Room 237

In my previous post on Eyes Wide Shut I talked about this documentary focusing on Kubrick's possible hidden messages in The Shining. It's still not available on DVD yet, but you can rent it on iTunes. Regardless if this isn't actually in my back-log, it's so fucking intriguing I just have to post on this. 

This documentary breaks The Shining and its messages down into nine parts, and I really don't know where to start on this. I feel as though I could talk forever on these subject matters. Debate on them endlessly as I'm sure the commentators of this documentary do on a regular basis. I'll just focus on the most likely theory to be true, the least likely theory, and the one that's the most entertaining to me.

First is the idea that The Shining is a message about the genocide of the Native Americans as the colonists moved across this country. This seems completely believable to me and there are plenty of signs to indicate that Kubrick truly intended this message to connect to audiences. The hotel is filled with Native American artwork and paintings and tapestries. There's also a specific reference to Calumet Baking Power in the kitchen's pantry.

Calumet is a Native American peace pipe. In this scene, the Calumet symbolizes Danny's trust with the caretaker Dick. It's shown again when Jack Torrance gets locked in the pantry after going crazy and makes a pact with the demons to let him out only in that scene all of the Calumet canisters are off kilter indicating a flawed treaty. 

There's also some mention to the movie being a connection to WWII and the Holocaust. This one is a little harder for me to buy, but possible. The number 42 is thrown around a bit which is indicative to 1942 when (as the commentators in the documentary claim) the Holocaust began. Plus Jack uses a German typewriter - typewriter could indicate power having the ability to make lists, possibly making list for those entering concentration camps. This seems like a bit of a stretch, but there could be something to it. There's also this photo that ends the movie:

As the haunting photo that shows Jack immortalized in the hotels old 1920's party as it fades into a close-up of him. During the fade, if you freeze it, it's suppose to look like Jack Torrance is actually Hitler. Think this is grasping at straws. Cool theory, though, but I straddle on the fence at this Holocaust allegory.

The next theory that I really don't believe is that this movie was Kubrick's attempt to confess that he filmed the moon landing. Note: It's not that we never landed on the moon, just that the footage we have is faked. This theory mostly involves the room 237. In the novel it's 217. Kubrick claims they changed it because the hotel they filmed had a 217 and didn't want to scare people from staying in it. Commentators in the documentary say this is false. If you call the hotel, they'll explain no such room exists. So they claim 237 is the name of the soundstage the moon landing was filmed on, plus the distance from the Earth to the moon was 237,000 miles (the was the supposed number used at the time before more accurate lasers calculated it to be closer 239,000 miles). Then when Danny checks out the room, he's wearing an Apollo 11 sweater. And, the key to room 237 is spelled out as "ROOM No 237". The documentary speculates that "o" on number is meant to be ignored and and when rearranging the letters you can spell MOON ROOM. 

First, I don't buy that the moon landing footage is fake. So I'm looking to poke holes in these theories. All-in-all, it just seems people are reading too much into these clues. It's a really fascinating theory, but I just struggle to believe it.

Finally, the most fascinating point the documentary makes is that the film was designed to play forwards and backwards at the same time. You can actually overlay the film playing in both directions and see some fascinating imagery. First there's the opening/ending:

The title is that of the photo where Jack is frozen for all time, trapped with all the demons in the hotel. In this frame, it's almost like a postcard inviting the viewers to stay with the ghouls  and ghosts of the hotel. 

Then we have Dick warning Danny of the horrors of the hotel while you have Jack first going crazy as he chases Wendy up the staircase before she strikes him with the baseball bat. Cool imagery. Note: The knives placed to look like their about to strike Danny. 

The two store room scenes link up exactly. When Danny and Wendy are introduced to the room overlays when Jack becomes imprisoned there by Wendy after falling into complete madness. 

The scene where Jack is in the blood-red bathroom talking to Grady (the former caretaker who chopped up his family) when he converts him to kill his family, their mouths are perfectly  encapsulated in the TV that Wendy and Danny are watch. Note: What's on TV is called The Summer of '42. Another nod to the reoccurring numer of the Holocaust. 

Then there's the typewriter mixing with the labyrinth. Both scenes, either when Jacks working or when Wendy discovers that whole "No work and no play..." repetition is overlaid with the maze garden. Great symbolism of the typewriting being Jack's window as he gets lost in his madness.

They go on and on. This intrigues me so much I want to watch this whole overlaying thing for myself. Hopefully I can find this online somewhere.

To wrap up, I'm left with this one final thought: Could Stanley Kubrick really be that much of a genius to have intentionally planned all of these messages in his film? (Still plenty I haven't mentioned.) I think only partly. I don't disagree that he's a genius. A true master filmmaker. But I believe that this documentary more displays man's ability to find truth wherever they want. The room key symbolizing the MOON ROOM seems like a huge leap on logic to me. And to think that Kubrick intentionally planned for this movie to play forwards and backwards with one another... I mean, If he really sat down and tried to do that, I think it would make him literally go mad - not unlike Jack Torrance. I think he's a perfectionist with the camera. Always made sure shots lined up, so when played on top of one another, we'll see things fall in place in interesting positions. However, of all the myths buried in this film, I think there might be some truth to the allegories of the demise of the Native Americans. Maybe even the Holocaust. All the other imagery, the labyrinth, the power of the typewriter, the knives above Danny, various others, are intended to subconsciously invoke fear or confusion that play in concert with the haunting storyline.

One truly fascinating element that Kubrick achieved was filming the layout of the hotel. There's all these mistakes in its construction that makes it impossible for some rooms to exist. And Kubrick does all the long, continuous shots to help lead the audience around only to make them feel lost and confused. Trapped even. It's a brilliant technique that makes you feel uncomfortable that these characters are already in a world that lacks logic and normal physics. Reminiscence of the horror I felt reading House of Leaves and that strange corridor that constantly changed to the point that story's characters would spend days there lost in darkness. 

My only beef with Kubrick's genius in this film, and I know I've been rambling on for a bit here  so I'll wrap up, is that bear scene. If people remember, at the end when Wendy begins to see the hotel in all of its madness, she sees man in a bear suit giving oral to some other guy.

This makes sense in the book as King tells the story of Jack going crazy and dancing in a ballroom where all these demon are being depraved. Although it's been a while since I've read it, there might have been something directly related to a man in a bear suit. It's just weird that Kubrick would include this seeing as he departed greatly from King's novel to begin with. I mean, the labyrinth isn't even involved in the book. Plus Kubrick made many indications that he wanted nothing to do with King's original work. Even fought to keep him away from the script. So, no clue why this scene was included. And the documentary makes no mention of it.

Still, this documentary is fascinating and definitely makes me rethink my stance on Kubrick films. I may never love them in the sense of how I love Star Wars or Evil Dead, but I'm certainly going to give all of his movies another watch. Even if intentional or not, I'm excited to think I might find some new hidden messages in connection to some far off shit.