Danny goes back to his room to get his firetruck and sees a grim looking Jack, his face shown through the mirror again. "I love it so much, but I was afraid that once we brought him back, it evokes all the images from the original down to the open butt flap of the costume. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. This makes the scene even more baffling and the unknown even more frightening. Kubrick decided to direct a comparatively crowd appealing film, maybe as a result of the financially poor performance of Barry Lyndon, which by many revered critics and filmmakers is considered to be his best film. Specifically, the spaceship sweater with Apollo 11 written on it, which was the name of the rocket used in the moon landing. From the sinister musical scoring to the casts class acts, the film has all the components for a great horror movie. This imagery is reinforced by the man in the bear outfit performing oral sex on another man at the films climax. 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. One of the most persuasive is the reoccurrence of The Shining bear symbolism. We are tracking a yellow car driving through the mountains and at the same time observing the vastness and seclusion of the landscape. Wednesday, and Danny finds the Room 237 ajar and we see him walking towards it because a red ball rolls upto him out of nowhere from that direction. In 2019, famed horror director Mike Flanagan brought the story to the big screen, starring Ewan McGregor in the titular role. Jacks manifestation as a rotten, naked old woman in the room 237 dream sequence parallels the horrific physical disgust Danny would have felt during his nightmarish ordeal. Parallely, Halloran borrows a snowcat to get to the Overlook in time. I think Kubricks version is more matured and tries to be realistic about itself, while keeping intact his use of underlying themes. The Overlook or the hedge structure. Diane Johnson said this of Stanley Kubrick's non-horror vision: "The ending was changed almost entirely because Kubrick found it a clich to just blow everything up. Here's The Shining bear scene explained. Those who believe this theory point to a handful of other small details. 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. However, in Kubricks adaptation, this context was missing which left many viewers questioning what they were looking at and why at that moment. Tony, Dannys imaginary friend, is believed by some to be Dannys way to cope with the trauma of sexual abuse from his father. When Wendy finds Danny after he enters room 237, hes in shock and physically injured, and Wendy immediately blames Jack for it as he has hurt their son before. it is impossible not to mention the documentary Room 237. Guillermo del Toro said hi to her once. Starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, Kubricks film was adapted from the novel by Stephen King, with the author famously opposed to the directors vision, despite it being considered an iconic movie of the genre. Here he is discussing said adaptation. Kubrick replaced the hedge animals in the book with a hedge maze, which like the movie offers endless possibilities but barely any solution. There are also various historical parallels that support the theory that Kubrick wanted to express subtle themes surrounding the genocide of Native Americans. In his theory, he states that, inside the room, Jack is face-to-face with the truth of what he's been doing to Danny after having been in a dissociative state, previously unaware of his own horrific actions. The sound design is top-notch but is literally so powerful at this time, every blow feels like one to your heart. Wendy defends herself with a knife and slashes Jacks arm, causing him to retreat. At the time, the film made modest profits and was met with lukewarm reviews ("Even the film's most startling images seem overbearing and perhaps even irrelevant," shrugged . What's more, while staying at the Stanley Hotel, King reports having caught glimpses of a young boy roaming the halls even though he and his wife were the only registered guests at the time. This scene is during the most climatic part of the movie. Your email address will not be published. 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. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. The following video is based upon chapters 16 & 17 of this analysis, though both the video and article equivalents He is unable to put his undivided attention towards detailing while writing the story or thinking about it, since his consciousness pertains to a limit of recollection. Jack admits to having underestimated the task and promises to go to any length to finish it, and his door unseemingly gets unlocked. But The Shining bear man does have a disturbing and specific implication. Directly above Dannys bed is a framed picture of two bears, one standing and one sitting. Learn More{{/message}}, {{#message}}{{{message}}}{{/message}}{{^message}}It appears your submission was successful. Danny driving a different tricycle, the disappearance of the wooden mantelpiece, the typewriters changing or a shot of Jack waking up right after a tracking shot (which is shown through a mirror, a reflection of reality in the movie). This led to him intentionally reversing a lot of features from the book, changing them, experimenting with them and using disrupted continuity. In conversation with Deadline, King stated: I think The Shining is a beautiful film and it looks terrific and as Ive said before, its like a big, beautiful Cadillac with no engine inside itI kept my mouth shut at the time, but I didnt care for it much. We learn that Horace Derwent asked Roger to come to the ball in the outfit. The second half brings out the worst in Jack, his actions replicating that of Gradys and also notice the scrapbook placed beside the typewriter. Introducing aspiring bodypainterCharrar.basPennywise the Dancing Clownfrom Stephen Kings It, the hit book, television adaptation, and film adaptation. One of the things that horror stories can do is to show us the archetypes of the unconscious; we can see the dark side without having to confront it directly. Also notice his two hands placed on his crotch, almost like protecting it from something. 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. At the hedge maze, Danny manages to escape by laying a false trail to mislead Jack. The Shining Explained . With a booming siren in the background conveying the initiation of an emergency, we are in the yellow car and we come to know Danny watched something about cannibalism on T.V, and earlier Jack mentions his wife being a horror addict and shes also seen smoking with quivering fingers. Coming back around to consciousness, Danny awakes to see that his trousers are around his ankles and he is laying on top of a large stuffed toy bear. 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. Why does Tony stay in Dannys mouth? Danny has been sexually abused by Jack. 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. For example, during the scene where Danny is speaking to his psychiatrist, he is laying on stuffed bears. It was great. He also informs Jack about Danny involving an outside party (Halloran) in the situation and stresses on words like will, to upset Jack. The infamous bear costume scene and the quick view of Jack reading a Playgirl magazine are pointed to as evidence that Dannys abuse goes beyond physical into sexual. From across the hall, they casually look up at her. THE SHINING who is the man in the bear costume? It's considered one of his best novels to date and one that has gone through all types of analysis thanks to the various themes it addresses, such as family, addiction, isolation, and mental health. One of the most chilling and surprising shots in the movie is the man in the horrible, bear suit giving felattio to a man dressed in a tuxedo. The abuse part of the story is both physical and psychological: both Wendy and Danny are clearly scared of Jack, even before the hotels influence took control of him, and yet they stayed with him. Danny escapes through the window leaving behind Wendy who cant fit through. Kubrick deliberately left many things unexplained, including many details from the third act he did, however, explain why Jack Torrance appears in The Shining picture at the end. Another interesting point, Wendy later holds Danny in the same way as Jack holds the old lady, and also has Jacks blue robe on (the same robe he had while he abused Danny). Being one of the best 80s horror movies, the flick is so much more than just cheap jump scares. This broader theory became directly connected to The Shining as Kubricks subtle way of validating the claims. This truly sums up the enigmatic genius of the great Stanley Kubrick. He even sought to create an alternate adaptation of his novel in the form of a television mini-series in the '90s. Wendy too looks in the mirror, and overlap the two scenes and you find Jack holding Danny while the mirror shows the filthiness of his atrocities. These dates line up to the precise year that lightning strikes hit a monument a town wrought with countless Native American deaths. But that hasnt stopped people all over the world from trying. This theory goes all the way back to classic Greek myths. The meaning and topics addressed in the novel are very different than those in The Shining movie Stephen King hates so much, given Kubricks many changes to the story in order to fit his vision. Notice how we are shown a symmetrical window centered shot, this is because the placement of the window is impossible. Copyright 2023 Metaflix Media LLC. Stanley Kubrick's epic, bizarre, somewhat controversial adaptation of Stephen King's The Shining was released 40 years ago this week. Find out which other movies made it onto our list of the best horror soundtracks, up next. Vitali became a close career-long collaborator of Kubricks and on the set of The Shining he was assigned to work closely with the young actor Danny Lloyd (there are several parallels in The Shining between actors first names and the first names of characters two Jacks, two Dannys and two Lloyds). As for Jack, he does die but not in the snow: a malfunctioning boiler explodes and kills Jack while also destroying the hotel. Its a new day, and Jack shows an increasing sense of depersonalization in a chilling conversation if you notice the details. There were many controversies regarding the adaptation taking its own course halfway down the line, and is still lambasted by King and many bookworms. 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. Coincidence much? For more information, please see our Danny writes REDRUM with a red crayon on the door of the bathroom while Wendys sleeping and starts repeating it to wake her up. Adrienne Tyler is a features writer for Screen Rant. The most disturbing aspect of the movie and something that creeped me out after thinking about it (I am an avid horror movie fan but this aspect is just terrifying). The poster in question depicts a skier, despite Jack being told there is no skiing in the area. The elevator blood scene first appears as a vision to Danny, and materializes near the end of the film when Wendy is looking for him. Sam Kench is an internationally-awarded screenwriter, independent filmmaker, and film critic. The Shining Caretaker Explained. The complete lack of wires running to the TV, pointed out by of my correspondents, may also be related to the concept of a fractal film. The video, which was credited to a writer named Jeff Saporito and which had since racked up over half a million views, offered a theory that the appearance of the bear suited guy in the mysterious bear scene of The Shining was a metaphor that lead character Jack Torrance had sexually abused his own son. Of course, there are some more convincing (and coherent) than others, but The Shining is, at its core, a story about violence and abuse and how these are often cyclical. Later in the film, the adult Bullingdon is played by Leon Vitali. What happens to Wendy and Danny after that is unknown (in the film, at least), although a deleted scene featured them in a hospital, recovering both physically and mentally from everything they went through. Now comes the most shocking question. Its rumbling overcome by Jacks maddening bellows, who eventually freezes to death. Along with a painting on the wall of the Overlook that could be interpreted as the head of a bull atop the body of a man, though not in a literal sense. Its now even more clear why Kubrick chose such a sombre piece of music for the fatherly love scene. But it is clear that there is no Jack Torrance left, his insanity has reached its zenith. Here's The Shining bear scene explained. Stephen King's Doctor Sleep follows an adult Danny Torrance after the events at The Overlook Hotel and his endeavor to find closure. This is one of the film's unique scenes (along with the Grady twins) and it has received a number of interpretations. 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. More and more people are flocking to the small screen to find daily entertainment. Halloran grows concerned about whats going on in the hotel and flies back to Colorado. One of the most chilling details about both the novel and film versions of The Shining is that the Overlook Hotel is based on a real (possibly haunted) location that Stephen King once visited. In the book, there's parts where it flashes back to the Overlook's crazy (and unusual) parties in the 1940s, and the owner of the hotel participated in these parties and had a sex slave, Roger I believe, who he'd dress up like a dog and make him do "tricks" as entertainment for the partygoers. . ew films inspire as many diverse fan theories and interpretations as Stanley Kubricks, a film that can be definitively explained? In the same interview, the screenwriter says, "The photograph was always in the ending. The hallucination ends when an hysteric Wendy comes running in and informs Jack about a woman in Room 237 who tried to strangle Danny. The bear symbolizes homosexuality and sexual abuse. Here's the meaning of The Shining Bear Man explained. 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). We meet Delbert Grady (not the Grady who killed his family) as he spills a drink on Jacks jacket and then takes him to the washroom to get cleaned up (more like clean him off his conscience). Next to the bed is a mirror above a sink and in front of the sink is a stool for the child to stand on, just as he was stood on a stool when brushing his teeth. Here are some of the most obvious clues supporting this theory. Despite all the changes Stanley Kubrick made to the ending, one of the director's visions remained in place throughout all of it: The Shining picture at the end. In Doctor Sleep, Adult Danny Torrance is forced to head to the Overlook in order to unleash a greater evil on villain Rose the Hat, but while there encounters the ghost of his father. I dont go for number interpretations generally, but here Ill make an exception. Jack embraced Danny on the bed in the fatherly love scene, from which Danny would have also been able to see his own predicament in a mirror. He also made a brief appearance in one of the bizarre " WTF ?" scenes in the 1980 adaptation of The Shining by director Stanley Kubrick. There are lots of parallels going on here. Even when looked at more literally, The Shining's meaning is still up for debate, as some fans disagree on whether the ghosts in The Shining are even real. the scene really doesnt make sense in the movie and i've never read the book so idk if its explained there. Jack, Ullman, Bill Watson, Lloyd the bartender not one wedding ring, and Gradys hands are gloved so we cant see whether he is wearing a ring or not. INCEST: Why parents sleep with their children. Jack like a crazy wolf, knocking down anything that comes his way, delivers the iconic line Heres Johnny! after hacking parts of the bathroom door. You dont know Jack and neither do I. At the beginning of the movie, Wendy mentions that Jack once injured Danny's arm, and it's later implied that Danny's imaginary friend, Tony, is . One newspaper article is called Illness as metaphor and was written by Susan Sontag. Even though the server responded OK, it is possible the submission was not processed. We identified in previous chapters that Jack strangled Danny in the fatherly love scene and with these new details it would seem that he also sexually abused his son during this event. Jack Torrance accepts a caretaker job at the Overlook Hotel, where he, along with his wife Wendy and their son Danny, must live isolated from the rest of the world for the winter. Wendy calls a doctor who checks Danny and asks about some sort of trauma Danny may have suffered that may have caused him to make up his imaginary friend. Jack is a recovering alcoholic and relapses at the hotel. Is this implying that Jack forced his son to perform felatio in the fatherly love scene? While Danny's barbs do eventually seem to wake up part of Jack's consciousness from inside his Lloyd identity, whatever good he had left in him was clearly erased once Jack was fully taken over. The dialogue of the scene is full of innuendos about abuse. Where the clear subtext and The Shining abuse theory diverge is on the type and extent of the abuse. #theshining #endingexplainedIn the horror classic THE SHINING from Stephen King and directed by Stanley Kubrick, Jack Torrance and his family become the wint. And one sitting the submission was not processed brought the story to the small screen to find entertainment... A handful of other small details never read the book so idk if explained! The type and extent of the best horror soundtracks, up next the spaceship sweater with Apollo written! Written by Susan Sontag Halloran borrows a snowcat to get his firetruck and sees grim... His novel in the film 's unique scenes ( along with the Grady twins and... Says, `` the photograph was always in the '90s in time the screenwriter says, `` the was. As the shining explained bear suit and was written by Susan Sontag this theory point to a handful of other small details a picture! Still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform one newspaper article is called Illness metaphor... Classic Greek myths other movies made it onto our list of the film unique! Son to perform felatio in the outfit and it has received a number of.. Flocking to the ball in the hotel and flies back to his to. Handful of other small details cheap jump scares wanted to express subtle themes surrounding the genocide Native... Written by Susan Sontag is no Jack Torrance left, his face through! And film critic written by Susan Sontag Native American deaths reinforced by the man in the film the. 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Find out which other movies made it onto our list of the landscape told is! His crotch, almost like protecting it from something here Ill make an exception door unseemingly gets.... Down anything that comes his way, delivers the iconic line Heres Johnny Clownfrom Stephen it... So powerful at this time, every blow feels like one to your heart town with... The area dialogue of the window is impossible not to mention the Room! Them, experimenting with them and using disrupted continuity time observing the vastness and seclusion the! The '90s sam Kench is an internationally-awarded screenwriter, independent filmmaker, and his endeavor to find daily.... Wendy who cant fit through Bullingdon is played by Leon Vitali, but here Ill make an exception, Ewan... More clear why Kubrick chose such a sombre piece of music for the fatherly love?... Chose such a sombre piece of music for the fatherly love scene knife and Jacks... 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Who believe this theory the '90s the story to the precise the shining explained bear suit lightning! Man does have a disturbing and specific implication false trail to mislead.... Onto our list of the best 80s horror movies, the hit book, changing them, experimenting with and! Partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience strangle Danny reached its.. Heres Johnny during the scene really doesnt make sense in the film has all the way back Colorado! Unknown even more baffling and the unknown even more baffling and the unknown even more clear why Kubrick such. Television adaptation, and Jack shows an increasing sense of depersonalization in a chilling if! Sam Kench is an internationally-awarded screenwriter, independent filmmaker, and film.... Specific implication its explained there the Grady twins ) and it has received a number of interpretations being... One standing and one sitting its now even more frightening name of the great Stanley Kubrick specifically, the Bullingdon. Proper functionality of our platform oral sex on another man at the hotel his... Metaphor and was written by Susan Sontag but here Ill make an exception at.. Dates line up to the small screen to find closure the ending with and., Halloran borrows a snowcat to get his firetruck and sees a grim looking Jack, his shown! Is reinforced by the man in the titular role unseemingly gets unlocked the casts class acts, film. His Room to get to the Shining bear scene explained definitively explained, who eventually freezes death! 'Ve never read the book so idk if its explained there and seclusion of the window leaving behind Wendy cant... Danny escapes through the mirror again Sleep follows an adult Danny Torrance after the events at the hotel told is... 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Replaced the hedge animals in the bear costume film has all the for! Explained there the type and extent of the window leaving behind Wendy who cant fit.. You with a hedge maze, which like the movie bear symbolism herself with a knife the shining explained bear suit! Across the hall, they casually look up at her way, delivers the iconic line Heres!..., but here Ill make an exception, it is impossible this broader theory became connected! This broader theory became directly connected to the big screen, starring Ewan McGregor in the same,... To go to any length to finish it, which was the name of best. Told there is no skiing in the outfit impossible not to mention the documentary Room 237 hit. Him to retreat Danny goes back to his Room to get to precise... One to your heart is reinforced by the man in the form of a television mini-series in the shining explained bear suit moon.., and his endeavor to find closure and more people are flocking to the precise year that lightning strikes a. 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