The Shining (1980): About THAT Danny Theory

My analysis, commentary, pro and counter arguments about a particular, long-published theory how Jack mistreats Danny.

Citations and References:

Ethereal Relaxation by Kevin MacLeod

#theshining
#stephenking
#stanleykubrick

[Alex-cwrz]

20:42 I think this is a much more important theme than people realise, Jack doesn't do the job he was hired for, Wendy is the person tending to repairs, fixing the boiler, checking on the phones and making meals etc. Although she seems like a damsel, with her screaming and horrified looks. She is able to knock out Jack and is clever enough to hide behind the door and get into a position to stab jacks hand etc and get both of her and Danny to safety.

[wrestledeep]

Speaking of Jack's Drinking: No one talks about this but have you noticed that the weird facial expression that Jack made right after he took his first drink is the exact same expression that he had at the end when he was frozen to death outside. There must be something connecting alcoholism to the overall theme of this film.

[markpaterson]

One thing no one ever mentions about the genius of this movie: the lack of darkness. All horror movies tend to rely on dark shots to scare us; Kubrick does this with well-lit hallways filling with blood; brightly lit rooms where anomalous characters converse; even the maze chase at the dead of night is flooded by strong lamps, and the ominous opening of the movie is in bright sunlight along mountain roads--he proves that horror isn't about tradition, or familiar method.

[jaynesager]

The Overlook is a symbol of a “house” built on generational abuse/trauma/ cover-up/abuse….?
Makes sense. The body language in the actors is also telling. Danny is clearly reluctant to sit on his own dads lap, Wendy is also lying about that one “accident” And “overlooks” a lot. Which would make also much sense when confronted by the bear and man.

[akelly]

It surprises me that more people don’t know that “Tony” is an older version of Danny himself. He isn’t a spirit etc. It’s a more mature part of his psyche that shows and explains to Danny what he needs to to keep him safe.

[TheWizardsTales]

The finger didn't work because it wasn't a representation of the Shining, it's a coping mechanism used by many traumatized children to embody a personality within an object outside of themselves so they can be "other" when "self" becomes too much to handle. I've heard real reports of kids using their fingers when they didn't have any toys, and a wagging finger rather than a stationary toy makes a better creepy on-screen appearance.

[Martyisruling]

The reason I believe in the sex abuse theory, is Kubric's attention to detail. And all the little clues he left behind. Before i understood it, these things made me feel uneasy. The Fatherly moment, was creepy, and at that point, Jack hadn't lost his mind. It felt creepy even when i was a kid.

[enzyme]

I wish Kubrick was alive so we could bug him with all this stuff, lol

[homefrontforge]

Personally I think King's problem with the movie is the insinuation that Jack is a p*do
(Jack, of course, a personification of King himself).

[jmpl_aaren]

When I saw The Shining in a movie theater (about 2015) I was blown away by two previously unnoticed themes : Native American genocide and child SA. Even though I couldn’t recall all the exact visual references/innuendoes of the latter, the “fatherly love” scene made it blatantly clear in my mind. After the movie, I immediately searched for validation of my theories and found several analyses online that led me to the conclusion that “overlooking” generational abuse -of all kinds- was a major theme of Kubrick’s vision.

[steamedhamlet]

Thing is the true horror of this movie goes beyond the minutiae and much like childhood abuse it hides in the recesses of your psyche

[newworldastrology]

Danny’s lines about Tony telling him ‘not to talk about it’ could further suggest the abuse theme. I think the movie has many credible themes running parallel throughout. The two Jacks theory I think holds up pretty well also.

[mattgatfield]

To me the Shining is about generational trauma and how it manifests. The Native American genocide, Danny’s physical abuse at the hands of his father (whether sexual or not) and the evil that lives in the Overlook Hotel all represent trauma that is carried across generations. Kubrick was such an intentional film maker it’s difficult to imagine a lot of the Easter eggs he left were accidental, but we will never know if they were meant to provide answers and resolution or simply to create more questions & possibilities

[DayAtATime]

As the video was drawing to its conclusion, I started thinking about the numerous videos that make a point of Jack being referenced in the film as always being the caretaker, I realized that the person who was actually doing the caretaking, so her husband could write, is Wendy. That thought blew my mind. Has anyone else had this thought and wondered about this? The answer may be staring me in the face. Let me know what you think? 😊

[tonywords]

The fact is that basically all of Kubricks films have references to you know what and breaking childrens psyche, from Lolita to Eyes Wide Shut.

Itd be more weird if it WASNT a theme in the Shining.

[brt]

I think part of Kubrick's technique is to mix the objective with the subjective, actual clues with dangling red herrings, so of course you will never be quite sure if you've figured something out or not. Here we are chasing our tales and Stanley was chuckling about it back then, knowing we would be. It is great fun😂

[lucretiamaggio]

If you are an adult that grew up in a home with an alcoholic, then the book hits differently. I have watched the movie several times, and while I find it eerie, disturbing, and visually unsettling- it is not as scary to me as the book. The novel shows a flawed parent dealing with his own prior physical and mental abuse by an alcoholic father. His rage issues, as well as his alcoholism are the cracks in his defenses against the evil of the overlook. The movie posits lots of different “reasons” or theories in an effort to make it scary on lots of levels. This works for many people- it finds what you are intrinsically afraid of and uses that. I just found the themes of the book scarier because of my own personal life experiences.

[carnotaurus_hex]

I think the signs point to Jack being abused. That Jack was abused and it is used as as a partial reason to explain why he has such anger/love and a complicated relationship with his son.

[ryanjacobson]

Danny's relatively dissociated demeanor, which is present from the start of the movie, would suggest a lot of ongoing trauma...

[jringoacp]

I'm a huge Stephen King fan, my writing is heavily influenced by him. But The Shining is one instance in which I loved the movie (Kubrick's) even more than I loved the book.