Essay On The Shining By Stanley Kubbrick
Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film, The Shining, based on Stephen King’s 1977 novel, is listed among the greatest horror movies, viewed by some as one of the greatest films of all time, and is now being noted as an influence for Taylor Swift’s new music video for “Shake It Off” (Zalben). Though it deviates from King’s writing, Kubrick’s translation of the source material is steeped in mystery and conspiracy. On the surface, The Shining is a horror movie based on a family trapped in an eerie hotel where its isolation and influence take a toll on the father, Jack, who then tried to murder his wife and telepathic son. At least, that is how I watched it as a eight year old. Now, I understand The Shining not as a movie about the murders at the Overlook
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For example, Danny’s ability to see both the past and the future could later connect to the concept and consequences of murder. Taking closer looks will leave little doubt that the consequences “Manifest Destiny” had for the Native Americans were not all that far from Kubrick’s mind in creating this horrific work of art. The first clue is when the hotel manager casually mentions to the caretaker’s wife, “The site is supposed to be located on an Indian burial ground, and I believe they actually had to repel a few Indian attacks as they were building it.” Though this is the only time the word “Indian” is blatantly said, there are plenty of other implications, like Indian chanting as background noise during the movie's climax. Another example of such implication is the obnoxious amount of Indian motifs in this film. Although they are never the main focus, these artifacts command our attention and demand from the viewer a deeper reflection on the brutal history of a stillyoung nation (Nolan). Wall hangings, carpets, and architectural details decorating the hotel compete with the prominence of the red, white, and blue color palette used. These details serve as a background for many of the key …show more content…
Kubrick carefully equates the Overlook Hotel with the United States. As the manager tells Jack in the opening interview about the horrible murders that took place at the Overlook, it is implied that something violent and horrific happened America’s history, something haunting, like the ghosts, ever since. One example of such ghosts is in the well known scene of the flooding river of blood from elevator shaft, surrounded by Indian artwork-embellished frames, presumably sinking into the Indian burial ground itself. As it is the blood upon which the Overlook Hotel was built, it is the blood upon which this nation was built, the blood of slaughtered Native Americans. The ghosts in The Shining represent the dark memories from America’s past that we try to repress. This movie forces viewers to confront the consequences and effects of America’s past. The film is an allegory, and the repressed memories driving Jack mad represent an American unable to deal with its history, causing damage in his and the countries present. Murder is the means by which the present and future are linked: the death of the past cannot be changed, the present is full of menacing signs, and the future is always already defined by death
For example, Danny’s ability to see both the past and the future could later connect to the concept and consequences of murder. Taking closer looks will leave little doubt that the consequences “Manifest Destiny” had for the Native Americans were not all that far from Kubrick’s mind in creating this horrific work of art. The first clue is when the hotel manager casually mentions to the caretaker’s wife, “The site is supposed to be located on an Indian burial ground, and I believe they actually had to repel a few Indian attacks as they were building it.” Though this is the only time the word “Indian” is blatantly said, there are plenty of other implications, like Indian chanting as background noise during the movie's climax. Another example of such implication is the obnoxious amount of Indian motifs in this film. Although they are never the main focus, these artifacts command our attention and demand from the viewer a deeper reflection on the brutal history of a stillyoung nation (Nolan). Wall hangings, carpets, and architectural details decorating the hotel compete with the prominence of the red, white, and blue color palette used. These details serve as a background for many of the key …show more content…
Kubrick carefully equates the Overlook Hotel with the United States. As the manager tells Jack in the opening interview about the horrible murders that took place at the Overlook, it is implied that something violent and horrific happened America’s history, something haunting, like the ghosts, ever since. One example of such ghosts is in the well known scene of the flooding river of blood from elevator shaft, surrounded by Indian artwork-embellished frames, presumably sinking into the Indian burial ground itself. As it is the blood upon which the Overlook Hotel was built, it is the blood upon which this nation was built, the blood of slaughtered Native Americans. The ghosts in The Shining represent the dark memories from America’s past that we try to repress. This movie forces viewers to confront the consequences and effects of America’s past. The film is an allegory, and the repressed memories driving Jack mad represent an American unable to deal with its history, causing damage in his and the countries present. Murder is the means by which the present and future are linked: the death of the past cannot be changed, the present is full of menacing signs, and the future is always already defined by death