Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
So, I'm 27, and I finally got around to watching The Shining. Yeah, I know, it should've been a film I watched long ago but I just never got around to it. Part of the reason I decided to watch it was all the IT hype had me wanting to check out the most famous adaptation of a Steven King novel, besides Stand By Me which I adore, and, yes, I'm aware the film is almost a standalone product rather than a faithful adaptation.
The Shining though is one of those movies I feel like everyone has seen, even if they haven't actually seen the film---so many elements of it have been referenced, parodied, and homaged over the years especially the twins, river of blood, and "HERE'S JOHNNY!". Casablanca is another film of this kind, one I've never actually seen but I could probably piece together the basis of the plot due to pop-culture referencing it.
Anyway, as a kid I remember Shining jokes popping up a lot in cartoons, and I instinctively knew "oh, it's a joke on The Shining!", even though I don't even recall where I learned that The Shining was a thing since I was born way after it was released. Perhaps I have the Shining? The only moment of the film that truly shook me as a "WHAT THE FUCK?" moment was the old lady scene, because that's the one big moment of the film I don't think is ever homaged---for obvious reasons, really. I knew what to expect for the most part from the film, but that totally blindsided me. Everything else was enjoyable of course, and though I'm not a huge film buff I could appreciate the various techniques involved with staging and music choices, but it almost felt like a "Greatest Hits" album for me of all the Shining plot points I had picked up over time. The typewriter scene, REDRUM, the twins and the bike scene, Jack at the bar, the hedge maze, and the photo, oh, and the BJ Dog.
But, um, I know I didn't really provide a deep analysis of the film but I'm interested in how recent viewers of the film took it after so many elements of it have been spoiled over the years by television and especially the Internet. I don't just mean the plot being spoiled, but just the "feeling" of the film being almost comical due to how often it's been referenced and mocked. Here's Johnny! was probably terrifying when it first premiered, but nowadays that scene has popped up in everything that instead of being scared by it you're just waiting for that "oh, THERE IT IS!" moment when you finally see the original all the memes were based on.
After watching the Shining I checked out the Room 237 documentary. I was surprised to go back and read the thread on NeoGAF about it and how...nasty people were about it? I mean I'm not trying to legitimize everything the documentary talked about, but it kind of reminded me of discussions of novels in High School where you'd always have kids get really, really upset when people tried to digest a novel beyond the surface level, or in more modern terms when people freak out over "politics" in video games and the idea that a game may have something to say beyond the surface level. "YOU'RE LOOKING TOO FAR INTO IT!" I mean, yeah, some of the people in the video felt a bit off, mainly the Apollo dude and the guy who at the end talked about isolating himself with his kid and living out the Shining which, uh, was kind of worrisome but it wasn't a parade of maniacs like the posters made it out to be.
The Native American motif was what I found fascinating, as was the connected idea of it referencing Nazism as well, though less directly---the idea that the film isn't just representative of the horrors of the hotel repeating themselves, but history as well, is something I think is a viable theme. And the idea of just looking the other way definitely comes into play when you consider that Wendy more or less is in a battered relationship---or that's the impression Duval gives off at the beginning when she's shaking while smoking and casually lets the therapist know her husband seriously injured their son in a drunken fit. Also I don't think the documentary pointed it out, but with the Native American motif in mind I feel like the part where Danny's playing with his cars and lining them up in a circle reminded me of one of those "wagon barriers" settlers would form to protect themselves from Indians or, in this case, the "ghost" of the hotel which penetrates the barrier via the ball. I'd like to point out that this image is foreshadowed at the beginning with Jack describing the Donner Party as "settlers during covered-wagon times".
The stuff about the "impossibilities" of the hotel is one I was familiar with, and I'm not well-versed in how designing a set works to comment on it---but I do like the idea that Kubrick subtly moving props around in the background, which as the documentary points out almost mocks the silly moving furniture trope in horror, to make you uncomfortable. I didn't go into the film looking for it but some of the example pointed out are interesting, even if they were mistakes.
The Apollo conspiracy is another thing I've read up about before, AND I'll say while it doesn't make sense for why the U.S. Government would bother doing it, especially since even the commentator seems half-hearted in his belief of it by admitting they DID go to the moon, they just didn't show us the real deal?, it was pretty interesting to the point I raised an eyebrow. Of course the commentator in the video has the benefit of no one fact checking him live, not sure if the pattern on the rug lines up with the launch base or the "237,000,000 miles to the moon!" bit is true, but the way he crafts his argument at least made me consider the possibility instead of dismissing him right off. And, ultimately, I think it's a harmless theory to hold all things considered.
The only point in the video that REALLY lost me was that weird "kid's story" (shit that didn't happen) with the head splitting open, because I had no clue what she meant by that and it was obvious that it was her trying to mimic how a child would make up a story, just really fake "my child is so special!" junk. If it was legit, though, the "chaos bolt" made me think of that attack Shadow uses in Sonic Adventure 2's multiplayer mode and if the kid made up some bizarre Sonic-inspired fanfiction that his mom decided to toss into a documentary on the Shining. At the very least I could kind of see the skier = minotaur connection, though I thought that was supposed to be some sort of horror movie poster when I saw it---it reminded me of "The Thing" poster with the shadowy figure and the light coming from the back, fitting since that film has a similar theme of isolation and paranoia, though I realize checking the dates that's impossible since it wasn't released till two years after The Shining.
Um, yeah, I'm interested in some more crazy, not-so-crazy videos about the Shining. There's that one by the Ager guy I saw suggested in an older thread I'm gonna check out.
The Shining though is one of those movies I feel like everyone has seen, even if they haven't actually seen the film---so many elements of it have been referenced, parodied, and homaged over the years especially the twins, river of blood, and "HERE'S JOHNNY!". Casablanca is another film of this kind, one I've never actually seen but I could probably piece together the basis of the plot due to pop-culture referencing it.
Anyway, as a kid I remember Shining jokes popping up a lot in cartoons, and I instinctively knew "oh, it's a joke on The Shining!", even though I don't even recall where I learned that The Shining was a thing since I was born way after it was released. Perhaps I have the Shining? The only moment of the film that truly shook me as a "WHAT THE FUCK?" moment was the old lady scene, because that's the one big moment of the film I don't think is ever homaged---for obvious reasons, really. I knew what to expect for the most part from the film, but that totally blindsided me. Everything else was enjoyable of course, and though I'm not a huge film buff I could appreciate the various techniques involved with staging and music choices, but it almost felt like a "Greatest Hits" album for me of all the Shining plot points I had picked up over time. The typewriter scene, REDRUM, the twins and the bike scene, Jack at the bar, the hedge maze, and the photo, oh, and the BJ Dog.
But, um, I know I didn't really provide a deep analysis of the film but I'm interested in how recent viewers of the film took it after so many elements of it have been spoiled over the years by television and especially the Internet. I don't just mean the plot being spoiled, but just the "feeling" of the film being almost comical due to how often it's been referenced and mocked. Here's Johnny! was probably terrifying when it first premiered, but nowadays that scene has popped up in everything that instead of being scared by it you're just waiting for that "oh, THERE IT IS!" moment when you finally see the original all the memes were based on.
After watching the Shining I checked out the Room 237 documentary. I was surprised to go back and read the thread on NeoGAF about it and how...nasty people were about it? I mean I'm not trying to legitimize everything the documentary talked about, but it kind of reminded me of discussions of novels in High School where you'd always have kids get really, really upset when people tried to digest a novel beyond the surface level, or in more modern terms when people freak out over "politics" in video games and the idea that a game may have something to say beyond the surface level. "YOU'RE LOOKING TOO FAR INTO IT!" I mean, yeah, some of the people in the video felt a bit off, mainly the Apollo dude and the guy who at the end talked about isolating himself with his kid and living out the Shining which, uh, was kind of worrisome but it wasn't a parade of maniacs like the posters made it out to be.
The Native American motif was what I found fascinating, as was the connected idea of it referencing Nazism as well, though less directly---the idea that the film isn't just representative of the horrors of the hotel repeating themselves, but history as well, is something I think is a viable theme. And the idea of just looking the other way definitely comes into play when you consider that Wendy more or less is in a battered relationship---or that's the impression Duval gives off at the beginning when she's shaking while smoking and casually lets the therapist know her husband seriously injured their son in a drunken fit. Also I don't think the documentary pointed it out, but with the Native American motif in mind I feel like the part where Danny's playing with his cars and lining them up in a circle reminded me of one of those "wagon barriers" settlers would form to protect themselves from Indians or, in this case, the "ghost" of the hotel which penetrates the barrier via the ball. I'd like to point out that this image is foreshadowed at the beginning with Jack describing the Donner Party as "settlers during covered-wagon times".
The stuff about the "impossibilities" of the hotel is one I was familiar with, and I'm not well-versed in how designing a set works to comment on it---but I do like the idea that Kubrick subtly moving props around in the background, which as the documentary points out almost mocks the silly moving furniture trope in horror, to make you uncomfortable. I didn't go into the film looking for it but some of the example pointed out are interesting, even if they were mistakes.
The Apollo conspiracy is another thing I've read up about before, AND I'll say while it doesn't make sense for why the U.S. Government would bother doing it, especially since even the commentator seems half-hearted in his belief of it by admitting they DID go to the moon, they just didn't show us the real deal?, it was pretty interesting to the point I raised an eyebrow. Of course the commentator in the video has the benefit of no one fact checking him live, not sure if the pattern on the rug lines up with the launch base or the "237,000,000 miles to the moon!" bit is true, but the way he crafts his argument at least made me consider the possibility instead of dismissing him right off. And, ultimately, I think it's a harmless theory to hold all things considered.
The only point in the video that REALLY lost me was that weird "kid's story" (shit that didn't happen) with the head splitting open, because I had no clue what she meant by that and it was obvious that it was her trying to mimic how a child would make up a story, just really fake "my child is so special!" junk. If it was legit, though, the "chaos bolt" made me think of that attack Shadow uses in Sonic Adventure 2's multiplayer mode and if the kid made up some bizarre Sonic-inspired fanfiction that his mom decided to toss into a documentary on the Shining. At the very least I could kind of see the skier = minotaur connection, though I thought that was supposed to be some sort of horror movie poster when I saw it---it reminded me of "The Thing" poster with the shadowy figure and the light coming from the back, fitting since that film has a similar theme of isolation and paranoia, though I realize checking the dates that's impossible since it wasn't released till two years after The Shining.
Um, yeah, I'm interested in some more crazy, not-so-crazy videos about the Shining. There's that one by the Ager guy I saw suggested in an older thread I'm gonna check out.