I have always preferred to think of the end reveal as a sort of Twilight Zone twisting of reality where Jack's spirit from the present (1981?) has been "absorbed" into the evil legacy of the place the photograph being the only tangible evidence of this phenomena . I have also thought that perhaps the photograph itself is just an "apparition" breaking the 4th wall only meant for we the audience to see not visible to anyone in the film's reality.

I like to believe that it was meant that the Overlook hotel took his soul like how that old Indian saying of how photos take one’s soul, showing how Jack lost his battle with his sanity and the ghosts haunting him and he has now became a ghost himself

The Doctor Sleep slander is unwarranted. Don’t treat Flanagan & McGregor like some glorified crew.

After reading and watching thousands of "The Shining" 's theories about everything, I discovered something fantastic. The shining does not have any hidden messages at all. It's only a movie that tries to include the audience at the movie making them to have the same feelings from the characters. And that' s why this is really a masterpiece.

If no one else has ever noticed, the lady in the bathtub is the Receptionist in the lobby when Jack first arrives. Thats where he gets the idea for writing the tub ghost (the wife of Charles Grady) into his story.

you fail to mention the door opening. the fact that the kid has psychic powers that play into the film. there’s def something supernatural going on in the film

Who then let Jack out of the locked food pantry?

Kubrix film of the Shining is the film of Jack Torrance's novel of the Shining, which is why the script cannot appear.

How would you explain Delbert Grady telling Jack about Danny communicating with the "****** Cook"? Clearly Grady was not just an illusion. Plus Danny could see the future, not just his, but other people's futures (only Wendy saw the blood in the elevator). Supernatural abilities and ghosts were in this movie. The fact that it was done with enough subtlety to make people doubt they were real is a testament to how well this movie was made.

What about psychic phenomena? That’s what “The Shining” is. Danny explicitly has psychic abilities as well as Halloran, it’s a major plot point of the film. It’s how Halloran knows to come back to the hotel. I think the hotel is haunted by the past and Danny is able to pick up on it and then so is Jack later because it’s implied that he also has psychic abilities that aren’t as strong. I can accept that the ghosts are psychic projections from Jack and Danny, but the film implies that the hotel is evil in some way or at least stands on “cursed” ground. I guess I don’t really understand why the ghosts existing or not changes anything about the film. All the things you mention in your videos are true and valid, but I honestly think the actual text of the film implies some supernatural element at play in the hotel and explicitly portrays Danny and Halloran as having psychic abilities. The other thing is how is Jack let out of the pantry? I can maybe see Danny letting him out, but its not implied. Clearly there are several layers of narrative going on subtextually and symbolically. I need to rewatch with your ideas in mind and see how if it’s changes my opinion. Great video as always!

If no ghost or other paranormal activity, how does the locked pantry get unlocked so Jack can get out; or the ball rolling to Danny while he was playing; or the door to room 237 being open? What compels Mr.Hallorand to return to the Inn? What informs Danny/Tony? What "possesses" Danny to write and repeat REDRUM?

The beauty, and true horror, of The Shining, is that it works on so many levels. This takes multiple viewings (for me at least) to fully understand. Even now I'm not sure I understand it. This is the case for most, if not all, of Kubrick's films.

well said sir...well said. I've been a fan of your theories since Twin Peaks Season 3. The way you talk about it and the cadence of your voice is somewhat hypnotic as i'm sure others have said. Keep on trucking my guy.

All work and no play makes Rummy a dull boy. ❤

The bigger question is who opened the storage room door for Jack.

I always thought of it this way, too: no ghosts at the Overlook Hotel. The last scene in your video suggests a question: who opened the locked door of the warehouse where Jack was "locked up"?

Nothing supernatural in the Shining but there is in Sopranos as Phil Leotardo turned into a house.

Definitely enjoyed this! Great narration!

Absolutely wonderful analysis

Great gift on Halloween to see a Wow Lynch Wow video, and even better a Shining video

Excellent video. Cuts thru all the bunk theories and nonsense. Everything in this video is on point and makes the most sense of many of the critiques and analysis on this film

Do you have any thoughts on why Danny and Wendy see ‘ghosts’ too? I would very much like to agree with you, I do think the film is stronger if the ghosts are figurative, but I think that where figurative devices are used a story also needs to follow its own internal logic. Kubrick may have had a different opinion, though

Excellent analysis. A masterpiece of horror, even if it barely resembles the book which i had read first. The concept that there were No Ghosts makes it harder to digest👻🎃🦇

It’s a masterpiece of horror because, instead of a fantastical horror, we are confronted with a horror that is all too familiar and everyday. The horror of being isolated with a spouse/father who’s violently abusive and growing more-so by the day. The thing with horror films is that the plot tends to be fantastic and unrealistic. One can experience the horror, but from a safe distance as it’s far from reality. The horror in The Shining is far too real and thus eliminating the safe distance we usually enjoy in watching horror films. I also like The Omen (1976) for the same reason. Yes on the surface, the plot is about a child of Satan. But is it? Or is it about the BELIEF in a child of Satan? What if all those tragedies are just that: tragedies, accidents, unfortunate circumstances that lead to death throughout the film. And it’s not until near the end of the film when you finally see the “666” mark on Damien’s head that you realize that these things might actually be a result of supernatural forces. Think the mysterious unlocking the deadbolt on the kitchen dry goods door near the end of The Shining. Kubrick took a decent ghost story and made it so much more. It bothered King because King saw Jack as a victim of his own vices who wanted to change. But Kubrick wasn’t having any of the wishy-washy, feel good redemption plots interfere in his version of Jack Torrance. Kubrick’s Jack was a monster before he even took his family to the Overlook Hotel.

You sir, are awesome at analysis!👊🏼

I love your videos! Keep going that good content

What about Dick Halloran's warning to Danny about room 237? And who opened the door to the storage room and let Jack out?

If there are no ghosts then who unlocks the food storage room door? Kubrick was interested in where the psychological meets the supernatural. It’s not really an either/or situation, the trauma suffered at the Overlook created ‘ghosts’ which connect with Jack’s demons.

Regarding there being “no ghosts”, who unlocked the door & let Jack out of the pantry? It’s got to be a ghost or the hotel itself, right?

I don’t expect you to know what this means but you are so goated bruh

Great video. One thing bothers me. Who let Jack out of the locked storage pantry? I have a hard time believing a ghost did it, but it remains unexplained for me.

I have to agree with the crowd that suggests we are watching a film about the writer typing his novel and the Jack in the burgundy coat is the character he is creating.

Great Analysis! (it looks like your talents go way beyond the limitations of Lynchian philosophy). I would like to say that all too often (as shown in your video), Wendy is kind of left out of the analysis and everything is generally put onto Jack. There is an alternative theory that the reason that states that the Jack that we see in the movie and hotel is actually the scenes from the novel being written out or the over-active imagination of Wendy, the wife "....she’s a fan of horror stories". Kubrick clearly displays this at the beginning of the movie with all the books lying around the apartment. Not the books of Jack the writer but Wendy the "reader". Basically either Jack or Wendy saw the picture of "Jack" at the hotel and used him for the character that we are seeing playing the role of Jack from the novel. When you look at it from that perspective, it does make more sense (ie. regarding the picture).

So I have one of two ways I can take your thesis of this film. One, you believe the film is taking place in Jack's mind, which I'm fully on board with or, Two, much like Cheech Marin at the end of, "From Dusk Til Dawn" that you think the vampires just blew up at the end because they were just insane so henceforth Jack was able to open that door because of his abusive nature. These are the only two options that makes sense to me considering it will ALWAYS come back to who let Jack out of that larder if not a supernatural presence? Also. Speaking of twins, do you have one that narrates the Space Ice KZfaqz channel? 😂

What else would Kubrick mean in regards to reincarnation? If you pause the film when the little girls are on screen you will see that them girls are not twins. One is taller than the other and looks a little older. I believe there are ghosts in the hotel because all 3 of them saw them.

Hello from Ireland you F..kin hero 🤘😆🤘

I believe the gold room is has to do with the money system. That is the reason Jack's green (fiat) money is no good there. The bathroom is red to symbolize blood money and how Jack ultimately is requured to pay his debt. I am pretty sure 1921 picture has several famous people in the banking industry.

It's all in the mind

Using the Monolith as a censor bar was a nice touch.

3:13 That was a real, old photo they airbrushed Jacks head into. Pretty wild :)

I think what makes the Shining truly a horror story is that it happens in real life. We heard countless times about domestic abuse leading to murder. And many of them ends with this argument; voices in my head told me to do it. The only thing thats fictional is their minds. And the shining captures that.

Rummy I can't wait for your take on Fury Ngannou

We agree on a lot... But there are definitely supernatural forces at work in "The Overlook Hotel". It's made clear as day by the movie and Kubrick in an interview once. I'll find the link and edit it in. Edit: ralphburnette posted the link a few comments down.

I still am of the opinion that Yes there are some supernatural aspects to the shining just not as blatant as people think. Maybe the ghosts/entity in the Overlook is a metaphor for addiction and greed, while not being there for us to see it still influences the actions of people, Jack was easy to influence due to his vices, weaknesses and insecurities, Wendy becoming mentally more susceptible because of what's going on begins to see what's hidden and Danny being a child was able to connect and experience things at a different level while being a threat to the Hotel because he's the key to preventing it gaining power. I see it as this, it's more then just a ghost story, it's about the evil creeping in subtle ways and changing people and how your actions while being influenced can cause repercussions for a long time, Jacks photo was to show that the cycle of destructive behavior won't just effect you, it can effect the people around you and the places you are and create a cycle. It's like Ullman said, the Overlook was built on an Indian burial ground, the actions of the people who took the land and built the Overlook still effect people decades later and how greed and the evils humans can commit will always be there and persist no matter how much time passes. Jack was the Caretaker, a man who fed into the gross vices and lost his humanity, just like the one before him and the one before him. Just calling it a ghost story takes away a lot of aspects and ideas that can make it scary, yeah human nature is scary but so is the unknown.

Amazing video! BUT, are you saying that there's no ghosts in a movie about telepathy? It's called The Shining. How does Hallorann show up at the end? BTW, I think that Doctor Sleep is brilliant, but I find it completely valid if you don't want to consider it canonical to Kubrick's original film.

It is also my opinion that Twin Peaks is nothing more than a fantastical, drug fueled dream that Laura Palmer is having as a defense mechanism against the waking horror of being abused by her father, Leland while her mother does nothing. Her dream is balancing the sweet with the terrifying and creating this intricate dreamworld with all different characters in it including the hero, Cooper. She wakes up in the 3rd season when Cooper asks her "what day is it" and she looks at her house and hears her mother's voice calling her name, waking her up. She then realizes that all this was a dream and she is waking up and is trapped in the unimaginable horror of her Real Life

Wasn't Dilbert in the scrapbook? Which points more to a Wendy Hallucination? Also, we only know Wendy says Jack injured Danny, remember Jack drinking in the Gold room could be a Wendy hallucination. I find the mistakes indicate a Wendy hallucination as she didn't go to the interview, but might have read the scrapbook? If the photo is real, Wendy maybe even hallucinated Jack from the photo, particularly, she was doing all the caretaker work, Wendy's split personality was in room 237 mistaking Danny for Jack. "Wendy's" apartment didn't look like Jack really lived there.

Kubrick literally said that Grady is a ghost in his movie. You just totally left out that part of the interview because it completely contradicts your no ghost theory. Here’s the full interview for people who want an accurate accounting of how Kubrick described his film: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/sMeCZdN7z7KUaJs.htmlsi=Et8OmJCToUEHBkee

Seeing this reminds me of how terrifying this film truly is.

How did this come out the day after I rewatched your original video on there being no ghosts in the movie? Weird coincidences.

i cant get over the fact in the picture he is doing the as above so below gesture

Ya know, in terms of films warranting seriously deep analysis.... Well, Kubrick and Lynch are always on the top of the list aren't they?

I've never cared for watching this movie, but damn it's well made. Ya talked about generational trauma and didn't leave a word for the tapestries and the history (dates) given. Not exactly killers of the flower moon but not not

The 1920s version would wind up committing suicide after the 29 crash.

My view is that Delbert and Charles are indeed incarnations of the same being, with the surname Grady. And we also have to factor in the scrapbook, because even though it is a deleted scene, the scrapbook is still in the film, and this is where Jack learned about Delbert Grady. The Torrance we see in the photograph, nothing is known about him. We just know he is somehow Jack's doppleganger. That's how it all falls into place. Jack is just like Grady. The hotel is a place of very dark powers, and it uses these powers to send these beings to the world to capture prey. The hotel is largely based on the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite, which is a word for "wide, gaping mouth" in the language of the local tribes. The elevators in the hotel resemble huge gaping mouths. Open mouths and eating and food and drink are a common throughline throughout the film. The hotel lures its victims in to consume their life force and keep the cyclical horror show going. The being they send is pre-programmed to go on a killing spree. This is all the literal stuff though. Ultimately The Shining is Kubrick's darkly comedic revenge for the Native American genocide and a huge dunk on white supremacism; the hotel is a theater where the vengeful spirits who haunt their desecrated sacred burial ground host a party every so often to laugh at the stupid white people killing each other. They feed on violence, hence the elevator vomiting blood. And after it's all over, the ghostly audience leaves, well-fed and satiated. So, you're almost right. There are almost no ghosts really appearing in the film. Except Jack, the dude who says "great party!", the skellybones, and the lady in room 237, but that's offscreen when she hurts Danny. When Jack sees ghosts, they aren't really there to anyone but him, because he is directly connected to the Overlook, being that he is one of their servants. When Wendy sees ghosts, they are legit apparitions. Danny has special powers because he is the offspring of one of these beings. But he uses his powers for good and isn't fooled by the hotel's tricks. I think the reason Jack lies about the corpse hag is because if he told the truth, Wendy would be a lot more confident about wanting to leave in the scene that follows. He wanted her to question her own judgment and Danny's honesty, and she only weakly say she thinks they need to get Danny out of there, when Danny was indeed being honest. Jack is afraid of confident people. He's a weak person and he picks on people who are weaker out of his personal inadequacies. He bows down to his master, the Overlook, a symbol of Manifest Destiny expansionism and America's dark past. "All the best people," so Ullman says.

I think it's reductive to stick to just one interpretation as it's obviously ambiguous. You can read it as non-supernatural by starting at the conclusion and working backwards or on subsequent viewings but I'd be very surprised to find someone who comes to that conclusion on their very first watch with no outside influence...

I'm really digging your analyses of Kubrick's stuff. I feel so lucky to have shared the planet with both him and David Lynch while they were working and creating, and knowing the excitement of anticipating something new from creators of their stature. I realized today that I've been watching this film on the regular since I was about Danny's age--for basically my entire life. I think I was 9 or 10 when it was released, and it was frequently on our new cable service after it left theaters. It's a different movie when you're a kid--especially if you have an alcoholic, abusive father (which I did) and a mother who feels trapped and also obligated to try and keep a "normal" front for the people around you. Even though the abusive context was all to familiar to me, I preferred to see the Shining as a ghost story I could get lost in, and one where the abuser is finally frozen out. Age and cynicism, and having read the book and seen the obvious textual differences (plus King's famously negative attitude towards Kubrick's film--which I have never understood: why not accept that it's just a different story?) has led me to understand how beautifully The Shining illustrates the idea of "hiding in plain sight." The tension that underlies the whole movie is not the destabilizing creepiness of the hotel and the visions--it's the growing tension between the family members, and that terrible feeling that anyone who has grown up in an abusive family knows, the silent dread that the violence is coming. In The Shining, it's a matter of scale--the house is bigger, the emotions exaggerated, but it's still a family in a house with a monster of a dad. Thanks for drawing attention to this---domestic violence flourishes in darkness and secrecy, and Kubrick dragged it out into the light. It helped me, and my brother, and lots of other people like us, knowing that we weren't alone. When you're a kid, you don't always know.

Art isn't literal, it's symbolic. Kubrick works his films on many levels, full of subtext and metaphor. The surface layer isn't the actual story. Same with all his films. Like Hitchcock, and many others, he uses Expressionist techniques to give us some understanding of the story he's trying to tell - the visuals convey the warped psychological state of the character. The real horror comes with the realisation that there are no ghosts and it's about an abusive father/spouse. Who opens the larder door? Danny. Poor kid is so traumatised but still wants his father's love, who's just beat the shit out of him.

I thought it was like whoa he was here before… alternate universe ? Reincarnation? A weird loop

How does he get out of the freezer? Why are the visions as they are? Do you think Wendy for instance, has some correlation to a guy in a tux getting blown by a guy in a dog suit? Or any of the other spectral visions? I think you're wrong about the ghosts. They're not the primary point, but they're there, and one would expect you'd have to specifically explain them away to so comfortably and repeatedly say "there are no ghosts in this movie".

The simplistic All Work and No Play. He was trying to write and resorted to something from his youth. A simple charming tale interpreted by a lunatic.

Near the beginning of the movie, Wendy describes the place as a ghost ship.

As you stated before theres no ghosts in the film

Jack says he’d sell his soul for a drink and a devilish bartender appears. Its’s demons, house full of demons. The bear suit guy? Definitely a demon who forgot to manifest a human form for Wendy.

Ghost or no ghost, Kubrick just wants us to form our own conclusions. Not objective, but subjective. So this video essay, could be right, or very wrong about the film.

The character who got Grady's name wrong was perhaps not at the interview. Perhaps she heard it secondhand (since she's a horror buff.) How do we know Jack once injured his young son when he was drunk?

The man and boy in the animal costume is Jack and his father, who is the illegitimate son of the man in the picture. Wendy's terror opened her mind to this "picture in a book" and others, including shared visions (thought transference) like the blood from the elevator and the maitre d with the hacked head. The woman in the room was a whore Halloran may have killed. Or she committed suicide due to his abuse. He had some reason for wanting Danny to stay away from that room in particular. Another projection of an event a receptive mind might see under stressful conditions. Again, "pictures in a book." I think the twin girls represented Jack or maybe Danny being "used like a girl." Dual left-right brain mirror images of Jack. They even look like him. Note Jack repeating their phrase "forever, and ever." Jack was definitely reincarnated. There's no other explanation for the picture. Well, I suppose it's possible Jack could have been his grandfather's spitting image. But there is definitely at least some form of psychokinesis going on.

what about the ghost danny or his mom see?

❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉

For someone who advocates for a loose interpretation, you certainly seem to be setting a lot of rules. You don't need to insist there are no ghosts, or explain the inconsistencies by deciding it all takes place in Jack's head. And you certainly don't need to imagine Jack simply visited the hotel in a prior era because you lack a 'logical' explanation.

Kubrick DID say those were ghosts in his film. It’s here on YT.

So there are no ghosts in the shining, but there is telepathy?

Didn’t the ghost unlock the pantry and let him out?

Of course theres ghosts. Somebodys had too much to think.

Nice vid, but you are wrong. The ghosts warn jack Danny's has contacted help and they free him from the locked storage unit.

Love hoe the host describes an alcoholic who's simply not drinking as recovering. That's not recovery bo

You barely touched on the photograph, man...

Who let Jack out of the fridge?

no ghosts in the hotel ? lol doesn't make sense if you actually watch the movie ! i think alot of people are over thinking it , and that they only see things fron their point of view

Did you prefered King's novel or Kubrick's masterpiece? I honestly think that the book is overrated as hell, it is a good one but not a masterpiece.

The fallacy here is that it has to be one or the other.

15:19 this is a lie. the ghost have an impact on the story by opening the door of the food room

What if we got reincarnated to the past. Could be. To a degree. But then we have to split conscience body's into and split minds into those bodies which God Already does.

One thing, if there really are no ghosts, who lets Jack out of the fridge?

illuminati

Nobody: All of film criticism and analysis about literally any movie: “It’s about trauma!”

😴

Do we know what the original uncut run time of the movie was before editing? Because for all we know the edited version that was released could have simply been a hack job to what the original story was supposed to be leaving plot holes and mystery throughout. We also don't know what interference the the producers ran or injected into the film. I think people give Stanley too much credit for a movie that looks as if was a successful accident.