The Shining (Blog 2 response)

The Shining is a movie directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on a Stephen King novel. While watching this movie, I didn’t think it was as scary as everyone said it was. Instead, what made is scary was the way it was filmed and the sound elements that were in it. I found this movie to be very interesting. Like Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, The Shining gives a more extreme example of how barbaric people can become when there isn’t anyone there to correct them. 

The book references the interview scene when Jack is a civilized man at one point. In Figure 4.5 in the book, it says “lines in the set are used to reinforced the idea of a conflict between civility and animality in human life” (Ryan, 98). Honestly, if the book didn’t mention that, I would have never picked up that the particular scene was figuratively splitting his head in two and showing a human conflict. 

Later in the movie, Jack falls asleep at his workstation and has a dream that he brutally murders Wendy, his wife, and Danny, his young son. Danny comes in the room, and we see that he has a huge bruise on his neck. Wendy accuses Jack of hurting him, because there was as previous instance where he hurt him, and the look on Jack’s face is confused, but he also looks evil. I think that this is where he starts to turn hostile, although the textbook says otherwise. The art direction in this scene is the music that is being played, Jack’s outfit, and the room they are in. The music is sharp with a scary tone, but being paired with the shot of the room is what makes it scary. This room is so big, and it shows just how alone this family is. Jack’s outfit is half blue and half red.

In the textbook, the authors mention that the colors red and blue are very meaningful in this movie. “Blue is linked to civility, self-control and empathy [...] red is linked to violence, rage, and animal-like behavior...” (Ryan, 108). At some point in the movie, the three main characters will be shown wearing one of these colors on top of each other. This symbolizes the animality within civility. In the scene where he meets with the butler in the bathroom, and when the butler convinces him to “do something about his family”, the bathroom is a very bright red color; this is when he makes his commitment. In the scene where Wendy starts to notice Jack’s transition, Jack is still wearing the blue and red combination, showing that Jack has not done any physical harm. We see him changing through his speech, and body language; art direction can also come from the actor. If Jack did that monologue without the aggressive hand motions, and facial expressions, the scene could have played out in a more sympathetic way.  

Overall, I thought the movie was very good and there are many subtle clues that give foreshadowing, which makes viewing the movie exciting.