Sorry if my other posts have sounded too negative. I disagree with some points, but I think much of it is quite brilliant, and has been touched on (but in far less detail) elksewhere. The study of mirrors, etc. are brilliant.
Interesting analysis, but much of it is a stretch. It also assumes that ALL decisions were made by Kubrick, and none by the script writer, set builders, prop department, cinematographer, costume department, etc. Many of what overimaginative film critics interpret as hidden messages or themes more often than not are clever in-jokes made by the different crews. Still cool, but hardly the work of one person.
@acidjack73 You need to read Kubrick's biographies. Most directors do little more than shout action and cut and give some instructions to actors. But Kubrick was directly involved in everything from selecting small incidental props to choosing which lens to choose for shots. That's not imagination. It's fully documented. Incidentally, one of his favorite books was The Codebreakers by David Kahn, which was all about message encoding / decoding throughout history.
I enjoyed the analysis very much, but I think it is almost entirely bullshit. You could do the same analysis with G.I. Joe Retaliation or Transformers 3 and make it sound like a thesis on the Bolshevik Revolution.
Well, this is a fascinating video in the same way that Loose Change was a fascinating video, and likewise I find this analysis easy to swallow if I believe that it's just a huge piss-take. Otherwise, I applaud the obsessive compulsiveness of these videos, very entertaining.
This also brings up another point. As subtle as all the 'Indian' clues are, those two girls are an obvious reference to a famous Diane Arbus photo. Much more direct than the 'clues' one might only notice after numerous viewings. And yet this is never discussed. They are not Indian, the photo is from New Jersey. How does that clear reference fit in the rest of the theory then?
I don't mean to sound like an ass, but I can't help but feel that this analysis might be better with a more informed notion of American history. For instance, Jack's rant seem like a fairly obvious reference to the many contracts Americans wrote up (mostly during the 1800s) granting Indians certain land and taking other bits of land away. Americans were then frustrated when Indians failed to obey the contracts (which were simply incomprehensible to them because of their idea of land ownership)
@CheGuevaraRIP Source? It's historically documented that the government rescinded on their own treaties that originally agreed to give Natives land, only to tell them to leave when resources were found on the land, e.g., the Black Hills. Google The Black Hills Expedition, and stop acting like you're an authority on the subject when clearly you're not. Natives understood perfectly well what was going on, they even sent their chiefs to the US capitol for the signing of these treaties.
I get the impression, that you have an over-active imagination, and also a very, over-analytical one too. I agree, Kubrick was a very talented film maker with an incredible eye for detail. However, I think you are reading too much into the, "subliminal message," thing. A man throwing a tennis ball, being a metaphor for an axe-wielding maniac??? I find that a little hard to swallow.
@fozzer145 Metaphor may not be the best word, and in any case a "metaphor" is not needed; the man throwing the tennis ball IS an axe-wielding maniac. I think it's better described as foreshadow, and I believe that's how the presenter did describe it, though I don't immediately remember. The resemblance isn't coincidental though.
Hey rob, I love your film reviews especially the Kubricks and Hitchcocks, and just a quick question and comment on the shining, there is a moment after the bathroom scene where jack is talking to wendy, and he looks directly into the camera, it occurs at around an hour and 20 minutes into the film, also I would look into the shining relation to Lewis Carols Alice in wonderland, there is definatly something there, the two match up. Hedge Maze, twins, party with a mad hatter
Both reviews are so very interesting and in a way intertwined in my mind how our 'elitist, corporate, government' controllers are manipulating much behind the scenes...and the puppet masters are quite UGLY. Anyway again thank you for these reviews they add so much depth to the moives all over again.
Have you seen Jay Weidner's review Kubricks Odyssey. According to him The Shining reveals his work on faking the Apollo 11 mission and how he thought it would catapult him into the 'elite' circle to have ultimate say/money in making movies, but always remained outsider/servant. Danny's sweater, shows 'Apollo 11' before 237, the twins & the Native paintings look like rockets. Jack & the bathroom scene = his first view of the 'elitist world' and what it actually came to be..death and decay.
Just an interesting note:In Kubrik's later films (including The Shining), he i constantly giving visual hints at what is to come later. One example you used is Danny navigating the halls of the maze-like Overlook and then escaping Jack in the actual maze at the end. This reminds me of the idea that dreams are meant to prepare the dreamer for events to come, and I think may hint at why Kubrik's later films have a dream-like quality. Jack even has a dream about killing his family, but fails.
Nice analysis, but i have to say that the "twins" aren't twins at all. In the beginning of the film the hotel keepers said that the daughters of grady were 8 and 10.
First of all, thank you for your amazing analysis, I love reading them, I have read them multiple times! One thing I am not quite sure about is the following: You are saying that there actually aren't any supernatural forces, it's all about Danny dreaming, dream sequences. The ability to shine wouldn't exist therefore. But how come Dick Hallorann calls Danny Doc? And why does he come to the hotel later in the film? Why does Danny hear his parents talking in the "give me the bat"-scene?
@MeS2P Well at no point have I ever claimed he was like a God, so that's more to do with your own interpretation. The stuff that's in these analysis vids is very strongly supported by the SK archives and biographies on SK. This is one of my older vids and not as thoroughly sourced. Check the full article on my website, its packed with sourced info :)
@robag88 Dear Mr. Ager. Firstly I would like to greatly thank you for your incredible insight into the films many intriguing themes. I just wanted to ask you if you have some sort of explanation for the continuety shots when we see Jack choping down the door to get to Wendy. We see that he makes a whole in the right side panel of the white dorr. But after he says the famous line, "here's Johnny", the camera shows a shot from behind Jack and it's visble that the door has been chopped down...
@robag88 perfectly on the left side aswell. In fact it looks to have been down with such precision that it coudn't have been an Axe. Just wondering if there might be some sort of symbolism to this look of the door. As if now the door looked like a window, or the bars of a cell. Thank you for your time Sir.
the twins, the bear costumed man giving oral sex, are from the book, which doesn't have Native American themes. The Donner party was about lost pioneers resorting to cannibalism to survive, not Indians or Indian attacks, and the Indian decor in the hotel is merely something you commonly see in alot of resort places in the Southwest. Theres really not much in this film that suggests anything about Native Americans at all. I think the only reason Ullmann mentions Indian attacks is for foreboding.
@SheilaTequila1000 The twins and tricycle weren't in the book. The bear man in the book had a dog costume and a back story which is removed in the film. The donner party is "a party of settlers" - colonization of America. Yes, the book has no native themes and no indian burial ground. Kubrick brought those to the table. The1997 tv version of The Shining has a hotel with hardly any native symbols, but Kubrick uses them frequently. See full analysis on my website for lots of production history.
@robag88 In your written chapter 16 DANNY'S ORDEAL, you show a picture of Wendy in the basement and mention the pornographic pictures on the wall. I think theres more to be explored there. There's a sign that says CHOKING. The pornographic pictures seem to be women tied up. This is directly after danny walks into room 237 in scene chronology where the picture of a native american women (wendy) moves down the hall.
@robag88 your response kind of shines like on the premise of your critique. you're "lawyering up" anything possible to twist it into some kind of winning arguement. I never mentioned the tricylcle as being in the book, and I totally agree that it was a Kubrick move. You made an assesment that the twins had to do with Native American mythology, but Grady had twin girls in the book, which you ALSO adimt has not NA themes in your reply. Seriously, finding scripture in the spiderwebs much?
@SheilaTequila1000 Sorry about the tricycles thing, misread as I'm usually answering comments quickly. "lawyering up" to create a "winning argument"? that's vague - anyone can say that in a debate.
The twins didn't appear to Danny in the book did they? So Kubrick's scenes of them were new material. And when you say I ADMIT the book had no Indian themes, of course - my argument is that Kubrick reinvented the story using King's bare bones plot. See full analysis on my site for lotsa sources.
I don't know about the twins representing a native american theme . . . what's the point of putting this into the movie if almost nobody will make the connection on even a subliminal level?
@Whoknowsuknow The point of all this subliminal stuff is that Kubrick was encoding controversial themes to bypass the censors, critics, investors and even his collaborators. It was the only way he could do it without destroying his career. Since Kubrick's death and the release of the extremely anti-establishment last film Eyes Wide Shut people have begun to decode the hidden messages in his work.
I would just disagree about the Native American marrying white men part, as Native Americans are a maternal society. So if they marry a white man then actually he marries into the native american culture. While if a Native American man marries a white woman he is then in the white peo
ples world. So it is important to understand the difference between the two. It is a huge difference the Maternal and Paternal society
@ShannonMacaluso The native american women were effectively giving up their culture by marrying white men. Marrying the white man and moving into the white man's world is the death of their matriarchal culture, another form of genocide against them and their culture. The white man doesn't marry into their culture, he obliterates it.
As to the May the 1st reference, consider the twins duality of night and day (common among many ancient and tribal civilizations), could also mean the changing of the seasons, where night or darkness refers to the months of winter. By contrast, day, light, or the Summer months begins around the spring equinox (perhaps about May the 1st, I dont know). But the light and dark dualities reference good and evil. Something to work with,
Yes there were grave atrocities perpetrated against the Native Americans.... Who were mostly butchered by arrivals from England and their descendants. The british taught the world how to hate. They started the "practice" of scalping in the new world. When America threw off British colonialism, Britain turned her grubby mits to India, China and other places, 'cause it just wouldn't be right until they got the rest of the world to hate them. Now all the countries they once held are taking them ovr
How are the countries Britain once owned taking them over?
I'm going to presume that your american and that your taking offence at robag interpretation of the film and that because he is British you are pointing out the faults of Britain's past as a way to offend him... somehow...
@notfriendlyyurrf Have you seen the riots lately in london? In a generation, if the English, like the Americans continue aborting their next generation, they will be overun by the immigrants they have ALlOWED into their countries,... will take them over from the inside...just by having kids. Pakis and people from the west Indies are havin' lots o' kids. When you point a finger at others you should expect to have several pointing back at you. All countries have a dark past.
Hi. Please let me mention an "important thing" about the man on his dressed as bear that is on his knees in front of another man. This part is in the book of Stephen King. In the Overlook hotel long time ago, there's a couple of gay men who went there. One of them told to his bf that he will go with him at the costumed party only if the other one is getting dressed as a bear. Later on the story we could see the couple.
@noo2islam In the book he had a silvery dog costume. Kubrick changed this to a bear and deleted the back story all together. In the film it ties in with a totally different theme. Check the expanded analysis on my website for details :)
wow, You really put a lot of your eggs into the native american basket on this analysis. I'm just saying that there could be other meanings behind this stuff.
I don't know how is this relevant, but isn't the baking powder's name, "Calumet", like the peace pipe the Native Americans used to, well, use to pray or make convenants and stuff like that?? I also think there's something about that "Golden Rey" name...
I'd like to think Kubrick was intentionally making certain corridor's/window's impossible in the layout of the Overlook, but surely that's getting a bit too deep and it's merely continuity error's?
Or is it? If it was intentional, Kubrick is even more brilliant than I originally thought, and I've always thought he was one of the best director's ever.
@Tips247 I don't go for number crunching interpretations personally, Watch Carol Vorderman on Countdown. Every week she took randomly selected numbers and used them to calculate a randomly selected target number.
While I enjoy this kind of conjectural analysis and I find this video entertaining, I'd like to point out a couple of things. First, if you will visit Colorado, you cannot escape noticing that Native American designs, crafts and artwork are everywhere, especially in its many 100s of hotels. This film is only being accurate in its depiction of the setting. Second, the association of Jack's "contract" rant with the Declaration is a major stretch of logic. Third, Duvall does not look like a Native
@Vortigern99 Most of it isn't conjectural, but the pointing out of very specific details that are sensory verifiable. The hotel manager does explain that the hotel is built on an indian burial ground, a detail that is not in the book. The declaration of independence rant I agree is a stretch, but that part has been updated in the full article on my site. Duvall does look like a native. She dresses like one (note the teepee designs on her yellow coat). And in the book she was a blonde.
@robag88 Yes the details are specific and verifiable, but their interpretation is purely subjective. The hotel is rife with Amerindian iconography *because it's a hotel in Colorado*. Anyone who's spent any amount of time in CO and/or, especially, its many hotels can aver that the entire culture there is aswim in Native American design, craft and artwork. Wendy begins wearing more local fashions as she is absorbed into the daily routine of the hotel. It doesn't mean she's a Native stand-in.
@Vortigern99 Of course I know that stuff about Colorado hotels, I read about them while writing the review. Based on the sheer number of references to US colonization of America in the film - indian burial ground, Donner party (settlers), "white man's burden", Halloran specifically framed with an indian chief on a calumet baking tin (and many more examples), my interpretation is that Kubrick chose the Ahwahnee hotel decor specifically because of its native motifs.
@robag88 I respect your interpretation but I do not share it. IMO Kubrick used or exploited imagery and ideas that were nascent in the subject matter, but he did not invent them or mean to indicate that this is what The Shining is "about". The Native American references are an outgrowth of the setting -- a hotel in Colorado, where the culture is rife with Amerinidian iconography -- and are an underlying facet of the American experience. Indian faces on US products were common until the "PC" 80s.
@Vortigern99@Vortigern99 Sure. I don't think the refs to white man's burden and so on are necessary for incidental purposes. There's a native american reference overkill in this film that, imo, defies co-incidence. To put it into context watch the other Shining film that was a more faithful adaptation of the book. It lacks this consistency of native refs in Kubrick's version. We disagree completely, but no disrespect either way. Thanks for your feedback :)
As to the "Indian burial ground", this detail adds flavor to the backstory and helps to explain the proliferation of Native iconography to audiences who may not be familiar with the local, Native-dominant culture of Colorado. I will also reiterate my view that Wendy begins to wear Native-looking garb as an indication that she is acclimating to the local culture and mirroring the decor of the hotel into which she is becoming absorbed. She does not look Navajo; her skin is lily-white
Have you seen Full Metal Jacket (Kubrick's follow up film to The Shining)? Watch the scene of Joker being interviewed outside a cinema - Joker talks of killing "people of an ancient culture". Behind him are posters of native Americans. The cinema is playing John Wayne's RED RIVER ... ie river of blood, the slaughter of native Americans
@Vortigern99 How do you know the indian burial ground details are there to "add flavour"? The book didn't need it? And there's no culture for Wendy to acclimate too, except her own family. As for her skin being too pale for an Indian, surely you understand the concept of metaphor. Metaphors aren't based on precise replication, but similarity in certain details. Eg, in Star Wars the Empire officers are very much like Nazis in uniform, but the absence of Swastikas doesn't cancel out the metaphor
I'm not sure about all of the symbolism you're finding here, but one thing that seems pretty solid is Native American genocide theme. For me, the most compelling part of this motif is the 1921 photo at the end of the film. Some Native Americans believed that photos stole the soul of the subject, entrapping it in the photo. This would mean that Jack's soul is entrapped in the Overlook Hotel, doomed to forever repeat his part, or perhaps his race's part in the genocide.
A bit boring. Painting and decorations are just decoration... Native or not... I don't think that is really important. That thing with black tedy-bear was interesting.
@robag88 Hey clown, Obama, Ted Kennedy, Oprah, and John Wayne could all pass for Indians if they were in full Native American "costume". REALLY, YOU CALL IT A "COSTUME"? I suspected you were an imbecile. You confirmed it. Thanks.
I was wondering if you have read the book, because some of these things could be explained by it. Jack's anger towards his wife is because his father was abusive to his wife, the chanting in some of the music could represent the voices Jack hears. Hallorann was black in the book, but it doesn't seem to have any connection to Ntive Americans. I think you should give a little more credit to Stephen King.
@yanarene Read the book 3 times. Kubrick transfromed the whole thing beyond recognition. See the full analysis of the film on my site. Chapter two covers the book and film comparisons.
@Greek0GETBaC You're not giving enough credit to Kubrick. The book and film are incredibly different. See chapter two of the expanded Shining analysis on my website for details of major plot changes.
The girls aren't actually twins, if they are the previous caretaker's daughters which many asume they are. Their age differs but only their clothes and hairtyle are the same.
the brief shots of danny's shocked reacion to horrible things is kind of like in 2001:a space odyssey when we see brief shots of dave's shocked face when he goes "beyond the infinite"
May the 1st, A very important date in the pagan calendar. In the Illuminati conspiracy theories this date is used for several things like Announcing to the world that Osama is dead... it could be a possibility.
I love your analysis, great work! However, the Grady girls were not twins.. they were about age eight and ten.. Even though I am positive that Kubrick added a lot of symbols and subliminal messages in The Shining, I think it's very easy to over-interpret certain things, such as Jack throwing the ball in the hall. If I remember correctly, this was Jack Nicholson's idea :P One thing I would love to hear your opinion about is why they refer to Grady as both Charles and Delbert in the film.
@TheMakrellitomat All that stuff is covered in the expanded analysis on my website. The twins incidentally, aren't Grady's daughters. Though Kubrick allows us to assume they are. Hence the age 8 and 10 giveaway. See site for details.
@hukeeaboo Somebody doesn't know how to make use of their time. I've got a girlfriend, a job, lots of friends and have just completed my first feature film. what do you do with your time?
I really appreciate these videos, but you seem to miss the point that most Kubricks films were based on other peoples work... so as much as youd like to give him credit for all of the things your mentioning, alot of it was predetermined in the novels.
@brutallyhonest123 Kubrick based his stories on novels to give himself plausible deniability should his investors become suspiscious. They're double narrative films. The Shining is on the surface a supernatural horror, but on close examination the ghost story falls apart and the film is revealed as a statement on political history. The expanded analysis on my site goes into the production history and the differences between book and film. Eg. in the book there's no maze and the hotel explodes.
Thats an amazing analysis Rob! I have now indulged in weeks of your Kubrick analysis's and these have made my Eyes Wide Open. Brilliant perspective here., but YT removed part 3 on your channel due to nudity I guess.... remove that and they will be OK with it I suppose.
My theory on the 1921 date is this.. When settlers came to America, they first settled in the east, then moved westward while taking out the Indians. It wasnt until years later that we declared our independence. Likewise, Ullman says the hotel was built in 1907, and they had to repel a few indian attacks (westward expansion). It wasn't until 2921 that the hotel had ITS independence day. The difference from 1907-1921 is the difference between the colonists and the American revolutionary war.
At 3:03 minutes into this video, you see a Sand Painting which shows four white objects that look like the Apollo rocket that Danny has on his blue sweater which is further evidence to support your link between this film and the native Indians. I remember also that the hotel manager says, in the same scene where he states that the builders of the hotel had to ward off Indian attacks, that the hotel is built on top of an ancient Indian burial ground.
@robag88 cause YouTube doesn't care about their community that much. It's just like how they shut my account down without a lick of information and k did nothing wrong.
@robag88 at 5:53 you missed something soooo big and it brings all you theory together... you have a very confused Jack standing between the cans with the Indians AND the box where it's written "GOLDEN rey", in other words, Jack duality between his care for his family and his care for alcool --> duality between indians right and gold rush (greed) Tell me what you think
To further hint at Nicholson's character representing the Founding Fathers/colonists, his hair style is similar to a popular one back in colonial days. To me, it makes him look like Samuel Adams. Again, Kubrik's perfectionism and attention to detail would make this hard to be a coincidence.
@jasonpearson2010 Don't bother with number calculus interpretations. If you ever watch Carol Vorderman on the gameshow Countdown she could take any arbitrary group of numbers and use them to calculate a given target number.
John wants to be a boy again, to go back to a simpler time. He howls about adult responsibilities, wants to erase his wife and child by murder. He writes about not being able to play for 500 pages and plays with balls.Toys, kid-like costumes & cartoons are everywhere. He pouts when locked up in freezer. He literally chases youth personafied (his kid) into the maze. Ultimately, John fails and is caught in a maze (a large toy, really), but might just end up in the past, younger looking.
For a while there you had me going, but the further you went the more problems your theory had. Was the axe supposed to represent a tomahawk? If so, Duvall should have used it. If blacks were somehow equated with Indians, why was the guy at the car parts store next to a red, white & blue oil filter package? Why were the white dead twins equated with Indians again...just because they were shown dead?? And Shelly Duval is positively bleach white in this flick, she's no Indian!!!
@CTHULHUSURVIVOR The kind of arguments you're putting forward are like saying the narrative of animal farm wasn't about communism because communists are human ...or because we don't see the communist flag in the film. Metaphors or not complete literal representations, They are approximations based upon recurring similarity, but that similarity doesn't extend to every single detail.
@Thespilloftroy Long story short that a google search would do better, but here it goes: Dog man was a closeted, but known homosexual and his lover was a closeted but known bisexual. The bisexual always refered him as his dog, and so for the party, the homosexual dressed like one and acted like one for everyone's amusement.
this is a very nice analysis, also because it is primarily based on the imges and not on the underlying ideas which sometimes seem to abstract too much.
I'm not trying to be a dick or anything, but it seems like an awful lot of work to hide a point one is trying to make. Why go through so much effort to conceal his views on the near extinction of Native Americans?
@protuberance Simple. If Kubrick went to studio execs and said he was making a film about repressed genocide of natives instead of a horror he wouldn't have got funded. The surface narrative brings funds. The subliminal narrative is encoded for gradual discovery by audiences years later. The subliminal approach also meant Kubrick wouldn't be sued for breach of contract.
Oh reincarnated, that makes sense except for the remark that he has always been the caretaker, using always been instead of is again or once was...I was thinking eternally damned souls are trapped in the hotel because it's haunted with their evil deeds that took place there.
How can it be that Jack is in the 1920s photo that is marked with the year...it ties in with the butler in the washroom telling Jack that he (Jack) has always been the caretaker and Jack telling his wife going to the hotel for the first time was stronger than deja vu...is Jack some kind of eternally damned soul or entity??
There were black indians in our history but denial is rampant. They were just as dark as the character Scatman Cruthers is playing in the film. Natives are doing themselves an injustice, they are basically breeding themselves out and losing their culture along with their DNA (other tribes more so than others I guess). no arguments, just truth.
I know you point this out in your written analysis of this movie, but since you dont mention it in this clip I would like to point it out again. There is a scene where Jack is having a conversation with the bartender, and Jack uses the words "The White Man's Burden" Which coincidently is a phrase coined by a highly racist poem(of the same name) by Rudyard Kipling from 1899, to me it is the most unambiguous proof of the racist theme in the movie
@negativespace261 True, but it has to do with the perversion of American society in contrast to native american society. The image is disturbing because it hits every single sexual taboo of western society: homosexuality, fellatio, beastiality, furry, and puts the man in upper crust clothing to illustrate the facade of culture that Americans use to distinguish themselves from the native "savages"
@negativespace261 In the book the guy was in a dog costume and there was a back story. Kubrick removed the back story and changed it to a bear costume. He was taking a feature of the book and adapting it for the story he was telling.
@robag88 Hmm...perhaps that is it. In any case, your videos (for this as well as Full Metal Jacket and 2001) are all very well done. I must say you do have quite an eye for details as you pull things out of these movies I could have never gotten myself. Thank you for making these. :)
@robag88 Oh and also - I'm not 100% certain on this and its significance, but could it be that the May 1st date is relating to the formation of the Illuminati on May 1st 1776?
I will say though I have to disagree with the Dick Hallorman representing the blacks and Indians. Slim Pickens was originally offered the role and turned it down.
@joekoe97 What is tghe source for Slim Pickens being offered the role? ~also the conceptual themes of a film often change during preproduction and sometimes in the prodcution itself so even if Pickens was offered it it doesn't disprove the native american metaphor.
@robag88 I can't remember exactly where it was I read it but I have read it from multiple sources. I remember them saying that Pickens was offered the [art but he would only agree to do so if his scenes were limited to less than 100 takes. That's when he turned it down. I only disagree with the assumption that Dick Hallorman would represent Indians when he is clearly african American. That's a big stretch to take. That's the same as saying any minority represents any minorities.
My thought was that the hotel from the beginning was built on bad spirits. They say in the beginning it was built on an Indian burial ground and they repelled a few attacks, then they don't mention it again. That's what I thought the blood in the elevator was. This along with the murders by Grady has made the Overlook hotel a bad spiritual place and they tried to take a reincarnated Jack back. Kubrick noted in an interview that the picture at the end showed he was reincarnated
@joekoe97 I always thought that the spirits took him back because caretaker Grady came back as Butler Grady and they were doing the same thing to Jack, like bringing him back to his previouc life. The photo at the end showing July 4th 1921, means nothing to Native Americans because July 4th is our day of Independence but could symbolize us taking the land away from them. So in conclusion I think that the Hotel was just a very haunted place and brought reincarnated Grady and Jack back to it.
Hey rob, I looked up may the 1st and 1921 on google, and I got results about the Jaffa riots in which arabs attacked and looted jewish homes in palastine. Is it possible that Stanley is making a refrence that Jack is somewhat like the arabs themselves, and that it's not just the founding fathers who raped and pillaged other people's home lands, and that we as a human race are just naturally overbearing and like to control more land than the other?
@themetalman3 There are a lot of historical events related to 1921, I haven't found anything conclusive, but my working hypothesis is related to Woodrow Wilson's presidency and his passing of the Federal Reserve Act. See expanded article on my site for more details.
I watch kubrick films and the symbolism goes right over my head. it must make it's way to my subconscious though as many of his films make my top list. i think you have a gift robag88. i enjoy your analysis on these kubrick films. i would feel cheated if i never found out all this stuff
@grappler7343 Before writing these reviews I was always drawn back for more viewings of Kubrick's films without underwstanding why. Some of it must register unconsciously.
@circlebastiat Americans are very much in denial their terrible impact on American Indians. Many Americans are ignorant and know nearly nothing of our culture and history. I was taught in school that the pilgrims were my forefathers. My ancestors were the true owners of this land, and always will be. Most Americans will never realize this fact, and its sad. Americans are responsible for a huge anti-Indian movement in the US resulting in my OWN loss of culture and no one even knows about it
As a member of a tribe myself, I vehemently disagree with the statement that "History repeats itself" that Jack's writing results in the "virtual annihilation of an entire race." I am very offended by this, and though my people are few, although my family and my people have lived through poverty, loss of culture, we will never be "annihilated". We are a strong people, please realize that we are still here.
@quailchow I'm not saying your people aren't still here, but native americans are fewer in number because of coloialism. That's not a disrespectful or insulting comment ... it's a comment on the hypocrisy of coloialism.
Your 3rd video on this was deemed inappropriate because of what you said about Danny, his father and the woman in the bathtub. Sexuality and child abuse.
The very TABOO against acknowledging it is the mechanism that allows it to propogate into the future.
@toosad444 It wasn't the narration that was the problem. It was the naked woman in bathroom shots. I've got a Clockwork Orange video up covering abuse themes and it's not been removed.
You hinted at the big bad secret of society. Bravo on your analysis I thought it was spot on. I always got the feeling Danny was abused in more ways than physical and emotional. I think this might also explain the sexual positioning of the man and the person in the teddy bear suit. Come on people why do fathers kill their children? So the story of what has been done to them will never be told.
I think I may know the connection to the 1921 date. The Indian Removal Act was written and implemented in 1821. Therefore the year 1921 would have been the 100th anniversary of the act and how it was "overlooked". Maybe thats the connection.
Sorry if my other posts have sounded too negative. I disagree with some points, but I think much of it is quite brilliant, and has been touched on (but in far less detail) elksewhere. The study of mirrors, etc. are brilliant.
acidjack73 5 days ago
Interesting analysis, but much of it is a stretch. It also assumes that ALL decisions were made by Kubrick, and none by the script writer, set builders, prop department, cinematographer, costume department, etc. Many of what overimaginative film critics interpret as hidden messages or themes more often than not are clever in-jokes made by the different crews. Still cool, but hardly the work of one person.
acidjack73 1 week ago
@acidjack73 You need to read Kubrick's biographies. Most directors do little more than shout action and cut and give some instructions to actors. But Kubrick was directly involved in everything from selecting small incidental props to choosing which lens to choose for shots. That's not imagination. It's fully documented. Incidentally, one of his favorite books was The Codebreakers by David Kahn, which was all about message encoding / decoding throughout history.
robag88 6 days ago
Kubrick is a genious and ahead of his time, I wish he was still around..some of these are a stretch though...
TheMussJakeTheMuss 2 weeks ago
Fascinating.
Opipop 3 weeks ago
I enjoyed the analysis very much, but I think it is almost entirely bullshit. You could do the same analysis with G.I. Joe Retaliation or Transformers 3 and make it sound like a thesis on the Bolshevik Revolution.
lowlypeasant 3 weeks ago
Well, this is a fascinating video in the same way that Loose Change was a fascinating video, and likewise I find this analysis easy to swallow if I believe that it's just a huge piss-take. Otherwise, I applaud the obsessive compulsiveness of these videos, very entertaining.
skipbosco 4 weeks ago
This also brings up another point. As subtle as all the 'Indian' clues are, those two girls are an obvious reference to a famous Diane Arbus photo. Much more direct than the 'clues' one might only notice after numerous viewings. And yet this is never discussed. They are not Indian, the photo is from New Jersey. How does that clear reference fit in the rest of the theory then?
z1ny 1 month ago
I don't mean to sound like an ass, but I can't help but feel that this analysis might be better with a more informed notion of American history. For instance, Jack's rant seem like a fairly obvious reference to the many contracts Americans wrote up (mostly during the 1800s) granting Indians certain land and taking other bits of land away. Americans were then frustrated when Indians failed to obey the contracts (which were simply incomprehensible to them because of their idea of land ownership)
CheGuevaraRIP 1 month ago
@CheGuevaraRIP Source? It's historically documented that the government rescinded on their own treaties that originally agreed to give Natives land, only to tell them to leave when resources were found on the land, e.g., the Black Hills. Google The Black Hills Expedition, and stop acting like you're an authority on the subject when clearly you're not. Natives understood perfectly well what was going on, they even sent their chiefs to the US capitol for the signing of these treaties.
katiexbohxbatie 4 weeks ago
There is no sound to this video. Cannot hear the comments or dialogue. Kind of a tease.
G10gaynor 1 month ago
i like the analysis in kubricks odysse better
watcher18893 1 month ago
Amazing video, you just blow my mind: I need to see this movie again
chkdsk1991 1 month ago
I get the impression, that you have an over-active imagination, and also a very, over-analytical one too. I agree, Kubrick was a very talented film maker with an incredible eye for detail. However, I think you are reading too much into the, "subliminal message," thing. A man throwing a tennis ball, being a metaphor for an axe-wielding maniac??? I find that a little hard to swallow.
fozzer145 2 months ago
@fozzer145 Metaphor may not be the best word, and in any case a "metaphor" is not needed; the man throwing the tennis ball IS an axe-wielding maniac. I think it's better described as foreshadow, and I believe that's how the presenter did describe it, though I don't immediately remember. The resemblance isn't coincidental though.
lancelottodd 1 month ago
@fozzer145 the first thing i learned when i was being taught to analyze books and movies is that everything is in there for a reason.
JuGGernaut81295 1 month ago
your one of the smartest men alive, no doubt about it, there needs to be more people like you
brodydog96 2 months ago
Hey Rob, the cigarettes on the desk in the last part of this is easily seen as the red man's revenge on white people....lol
thedreamisme 2 months ago
Hey rob, I love your film reviews especially the Kubricks and Hitchcocks, and just a quick question and comment on the shining, there is a moment after the bathroom scene where jack is talking to wendy, and he looks directly into the camera, it occurs at around an hour and 20 minutes into the film, also I would look into the shining relation to Lewis Carols Alice in wonderland, there is definatly something there, the two match up. Hedge Maze, twins, party with a mad hatter
NiteTrainPM 2 months ago
Both reviews are so very interesting and in a way intertwined in my mind how our 'elitist, corporate, government' controllers are manipulating much behind the scenes...and the puppet masters are quite UGLY. Anyway again thank you for these reviews they add so much depth to the moives all over again.
llaevigrof 2 months ago
Have you seen Jay Weidner's review Kubricks Odyssey. According to him The Shining reveals his work on faking the Apollo 11 mission and how he thought it would catapult him into the 'elite' circle to have ultimate say/money in making movies, but always remained outsider/servant. Danny's sweater, shows 'Apollo 11' before 237, the twins & the Native paintings look like rockets. Jack & the bathroom scene = his first view of the 'elitist world' and what it actually came to be..death and decay.
llaevigrof 2 months ago
Just an interesting note:In Kubrik's later films (including The Shining), he i constantly giving visual hints at what is to come later. One example you used is Danny navigating the halls of the maze-like Overlook and then escaping Jack in the actual maze at the end. This reminds me of the idea that dreams are meant to prepare the dreamer for events to come, and I think may hint at why Kubrik's later films have a dream-like quality. Jack even has a dream about killing his family, but fails.
codemonkeybrains 2 months ago in playlist the shining ANALYSIS
i always wondered, if Halloran was psychic, why couldn't he see his own death coming?
msmithstud 2 months ago
Nice analysis, but i have to say that the "twins" aren't twins at all. In the beginning of the film the hotel keepers said that the daughters of grady were 8 and 10.
Spac1d 2 months ago
This is great!
HeiHolaHello 2 months ago
douchelick!
pockmarkedbuttocks 3 months ago
First of all, thank you for your amazing analysis, I love reading them, I have read them multiple times! One thing I am not quite sure about is the following: You are saying that there actually aren't any supernatural forces, it's all about Danny dreaming, dream sequences. The ability to shine wouldn't exist therefore. But how come Dick Hallorann calls Danny Doc? And why does he come to the hotel later in the film? Why does Danny hear his parents talking in the "give me the bat"-scene?
dcrated 3 months ago
@MeS2P Well at no point have I ever claimed he was like a God, so that's more to do with your own interpretation. The stuff that's in these analysis vids is very strongly supported by the SK archives and biographies on SK. This is one of my older vids and not as thoroughly sourced. Check the full article on my website, its packed with sourced info :)
robag88 3 months ago
Everyone says the girls are twins. But in the beginning Mr. Ullman says 'two little girls about 8 and 10'
canddyassx 3 months ago
@canddyassx Yes, there's a chapter about the twins in the full article on my site. there were also no twins in the book.
robag88 3 months ago
"Navajo" is pronounced NAV-a-ho
8Ho03EdONl1liL 3 months ago
@8Ho03EdONl1liL Yep, i'm not American so had only ever read it in print. Can't alter the vid now that it's up.
robag88 3 months ago 9
@robag88 Dear Mr. Ager. Firstly I would like to greatly thank you for your incredible insight into the films many intriguing themes. I just wanted to ask you if you have some sort of explanation for the continuety shots when we see Jack choping down the door to get to Wendy. We see that he makes a whole in the right side panel of the white dorr. But after he says the famous line, "here's Johnny", the camera shows a shot from behind Jack and it's visble that the door has been chopped down...
SimeonBoyadjiev 2 weeks ago
@robag88 perfectly on the left side aswell. In fact it looks to have been down with such precision that it coudn't have been an Axe. Just wondering if there might be some sort of symbolism to this look of the door. As if now the door looked like a window, or the bars of a cell. Thank you for your time Sir.
SimeonBoyadjiev 2 weeks ago
the twins, the bear costumed man giving oral sex, are from the book, which doesn't have Native American themes. The Donner party was about lost pioneers resorting to cannibalism to survive, not Indians or Indian attacks, and the Indian decor in the hotel is merely something you commonly see in alot of resort places in the Southwest. Theres really not much in this film that suggests anything about Native Americans at all. I think the only reason Ullmann mentions Indian attacks is for foreboding.
SheilaTequila1000 3 months ago
@SheilaTequila1000 The twins and tricycle weren't in the book. The bear man in the book had a dog costume and a back story which is removed in the film. The donner party is "a party of settlers" - colonization of America. Yes, the book has no native themes and no indian burial ground. Kubrick brought those to the table. The1997 tv version of The Shining has a hotel with hardly any native symbols, but Kubrick uses them frequently. See full analysis on my website for lots of production history.
robag88 3 months ago
@robag88 In your written chapter 16 DANNY'S ORDEAL, you show a picture of Wendy in the basement and mention the pornographic pictures on the wall. I think theres more to be explored there. There's a sign that says CHOKING. The pornographic pictures seem to be women tied up. This is directly after danny walks into room 237 in scene chronology where the picture of a native american women (wendy) moves down the hall.
drdraquarius 3 months ago
@drdraquarius Yep there's def something going on with that scene.
robag88 3 months ago
@robag88 your response kind of shines like on the premise of your critique. you're "lawyering up" anything possible to twist it into some kind of winning arguement. I never mentioned the tricylcle as being in the book, and I totally agree that it was a Kubrick move. You made an assesment that the twins had to do with Native American mythology, but Grady had twin girls in the book, which you ALSO adimt has not NA themes in your reply. Seriously, finding scripture in the spiderwebs much?
SheilaTequila1000 3 months ago
@SheilaTequila1000 Sorry about the tricycles thing, misread as I'm usually answering comments quickly. "lawyering up" to create a "winning argument"? that's vague - anyone can say that in a debate.
The twins didn't appear to Danny in the book did they? So Kubrick's scenes of them were new material. And when you say I ADMIT the book had no Indian themes, of course - my argument is that Kubrick reinvented the story using King's bare bones plot. See full analysis on my site for lotsa sources.
robag88 3 months ago
I don't know about the twins representing a native american theme . . . what's the point of putting this into the movie if almost nobody will make the connection on even a subliminal level?
Whoknowsuknow 4 months ago
@Whoknowsuknow The point of all this subliminal stuff is that Kubrick was encoding controversial themes to bypass the censors, critics, investors and even his collaborators. It was the only way he could do it without destroying his career. Since Kubrick's death and the release of the extremely anti-establishment last film Eyes Wide Shut people have begun to decode the hidden messages in his work.
robag88 3 months ago 5
Mind=blown
ilikee1 4 months ago
I would just disagree about the Native American marrying white men part, as Native Americans are a maternal society. So if they marry a white man then actually he marries into the native american culture. While if a Native American man marries a white woman he is then in the white peo
ples world. So it is important to understand the difference between the two. It is a huge difference the Maternal and Paternal society
ShannonMacaluso 4 months ago
@ShannonMacaluso The native american women were effectively giving up their culture by marrying white men. Marrying the white man and moving into the white man's world is the death of their matriarchal culture, another form of genocide against them and their culture. The white man doesn't marry into their culture, he obliterates it.
azwoogie 3 months ago
As to the May the 1st reference, consider the twins duality of night and day (common among many ancient and tribal civilizations), could also mean the changing of the seasons, where night or darkness refers to the months of winter. By contrast, day, light, or the Summer months begins around the spring equinox (perhaps about May the 1st, I dont know). But the light and dark dualities reference good and evil. Something to work with,
liltimy1850 4 months ago
This is the only movie ive watch that scared me. It still creeps me out and i would see myself as a realist, not really letting films get to me
foxfire1112 4 months ago
Yes there were grave atrocities perpetrated against the Native Americans.... Who were mostly butchered by arrivals from England and their descendants. The british taught the world how to hate. They started the "practice" of scalping in the new world. When America threw off British colonialism, Britain turned her grubby mits to India, China and other places, 'cause it just wouldn't be right until they got the rest of the world to hate them. Now all the countries they once held are taking them ovr
bheadh 4 months ago
@bheadh
How are the countries Britain once owned taking them over?
I'm going to presume that your american and that your taking offence at robag interpretation of the film and that because he is British you are pointing out the faults of Britain's past as a way to offend him... somehow...
notfriendlyyurrf 4 months ago
@notfriendlyyurrf Have you seen the riots lately in london? In a generation, if the English, like the Americans continue aborting their next generation, they will be overun by the immigrants they have ALlOWED into their countries,... will take them over from the inside...just by having kids. Pakis and people from the west Indies are havin' lots o' kids. When you point a finger at others you should expect to have several pointing back at you. All countries have a dark past.
bheadh 4 months ago
@bheadh What? I never said England didn't have a dark past, I wanted to know why you brought it up.
How is England and America aborting their next generation?
notfriendlyyurrf 4 months ago
Hi. Please let me mention an "important thing" about the man on his dressed as bear that is on his knees in front of another man. This part is in the book of Stephen King. In the Overlook hotel long time ago, there's a couple of gay men who went there. One of them told to his bf that he will go with him at the costumed party only if the other one is getting dressed as a bear. Later on the story we could see the couple.
noo2islam 4 months ago
@noo2islam In the book he had a silvery dog costume. Kubrick changed this to a bear and deleted the back story all together. In the film it ties in with a totally different theme. Check the expanded analysis on my website for details :)
robag88 4 months ago
wow, You really put a lot of your eggs into the native american basket on this analysis. I'm just saying that there could be other meanings behind this stuff.
SHiTJuFro743 4 months ago 2
@SHiTJuFro743 There's an extended analysis on my site that covers lots of other stuff.
robag88 4 months ago
I don't know how is this relevant, but isn't the baking powder's name, "Calumet", like the peace pipe the Native Americans used to, well, use to pray or make convenants and stuff like that?? I also think there's something about that "Golden Rey" name...
wiljjHeigl 5 months ago
Comment removed
wiljjHeigl 5 months ago
i want sex with cows
memokk 5 months ago
Clearly, Youtube disagreed with your analysis in the third video.
Fortunately, someone else has the video loaded up.
TheZaius 6 months ago
I'd like to think Kubrick was intentionally making certain corridor's/window's impossible in the layout of the Overlook, but surely that's getting a bit too deep and it's merely continuity error's?
Or is it? If it was intentional, Kubrick is even more brilliant than I originally thought, and I've always thought he was one of the best director's ever.
GameScares 6 months ago
wonder what that bear and the butler were doin in that room O_o
TRNCakaprodigy 6 months ago
@Tips247 I don't go for number crunching interpretations personally, Watch Carol Vorderman on Countdown. Every week she took randomly selected numbers and used them to calculate a randomly selected target number.
robag88 6 months ago
While I enjoy this kind of conjectural analysis and I find this video entertaining, I'd like to point out a couple of things. First, if you will visit Colorado, you cannot escape noticing that Native American designs, crafts and artwork are everywhere, especially in its many 100s of hotels. This film is only being accurate in its depiction of the setting. Second, the association of Jack's "contract" rant with the Declaration is a major stretch of logic. Third, Duvall does not look like a Native
Vortigern99 6 months ago
@Vortigern99 Most of it isn't conjectural, but the pointing out of very specific details that are sensory verifiable. The hotel manager does explain that the hotel is built on an indian burial ground, a detail that is not in the book. The declaration of independence rant I agree is a stretch, but that part has been updated in the full article on my site. Duvall does look like a native. She dresses like one (note the teepee designs on her yellow coat). And in the book she was a blonde.
robag88 6 months ago
@robag88 Yes the details are specific and verifiable, but their interpretation is purely subjective. The hotel is rife with Amerindian iconography *because it's a hotel in Colorado*. Anyone who's spent any amount of time in CO and/or, especially, its many hotels can aver that the entire culture there is aswim in Native American design, craft and artwork. Wendy begins wearing more local fashions as she is absorbed into the daily routine of the hotel. It doesn't mean she's a Native stand-in.
Vortigern99 6 months ago
@Vortigern99 Of course I know that stuff about Colorado hotels, I read about them while writing the review. Based on the sheer number of references to US colonization of America in the film - indian burial ground, Donner party (settlers), "white man's burden", Halloran specifically framed with an indian chief on a calumet baking tin (and many more examples), my interpretation is that Kubrick chose the Ahwahnee hotel decor specifically because of its native motifs.
robag88 6 months ago
@robag88 I respect your interpretation but I do not share it. IMO Kubrick used or exploited imagery and ideas that were nascent in the subject matter, but he did not invent them or mean to indicate that this is what The Shining is "about". The Native American references are an outgrowth of the setting -- a hotel in Colorado, where the culture is rife with Amerinidian iconography -- and are an underlying facet of the American experience. Indian faces on US products were common until the "PC" 80s.
Vortigern99 6 months ago
@Vortigern99 @Vortigern99 Sure. I don't think the refs to white man's burden and so on are necessary for incidental purposes. There's a native american reference overkill in this film that, imo, defies co-incidence. To put it into context watch the other Shining film that was a more faithful adaptation of the book. It lacks this consistency of native refs in Kubrick's version. We disagree completely, but no disrespect either way. Thanks for your feedback :)
robag88 6 months ago
As to the "Indian burial ground", this detail adds flavor to the backstory and helps to explain the proliferation of Native iconography to audiences who may not be familiar with the local, Native-dominant culture of Colorado. I will also reiterate my view that Wendy begins to wear Native-looking garb as an indication that she is acclimating to the local culture and mirroring the decor of the hotel into which she is becoming absorbed. She does not look Navajo; her skin is lily-white
Vortigern99 6 months ago
@Vortigern99
Have you seen Full Metal Jacket (Kubrick's follow up film to The Shining)? Watch the scene of Joker being interviewed outside a cinema - Joker talks of killing "people of an ancient culture". Behind him are posters of native Americans. The cinema is playing John Wayne's RED RIVER ... ie river of blood, the slaughter of native Americans
robag88 6 months ago
@Vortigern99 How do you know the indian burial ground details are there to "add flavour"? The book didn't need it? And there's no culture for Wendy to acclimate too, except her own family. As for her skin being too pale for an Indian, surely you understand the concept of metaphor. Metaphors aren't based on precise replication, but similarity in certain details. Eg, in Star Wars the Empire officers are very much like Nazis in uniform, but the absence of Swastikas doesn't cancel out the metaphor
robag88 6 months ago
no part 3?
Superchickenman159 6 months ago
Things that I never would have noticed. How long have you been researching for this analysis? This is brilliant, thank you :)
HindiWannabe 6 months ago
I'm not sure about all of the symbolism you're finding here, but one thing that seems pretty solid is Native American genocide theme. For me, the most compelling part of this motif is the 1921 photo at the end of the film. Some Native Americans believed that photos stole the soul of the subject, entrapping it in the photo. This would mean that Jack's soul is entrapped in the Overlook Hotel, doomed to forever repeat his part, or perhaps his race's part in the genocide.
pessimist94 6 months ago
A bit boring. Painting and decorations are just decoration... Native or not... I don't think that is really important. That thing with black tedy-bear was interesting.
MrJustasR 6 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
5:40 "Being that Hallorann could almost pass for an Indian himself..." You are an imbecile.
DiscoPonch 7 months ago
@DiscoPonch No, you're an imbecile. Picture Scatman Crothers (the actor who played Halloran) in full native American costume. He could easily pass.
robag88 7 months ago
@robag88 Hey clown, Obama, Ted Kennedy, Oprah, and John Wayne could all pass for Indians if they were in full Native American "costume". REALLY, YOU CALL IT A "COSTUME"? I suspected you were an imbecile. You confirmed it. Thanks.
DiscoPonch 4 months ago
Comment removed
DiscoPonch 7 months ago
Part 3 is NOT available at your website.
pate357 7 months ago
May first is international worker's day. Makes sense considering he was talking about signing a contract
Bremahhah 7 months ago
I was wondering if you have read the book, because some of these things could be explained by it. Jack's anger towards his wife is because his father was abusive to his wife, the chanting in some of the music could represent the voices Jack hears. Hallorann was black in the book, but it doesn't seem to have any connection to Ntive Americans. I think you should give a little more credit to Stephen King.
yanarene 7 months ago
@yanarene Read the book 3 times. Kubrick transfromed the whole thing beyond recognition. See the full analysis of the film on my site. Chapter two covers the book and film comparisons.
robag88 7 months ago
Not sure why i find this so appealing
WOLFMOTHER1257 7 months ago
@Greek0GETBaC You're not giving enough credit to Kubrick. The book and film are incredibly different. See chapter two of the expanded Shining analysis on my website for details of major plot changes.
robag88 7 months ago
The girls aren't actually twins, if they are the previous caretaker's daughters which many asume they are. Their age differs but only their clothes and hairtyle are the same.
Einherjar212 7 months ago
When Jack is in the washroom with the butler, he is actually looking in the mirror.. Dont know if anyone noticed
GoMuShA 7 months ago
Brilliant. Simply brilliant. Thanks.
liveecarbme 8 months ago
the brief shots of danny's shocked reacion to horrible things is kind of like in 2001:a space odyssey when we see brief shots of dave's shocked face when he goes "beyond the infinite"
CHAOSin8bits 8 months ago
when he is ranting about signing the contract he moves like how Hitler does when he gave speeches
larrybob141 8 months ago 12
@larrybob141 Never thought of that, but yeah kind of
robag88 8 months ago
@robag88 I have recently retired from the military, kicking my feet up with those little umbrella glasses
hukeeaboo 8 months ago
@larrybob141 LOL!
LukeJamieson00 6 months ago
Too much overanalysis makes Jack a dull boy.
yazzman13 9 months ago
@yazzman13 All assumption and no observation makes Jack a dull boy
robag88 8 months ago 27
@robag88 touche!
yazzman13 8 months ago
May the 1st, A very important date in the pagan calendar. In the Illuminati conspiracy theories this date is used for several things like Announcing to the world that Osama is dead... it could be a possibility.
lalocuradelobo 9 months ago
I love your analysis, great work! However, the Grady girls were not twins.. they were about age eight and ten.. Even though I am positive that Kubrick added a lot of symbols and subliminal messages in The Shining, I think it's very easy to over-interpret certain things, such as Jack throwing the ball in the hall. If I remember correctly, this was Jack Nicholson's idea :P One thing I would love to hear your opinion about is why they refer to Grady as both Charles and Delbert in the film.
TheMakrellitomat 9 months ago
@TheMakrellitomat All that stuff is covered in the expanded analysis on my website. The twins incidentally, aren't Grady's daughters. Though Kubrick allows us to assume they are. Hence the age 8 and 10 giveaway. See site for details.
robag88 8 months ago
Where are you from in England?
jakxcombat 9 months ago
@jakxcombat Liverpool
robag88 8 months ago
@robag88 you a Liverpool fan?
jakxcombat 8 months ago
@jakxcombat Sorry to disappoint but i've no interest in football :)
robag88 8 months ago
@robag88 that's okay.
....
But if you had to pick between Liverpool and Everton who would it be?
jakxcombat 8 months ago
somebody has to much time on their hands
hukeeaboo 9 months ago
@hukeeaboo Somebody doesn't know how to make use of their time. I've got a girlfriend, a job, lots of friends and have just completed my first feature film. what do you do with your time?
robag88 8 months ago
@robag88 did not mean to make you mad, i hope you reach your dreams and goals
hukeeaboo 8 months ago
@hukeeaboo Doing very well thanks. What did you say you do with your time again?
robag88 8 months ago
I really appreciate these videos, but you seem to miss the point that most Kubricks films were based on other peoples work... so as much as youd like to give him credit for all of the things your mentioning, alot of it was predetermined in the novels.
brutallyhonest123 10 months ago
@brutallyhonest123 Kubrick based his stories on novels to give himself plausible deniability should his investors become suspiscious. They're double narrative films. The Shining is on the surface a supernatural horror, but on close examination the ghost story falls apart and the film is revealed as a statement on political history. The expanded analysis on my site goes into the production history and the differences between book and film. Eg. in the book there's no maze and the hotel explodes.
robag88 8 months ago
Thats an amazing analysis Rob! I have now indulged in weeks of your Kubrick analysis's and these have made my Eyes Wide Open. Brilliant perspective here., but YT removed part 3 on your channel due to nudity I guess.... remove that and they will be OK with it I suppose.
LiteracyLabyrinth 10 months ago
My theory on the 1921 date is this.. When settlers came to America, they first settled in the east, then moved westward while taking out the Indians. It wasnt until years later that we declared our independence. Likewise, Ullman says the hotel was built in 1907, and they had to repel a few indian attacks (westward expansion). It wasn't until 2921 that the hotel had ITS independence day. The difference from 1907-1921 is the difference between the colonists and the American revolutionary war.
TheGamerJoseph 10 months ago
At 3:03 minutes into this video, you see a Sand Painting which shows four white objects that look like the Apollo rocket that Danny has on his blue sweater which is further evidence to support your link between this film and the native Indians. I remember also that the hotel manager says, in the same scene where he states that the builders of the hotel had to ward off Indian attacks, that the hotel is built on top of an ancient Indian burial ground.
enigoth 10 months ago
this one is also a very nice analysis great work and juts one word : WOW .
lol
therealmadmaxx 10 months ago
Thanks for mentioning that the 3rd part is on your website, this analysis has been great!
WarriorBoy 10 months ago
Wah! Kubrick is an alien and we're all going to dieeee!!
superjules 11 months ago
@robag88 cause YouTube doesn't care about their community that much. It's just like how they shut my account down without a lick of information and k did nothing wrong.
EnigmaXx730 11 months ago
@robag88 at 5:53 you missed something soooo big and it brings all you theory together... you have a very confused Jack standing between the cans with the Indians AND the box where it's written "GOLDEN rey", in other words, Jack duality between his care for his family and his care for alcool --> duality between indians right and gold rush (greed) Tell me what you think
matrat57 11 months ago
@matrat57 There's more about the golden rey and other storeroom stuff in the expanded analysis on my website :)
robag88 11 months ago
@robag88 What's the deal with the guy in the dog costume giving oral sex (?) to that one guy ?
smjblessing95 8 months ago
@smjblessing95 See the expanded anlaysis on my website for bear costumed man explanation
robag88 8 months ago
To further hint at Nicholson's character representing the Founding Fathers/colonists, his hair style is similar to a popular one back in colonial days. To me, it makes him look like Samuel Adams. Again, Kubrik's perfectionism and attention to detail would make this hard to be a coincidence.
Wargoat6 11 months ago
1+9+2+1=13
13 colonies
jasonpearson2010 11 months ago 3
@jasonpearson2010 Don't bother with number calculus interpretations. If you ever watch Carol Vorderman on the gameshow Countdown she could take any arbitrary group of numbers and use them to calculate a given target number.
robag88 11 months ago 4
John wants to be a boy again, to go back to a simpler time. He howls about adult responsibilities, wants to erase his wife and child by murder. He writes about not being able to play for 500 pages and plays with balls.Toys, kid-like costumes & cartoons are everywhere. He pouts when locked up in freezer. He literally chases youth personafied (his kid) into the maze. Ultimately, John fails and is caught in a maze (a large toy, really), but might just end up in the past, younger looking.
CTHULHUSURVIVOR 11 months ago
@CTHULHUSURVIVOR "John"? You mean Jack.
robag88 11 months ago
For a while there you had me going, but the further you went the more problems your theory had. Was the axe supposed to represent a tomahawk? If so, Duvall should have used it. If blacks were somehow equated with Indians, why was the guy at the car parts store next to a red, white & blue oil filter package? Why were the white dead twins equated with Indians again...just because they were shown dead?? And Shelly Duval is positively bleach white in this flick, she's no Indian!!!
CTHULHUSURVIVOR 11 months ago
@CTHULHUSURVIVOR The kind of arguments you're putting forward are like saying the narrative of animal farm wasn't about communism because communists are human ...or because we don't see the communist flag in the film. Metaphors or not complete literal representations, They are approximations based upon recurring similarity, but that similarity doesn't extend to every single detail.
robag88 11 months ago 3
so did jack kill all the people in the hotel or wat i didnt really get the movie
jesse5543 11 months ago
somebody please explain the animal man part to me lol
Thespilloftroy 11 months ago
@Thespilloftroy Long story short that a google search would do better, but here it goes: Dog man was a closeted, but known homosexual and his lover was a closeted but known bisexual. The bisexual always refered him as his dog, and so for the party, the homosexual dressed like one and acted like one for everyone's amusement.
Wargoat6 11 months ago
@Wargoat6 That's the book version. The film version is very different. See chapter's 16 & 17 of the expanded analysis on my site.
robag88 11 months ago
this is a very nice analysis, also because it is primarily based on the imges and not on the underlying ideas which sometimes seem to abstract too much.
ejvarriale 11 months ago
I'm not trying to be a dick or anything, but it seems like an awful lot of work to hide a point one is trying to make. Why go through so much effort to conceal his views on the near extinction of Native Americans?
protuberance 11 months ago
@protuberance Simple. If Kubrick went to studio execs and said he was making a film about repressed genocide of natives instead of a horror he wouldn't have got funded. The surface narrative brings funds. The subliminal narrative is encoded for gradual discovery by audiences years later. The subliminal approach also meant Kubrick wouldn't be sued for breach of contract.
robag88 11 months ago
Brilliant analysis. Thank you.
zat1 11 months ago
Oh reincarnated, that makes sense except for the remark that he has always been the caretaker, using always been instead of is again or once was...I was thinking eternally damned souls are trapped in the hotel because it's haunted with their evil deeds that took place there.
marlee0411 11 months ago
How can it be that Jack is in the 1920s photo that is marked with the year...it ties in with the butler in the washroom telling Jack that he (Jack) has always been the caretaker and Jack telling his wife going to the hotel for the first time was stronger than deja vu...is Jack some kind of eternally damned soul or entity??
marlee0411 11 months ago
There were black indians in our history but denial is rampant. They were just as dark as the character Scatman Cruthers is playing in the film. Natives are doing themselves an injustice, they are basically breeding themselves out and losing their culture along with their DNA (other tribes more so than others I guess). no arguments, just truth.
PsalmsNmyrrh 11 months ago
I know you point this out in your written analysis of this movie, but since you dont mention it in this clip I would like to point it out again. There is a scene where Jack is having a conversation with the bartender, and Jack uses the words "The White Man's Burden" Which coincidently is a phrase coined by a highly racist poem(of the same name) by Rudyard Kipling from 1899, to me it is the most unambiguous proof of the racist theme in the movie
AveragejoeChess 11 months ago
The animal costume is a reference to the book and it has NOTHING to do with the native american speculation.
negativespace261 11 months ago
@negativespace261 True, but it has to do with the perversion of American society in contrast to native american society. The image is disturbing because it hits every single sexual taboo of western society: homosexuality, fellatio, beastiality, furry, and puts the man in upper crust clothing to illustrate the facade of culture that Americans use to distinguish themselves from the native "savages"
marklarvickar 11 months ago
@negativespace261 In the book the guy was in a dog costume and there was a back story. Kubrick removed the back story and changed it to a bear costume. He was taking a feature of the book and adapting it for the story he was telling.
robag88 11 months ago
@robag88 Hmm...perhaps that is it. In any case, your videos (for this as well as Full Metal Jacket and 2001) are all very well done. I must say you do have quite an eye for details as you pull things out of these movies I could have never gotten myself. Thank you for making these. :)
negativespace261 11 months ago
@robag88 Oh and also - I'm not 100% certain on this and its significance, but could it be that the May 1st date is relating to the formation of the Illuminati on May 1st 1776?
negativespace261 11 months ago
I will say though I have to disagree with the Dick Hallorman representing the blacks and Indians. Slim Pickens was originally offered the role and turned it down.
joekoe97 11 months ago
@joekoe97 What is tghe source for Slim Pickens being offered the role? ~also the conceptual themes of a film often change during preproduction and sometimes in the prodcution itself so even if Pickens was offered it it doesn't disprove the native american metaphor.
robag88 11 months ago
@robag88 I can't remember exactly where it was I read it but I have read it from multiple sources. I remember them saying that Pickens was offered the [art but he would only agree to do so if his scenes were limited to less than 100 takes. That's when he turned it down. I only disagree with the assumption that Dick Hallorman would represent Indians when he is clearly african American. That's a big stretch to take. That's the same as saying any minority represents any minorities.
joekoe97 9 months ago
My thought was that the hotel from the beginning was built on bad spirits. They say in the beginning it was built on an Indian burial ground and they repelled a few attacks, then they don't mention it again. That's what I thought the blood in the elevator was. This along with the murders by Grady has made the Overlook hotel a bad spiritual place and they tried to take a reincarnated Jack back. Kubrick noted in an interview that the picture at the end showed he was reincarnated
joekoe97 11 months ago
@joekoe97 I always thought that the spirits took him back because caretaker Grady came back as Butler Grady and they were doing the same thing to Jack, like bringing him back to his previouc life. The photo at the end showing July 4th 1921, means nothing to Native Americans because July 4th is our day of Independence but could symbolize us taking the land away from them. So in conclusion I think that the Hotel was just a very haunted place and brought reincarnated Grady and Jack back to it.
joekoe97 11 months ago
Thanks for the explanation. Thank you.
mangoprojects 11 months ago
Hey rob, I looked up may the 1st and 1921 on google, and I got results about the Jaffa riots in which arabs attacked and looted jewish homes in palastine. Is it possible that Stanley is making a refrence that Jack is somewhat like the arabs themselves, and that it's not just the founding fathers who raped and pillaged other people's home lands, and that we as a human race are just naturally overbearing and like to control more land than the other?
themetalman3 11 months ago
@themetalman3 There are a lot of historical events related to 1921, I haven't found anything conclusive, but my working hypothesis is related to Woodrow Wilson's presidency and his passing of the Federal Reserve Act. See expanded article on my site for more details.
robag88 11 months ago
Thank you ! i really enjoyed this !
Laerke2007 1 year ago
read the book and you'll find the answers to your questions
Doriamos 1 year ago
@Doriamos The book is drastically different to the film. Kubrick used the bare bones plot and overlaqyed a series of his own themes and ideas.
robag88 11 months ago
I watch kubrick films and the symbolism goes right over my head. it must make it's way to my subconscious though as many of his films make my top list. i think you have a gift robag88. i enjoy your analysis on these kubrick films. i would feel cheated if i never found out all this stuff
grappler7343 1 year ago
@grappler7343 Before writing these reviews I was always drawn back for more viewings of Kubrick's films without underwstanding why. Some of it must register unconsciously.
robag88 11 months ago
@circlebastiat Americans are very much in denial their terrible impact on American Indians. Many Americans are ignorant and know nearly nothing of our culture and history. I was taught in school that the pilgrims were my forefathers. My ancestors were the true owners of this land, and always will be. Most Americans will never realize this fact, and its sad. Americans are responsible for a huge anti-Indian movement in the US resulting in my OWN loss of culture and no one even knows about it
quailchow 1 year ago
As a member of a tribe myself, I vehemently disagree with the statement that "History repeats itself" that Jack's writing results in the "virtual annihilation of an entire race." I am very offended by this, and though my people are few, although my family and my people have lived through poverty, loss of culture, we will never be "annihilated". We are a strong people, please realize that we are still here.
quailchow 1 year ago
@quailchow I'm not saying your people aren't still here, but native americans are fewer in number because of coloialism. That's not a disrespectful or insulting comment ... it's a comment on the hypocrisy of coloialism.
robag88 11 months ago
Your 3rd video on this was deemed inappropriate because of what you said about Danny, his father and the woman in the bathtub. Sexuality and child abuse.
The very TABOO against acknowledging it is the mechanism that allows it to propogate into the future.
toosad444 1 year ago
@toosad444 It wasn't the narration that was the problem. It was the naked woman in bathroom shots. I've got a Clockwork Orange video up covering abuse themes and it's not been removed.
robag88 11 months ago
You hinted at the big bad secret of society. Bravo on your analysis I thought it was spot on. I always got the feeling Danny was abused in more ways than physical and emotional. I think this might also explain the sexual positioning of the man and the person in the teddy bear suit. Come on people why do fathers kill their children? So the story of what has been done to them will never be told.
toosad444 1 year ago
Comment removed
TheToolUnit 1 year ago
I think I may know the connection to the 1921 date. The Indian Removal Act was written and implemented in 1821. Therefore the year 1921 would have been the 100th anniversary of the act and how it was "overlooked". Maybe thats the connection.
TTobin1035 1 year ago 25