“THE SHINING” and Broken Realities
How this 1980 Kubrick classic highlights the gradual decay of family relationships.
*Contains spoilers*
I. DISTORTED REALITY
The Shining is a Stanley Kubrick masterpiece. Kubrick was able to tell an incredible story, bringing it to life with innovative and unforgettable direction and cinematography.
There is much to be said about The Shining, from its phenomenal acting, bold symbolism, and the countless hours writers and critics have dedicated to analyzing the film’s every scene.
One such writer that does some of the most phenomenal film analysis is director, Rob Ager. Ager has published unique analytical takes on The Shining. (as well as other Kubrick classics such as Full Metal Jacket and Eyes Wide Shut.)
The analysis presented by Ager is indeed some of the most spot-on, he gives a comprehensive look at what many writers who watch Kubrick’s film tend to miss.
However, what is often overlooked about The Shining is the theme of naivety.
The story is about a family dismissive of the historical tragedies that may also fall victim of. The Torrance family believes themselves to be an average family, and because of this false belief, they dismiss the red flags that foreshadow their tragedy to come.
2. LIFE IN PICTURE
Throughout the film, what appears to be reality is often distorted and confusing; from the misleading corridors to the ghost-like characters that accompany Jack during his downward spiral toward insanity. However, this distortion between reality and fiction is also referenced to symbolically.
For example,
In the film’s opening credits, they show a car traversing through winding roads in the mountains. Similar images appear in the very next scene. In the picture frames of the hotel where Jack goes for “The Interview,” you can see these images hanging outside of the office walls. This may seem like nothing significant, but when juxtaposed with the image seen in the final scene revealing Jack Torrance at the dinner party, the placing of these images appears to be very symbolic. What is an image and what is the current reality are blurred. The pictures in the frames are reflections of the present.
3. REJECTING PROPHECY
The notion of fulfilling prophecy is a recurring theme in The Shining. What is going to happen is brilliantly foreshadowed in several different ways.
During “The Interview,” Jack is told about the caretaker in the 70s who watched over The Overlook Hotel. It is revealed to Jack that the previous caretaker killed his own family and desecrated the bodies. Nevertheless, Stewart Ullman, is laughing as he is explaining this horrifying detail to Jack. He then proclaims,
Jack responds to Ullman by saying that his wife won’t be scared or shocked by hearing that this horrible homicide that took place in the hotel.
Though Wendy may watch horror films, she is not equipped to deal with the reality of her own circumstance. She is in denial and lacks the ability to communicate with the people in her life. Wendy has probably become desensitized by horror films since she would probably not take the warning signs projected by previous homicide seriously enough.
Characters make light of tragedy or do not believe their own lives to be real. They all are oblivious to the reality of their circumstance. Jack ignores his alcoholism and bad temper, Wendy downplays abusive behavior from Jack, and Danny has an imaginary friend — all three live a false reality.
4. SUPPRESSING TRAUMA
Wendy (Jack’s Wife) volunteers information to Danny’s doctor. She explains how Jack hurt her son during a physical altercation, resulting in Danny having a dislocated shoulder. Wendy, while explaining this, raises concerns of possible child abuse. But this explanation is made light of by Wendy.
She states,
In the car scene where Jack, Wendy, and Danny ride to the hotel together for the first time, Danny asks about another tragedy in the area where settlers were snowbound and had to resort to cannibalism to stay alive.
After Wendy is concerned about the graphic detail of such a story — Danny interjects, “Don’t worry, Mom. I know all about cannibalism. I saw it on TV.”
Jack sarcastically replies,
the scene ends *
Later, Danny sees the twins covered in blood in the hallway and tells himself,
And in the very next scene, Danny is watching a television program. Did Danny ignore the previous incident? Did he not tell his parents about what he saw?
The Torrance family cannot escape from their fate. They do not communicate with each other and are in denial about who they truly are. The child is symbolic because he represents suppressed childhood trauma; both of his parents suppress similar inconvenient truths. Not only is the family tragedy foreshadowed by many of the other tragedies in and around the Overlook Hotel, but the film’s final image of the dinner party makes the tragic events that occur during the film seem preordained by the historical events that come before it.
We, the viewers, are watching the movie. We know that these films are not actual, but their images still haunt us. The trueness or reality of the film’s events and their relationship to past events are not of the utmost importance — what happens after these events is also not significant.
All that matters in The Shining is what Kubrick reveals to us day-by-day. The only thing that matters is the tragic event itself and the relic of history in the film’s final frame. If we are ignorant of the seriousness of our past and current circumstance, we will fall blindly as victims of future happenings.