not the primary point, but they're there, and one would expect you'd have to specifically explain them away to so comfortably and repeatedly say "there are no ghosts in this movie".

[@clbaker8356]

Dr. Sleep is an actual sequel to King's novel.

[@codd84]

Nice vid, but you are wrong. The ghosts warn jack Danny's has contacted help and they free him from the locked storage unit.

[@mrsbluesky8415]

Kubrick DID say those were ghosts in his film. It’s here on YT.

[@AlanDavidDoane]

Authorial intent is irrelevant.

[@peteg475]

@@AlanDavidDoane "Death of the Author" isn't the ony legitimate way to interpret a piece of art.

[@faykguru]

The character who got Grady's name wrong was perhaps not at the interview. Perhaps she heard it secondhand (since she's a horror buff.) How do we know Jack once injured his young son when he was drunk?

[@AlanDavidDoane]

Not sure if it applies to the film, but that certainly was the case in the book.

[@wareforcoin5780]

Wendy says so, and she's the sane character.

[@faykguru]

is she? she seems to be seeing things.@@wareforcoin5780

[@secondcomingofbast9908]

The man and boy in the animal costume is Jack and his father, who is the illegitimate son of the man in the picture. Wendy's terror opened her mind to this "picture in a book" and others, including shared visions (thought transference) like the blood from the elevator and the maitre d with the hacked head. The woman in the room was a whore Halloran may have killed. Or she committed suicide due to his abuse. He had some reason for wanting Danny to stay away from that room in particular. Another projection of an event a receptive mind might see under stressful conditions. Again, "pictures in a book." I think the twin girls represented Jack or maybe Danny being "used like a girl." Dual left-right brain mirror images of Jack. They even look like him. Note Jack repeating their phrase "forever, and ever." Jack was definitely reincarnated. There's no other explanation for the picture. Well, I suppose it's possible Jack could have been his grandfather's spitting image. But there is definitely at least some form of psychokinesis going on.

[@greatsajby9266]

Whatever happened there?? WHATEVER HAPPENED THERE??

[@kdkseven]

So there are no ghosts in the shining, but there is telepathy?

[@katiejo9684]

What about that thang that got out of the bath tub and attempted to attack Jack!!?? Old girl was obviously dead!

[@brianorakpohit]

Of course theres ghosts. Somebodys had too much to think.

[@ericafarrokh]

Love! Love! Love!!!!!

[@TheShrekage]

what about the ghost danny or his mom see?

[@artursabli5966]

Did you prefered King's novel or Kubrick's masterpiece? I honestly think that the book is overrated as hell, it is a good one but not a masterpiece.

[@bennijohnson942]

Love hoe the host describes an alcoholic who's simply not drinking as recovering. That's not recovery bo

[@Guiltyangel605]

❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉

[@grahamokeefe9406]

The fallacy here is that it has to be one or the other.