Really good article, but I am consistently perplexed by people calling Torrence charismatic and Wendy annoying. Maybe it's just the way I grew up, but Torrence seems like an abuser from the first moments of the movie. It's truly bizarre to see that people seem to agree with the sentiment, "well sure he never put any effort into his responsibilities and hurt his son and was, at his best, an emotionally absent father ... but wasn't his wife kind of annoying?" At least it explains why it is so difficult to get support when trying to escape an abusive relationship.
I think it’s really just based on the context of the movie and what’s portrayed onscreen. Nicholson is so naturally likable it’s hard to be against him in practically any circumstance, even when he’s a murderous psychopath. I think that dissonance helps contribute to the movie’s disturbing and uncanny feel.
I just don't find Nicholson charming, but that may be because I'm a younger generation. I'm the same age as Jennifer Lawnrence and I remember when everyone thought it was cute that he was sending her gifts and flirty messages, so he's only ever been a horny old man to me.
"[The demands of life] anger him because he regards his time as his own and feels that it is being stolen. You must therefore zealously guard in his mind the curious assumption ‘My time is my own’. Let him have the feeling that he starts each day as the lawful possessor of twenty-four hours. Let him feel as a grievous tax that portion of this property which he has to make over to his employers, and as a generous donation that further portion which he allows to religious duties. But what he must never be permitted to doubt is that the total from which these deductions have been made was, in some mysterious sense, his own personal birthright."
I think about this stuff so much I've got a running list all the art I've ever encountered about the loss of free time. (The very best might be The Twilight Zone episode "Time Enough at Last.") I never thought The Shining belonged on the list: you've definitely convinced me it does!
One last thought: I've hated Freud ever since I was forced to take him seriously as an English major. The one concept I always found interesting, though, was that of "the uncanny"--and it turns out it's the one concept he stole from an earlier thinker, lol.
And not to "Jesus juke" your commentary, but there are a plethora of theological themes and truths emerging from your note that Jack serves as a mirror of our own ability for evil. I think it was Rev. Jacob Smith who once said that each of us is three bad days away from making headline news, and most of us are on day two, which is sort of the point. Theologically, that admission is why I am such a proponent of the grace of Jesus, without which, I shudder to think where I'd be.
Thanks for the write up. I never watched the movie as a kid but suspect I'm finally close to ready for it. One thought that surfaced about the laughably hard task of getting creative space as a parent is what an added imposition our culture of hyperparenting is to that effort.
I've actually found some freedom on that front as a parent moving to a less competitive, less bougie, more ideologically mixed rural enclave after previously residing in a more liberal, more meritocratic suburb. Don't get me wrong there are huge trade-offs here, but I've come to find parenting a bit more tolerable out in the sticks. Less guilt, basically. You enjoy your time with your kid and hope for the best for them but know you can only control so much so work on your own stuff too.
Maybe I am trying to say that the solution of being a bit of a "Jack" sometimes isn't always to fight it. Sometimes it is to accept your circumstances and move somewhere where there are a lot of other "Jacks" doing the best they can. It's good to avoid them most of the time but their mere existence as your neighbors counterintuitively give you more creative space to be yourself in a way. Like I said I haven't seen the movie yet and am largely just riffing off of my own difficulty trying to parent and fit into the middle and upper middle class due to my own circumstances, but this geographic shift did help me so I am sharing it here.
For sure. My main m goal as a parent is not to helicopter nor focus on specific cultural markers that denote “achievement.” In my life, I’ve found that what school you went to doesn’t really matter. It’s all about work ethic and morals. Those are timeless values that pay far more dividends than a high SAT score.
I said ideological diversity and I think I meant socioeconomic…potato, potahto!? Also weird that my daughter told me she is being a shining twin for Halloween despite not being able to sit through a 90s Disney movie and having no context for what that is but I guess it adds up. Thanks for your thoughts.
I think the movie — and your excellent and reflective essay about the movie — reflects the essence of fallen humanity. We are made to worship. Our favorite worship idol is ourselves. And our condition is hopeless.
But God…
And therein lies the hope. We simply cannot “behave properly” of our own volition and strength. Oh … maybe for a time … but sin will always creep back in.
And we definitely cannot perform our way back to a perfectly holy God. It’s an unbridgeable gulf.
What we need is a perfect eternal Being who stands in our place. Whose perfection we are credited with.
The One who says in response to the question when we knock on heaven’s door: “Let him in; I did the work for him. Credit him with my work.”
That’s Jesus, as C.S. Lewis brilliantly outlines in Mere Christianity. Our Advocate.
That’s the Gospel; the Good News.
But that isn’t just for our salvation; it is also for our sanctification and transformation as His intervention on our behalf motivates us here to conform ourselves increasingly to His will and His laws — not for the purpose of winning His favor but because our hearts are changing due to the work of the Holy Spirit, and we do so in increasing willing obedience.
The Shining is a disturbing movie because we are confronted with our own demons and know … “there but for the grace of God go I.”
And you captured that concept brilliantly in this essay.
Great work. I like Kings novel but I've always preferred Kubrick's version and this essay makes it clear why. Your essay makes clear to me why the casting of Nicholson is critical. Kings novel is about Torrance. Kubrick's film is about Jack and Kubrick.
Great take Peter. I agree with your view on Nicholson's casting being pivotal, to bring that dialled up to 11 charisma. It also helps that Jack gets all the good lines in the script. Would also like to say that from an acting perspective, Duvall is phenomenal in this film. She is the ordinary person caught between the nightmare of her psychotic / possessed husband, and her oppressed / traumatised son, and is the true hero. Each new time I watch it, I'm more and more struck by what she achieved.
I haven’t seen this movie since it first came out, but I have to say that the pivotal scene for me was when Shelley Duvall peeks at his manuscript and reads “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” over, and over, and over again for pages and pages and pages. (Pretty sure the clip you show with the baseball bat starts just after that moment.) It gives me chills just to think of it. It’s the shock of realization that her husband really has gone off the deep end and is dangerous both to her and her son. Though you point out Jack has contempt for himself and takes it out on his family, I don’t think you really touch upon how in denial Wendy is about Jack’s gaslighting and verbal abuse. She takes it under the misguided notion that staying with Jack is better for her kid. And so she keeps trying to appease him, which he, in turn, finds annoying and around and around they go. Her walking on eggshells around him actually triggers him more, and sends him spiraling.
I never much considered the Kubrick self-portrait angle on this, mainly because I don’t know much about him as a person, just as a director. But your analysis makes sense to me.
Well, i enjoyed this and started to argue with my wife about that scene, which led to an interesting exchange of views. Great channelling of Mad Jack there at the end....
I didn’t know I had it in me to read another take on maybe the most written about film of all time but I enjoyed this. I think it’s a way more valid interpretation than 99% of the craziness in that documentary.
Yes. All that director’s docs are like that! He made one on people who believed we were living in a simulation which was AMAZING and I felt the same way. So many people on Letterboxd thought he was ENDORSING that idea — and I was like, guys, you don’t get it. Anyways YOU definitely got the Shining. I’ll subscribe. As for me, I’m a 20 year veteran of the film industry. About 5 years ago I started writing again for the first time since college, even sold one of my stories to Netflix (below). “Bunny” is a darkly comedic sci-fi with a twist. My Notes are about the process of selling writing for film and TV. My team also reads fiction on Substack to scout talent. My Substack is not a guru or coach account and I don’t charge. Just happy to connect with other publishing and film professionals.
This was such a concise read with alot behind it. Thank you for taking the time to type it out. I love the shining but I had never considered it in this light before. I think that's what makes it such a great film is that something that came out 45 years ago we are able to still sit and discuss with new insights and perseverance!
Really good article, but I am consistently perplexed by people calling Torrence charismatic and Wendy annoying. Maybe it's just the way I grew up, but Torrence seems like an abuser from the first moments of the movie. It's truly bizarre to see that people seem to agree with the sentiment, "well sure he never put any effort into his responsibilities and hurt his son and was, at his best, an emotionally absent father ... but wasn't his wife kind of annoying?" At least it explains why it is so difficult to get support when trying to escape an abusive relationship.
I think it’s really just based on the context of the movie and what’s portrayed onscreen. Nicholson is so naturally likable it’s hard to be against him in practically any circumstance, even when he’s a murderous psychopath. I think that dissonance helps contribute to the movie’s disturbing and uncanny feel.
I just don't find Nicholson charming, but that may be because I'm a younger generation. I'm the same age as Jennifer Lawnrence and I remember when everyone thought it was cute that he was sending her gifts and flirty messages, so he's only ever been a horny old man to me.
I recently read The Screwtape Letters (read all about it: https://alexanderkaplan.substack.com/p/reading-the-screwtape-letters-is) and one of the most striking passages on how to make a man miserable is about time:
"[The demands of life] anger him because he regards his time as his own and feels that it is being stolen. You must therefore zealously guard in his mind the curious assumption ‘My time is my own’. Let him have the feeling that he starts each day as the lawful possessor of twenty-four hours. Let him feel as a grievous tax that portion of this property which he has to make over to his employers, and as a generous donation that further portion which he allows to religious duties. But what he must never be permitted to doubt is that the total from which these deductions have been made was, in some mysterious sense, his own personal birthright."
I think about this stuff so much I've got a running list all the art I've ever encountered about the loss of free time. (The very best might be The Twilight Zone episode "Time Enough at Last.") I never thought The Shining belonged on the list: you've definitely convinced me it does!
One last thought: I've hated Freud ever since I was forced to take him seriously as an English major. The one concept I always found interesting, though, was that of "the uncanny"--and it turns out it's the one concept he stole from an earlier thinker, lol.
I read Screwtape earlier this year. Lewis was someone who absolutely "got it."
Also I did not know Freud stole the concept of "Uncanny." Interesting!
Wow, this is excellent, Peter 👏 These insights really add a new layer of dread to an already dreadful (in a good way) film.
Thanks. It’s really crazy how many layers that movie is operating on.
And not to "Jesus juke" your commentary, but there are a plethora of theological themes and truths emerging from your note that Jack serves as a mirror of our own ability for evil. I think it was Rev. Jacob Smith who once said that each of us is three bad days away from making headline news, and most of us are on day two, which is sort of the point. Theologically, that admission is why I am such a proponent of the grace of Jesus, without which, I shudder to think where I'd be.
It’s the model to look to for sure
Thanks for the write up. I never watched the movie as a kid but suspect I'm finally close to ready for it. One thought that surfaced about the laughably hard task of getting creative space as a parent is what an added imposition our culture of hyperparenting is to that effort.
I've actually found some freedom on that front as a parent moving to a less competitive, less bougie, more ideologically mixed rural enclave after previously residing in a more liberal, more meritocratic suburb. Don't get me wrong there are huge trade-offs here, but I've come to find parenting a bit more tolerable out in the sticks. Less guilt, basically. You enjoy your time with your kid and hope for the best for them but know you can only control so much so work on your own stuff too.
Maybe I am trying to say that the solution of being a bit of a "Jack" sometimes isn't always to fight it. Sometimes it is to accept your circumstances and move somewhere where there are a lot of other "Jacks" doing the best they can. It's good to avoid them most of the time but their mere existence as your neighbors counterintuitively give you more creative space to be yourself in a way. Like I said I haven't seen the movie yet and am largely just riffing off of my own difficulty trying to parent and fit into the middle and upper middle class due to my own circumstances, but this geographic shift did help me so I am sharing it here.
For sure. My main m goal as a parent is not to helicopter nor focus on specific cultural markers that denote “achievement.” In my life, I’ve found that what school you went to doesn’t really matter. It’s all about work ethic and morals. Those are timeless values that pay far more dividends than a high SAT score.
I said ideological diversity and I think I meant socioeconomic…potato, potahto!? Also weird that my daughter told me she is being a shining twin for Halloween despite not being able to sit through a 90s Disney movie and having no context for what that is but I guess it adds up. Thanks for your thoughts.
This is the best interpretation of The Shining I’ve read. Kudos!
Much appreciated, thanks!
I've never watched the Shining, not a Stephen King fan, but this was an excellent read.
Thank you. It's a great movie, I'd highly recommend it. Great time of the year to watch it too.
The true horror is that Jack is just a guy. Sane. Driven Insane…by nothingness. :D
I think the movie — and your excellent and reflective essay about the movie — reflects the essence of fallen humanity. We are made to worship. Our favorite worship idol is ourselves. And our condition is hopeless.
But God…
And therein lies the hope. We simply cannot “behave properly” of our own volition and strength. Oh … maybe for a time … but sin will always creep back in.
And we definitely cannot perform our way back to a perfectly holy God. It’s an unbridgeable gulf.
What we need is a perfect eternal Being who stands in our place. Whose perfection we are credited with.
The One who says in response to the question when we knock on heaven’s door: “Let him in; I did the work for him. Credit him with my work.”
That’s Jesus, as C.S. Lewis brilliantly outlines in Mere Christianity. Our Advocate.
That’s the Gospel; the Good News.
But that isn’t just for our salvation; it is also for our sanctification and transformation as His intervention on our behalf motivates us here to conform ourselves increasingly to His will and His laws — not for the purpose of winning His favor but because our hearts are changing due to the work of the Holy Spirit, and we do so in increasing willing obedience.
The Shining is a disturbing movie because we are confronted with our own demons and know … “there but for the grace of God go I.”
And you captured that concept brilliantly in this essay.
Thanks for the great read.
Great work. I like Kings novel but I've always preferred Kubrick's version and this essay makes it clear why. Your essay makes clear to me why the casting of Nicholson is critical. Kings novel is about Torrance. Kubrick's film is about Jack and Kubrick.
Great take Peter. I agree with your view on Nicholson's casting being pivotal, to bring that dialled up to 11 charisma. It also helps that Jack gets all the good lines in the script. Would also like to say that from an acting perspective, Duvall is phenomenal in this film. She is the ordinary person caught between the nightmare of her psychotic / possessed husband, and her oppressed / traumatised son, and is the true hero. Each new time I watch it, I'm more and more struck by what she achieved.
Thanks. Yeah everyone knocks it out of the park here
I haven’t seen this movie since it first came out, but I have to say that the pivotal scene for me was when Shelley Duvall peeks at his manuscript and reads “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” over, and over, and over again for pages and pages and pages. (Pretty sure the clip you show with the baseball bat starts just after that moment.) It gives me chills just to think of it. It’s the shock of realization that her husband really has gone off the deep end and is dangerous both to her and her son. Though you point out Jack has contempt for himself and takes it out on his family, I don’t think you really touch upon how in denial Wendy is about Jack’s gaslighting and verbal abuse. She takes it under the misguided notion that staying with Jack is better for her kid. And so she keeps trying to appease him, which he, in turn, finds annoying and around and around they go. Her walking on eggshells around him actually triggers him more, and sends him spiraling.
I never much considered the Kubrick self-portrait angle on this, mainly because I don’t know much about him as a person, just as a director. But your analysis makes sense to me.
I especially liked the scene he had with Lloyd in the “Target looking” bathroom. 5+ eerie minutes! Fascinating.
Well, i enjoyed this and started to argue with my wife about that scene, which led to an interesting exchange of views. Great channelling of Mad Jack there at the end....
Excellent read. Haven’t seen the movie since my early twenties, and now with more “life experience” I suspect the experience will be quite different…
I didn’t know I had it in me to read another take on maybe the most written about film of all time but I enjoyed this. I think it’s a way more valid interpretation than 99% of the craziness in that documentary.
Thanks! I remember seeing that doc in theaters and feeling like I was losing my mind halfway through. Great viewing experience though.
Yes. All that director’s docs are like that! He made one on people who believed we were living in a simulation which was AMAZING and I felt the same way. So many people on Letterboxd thought he was ENDORSING that idea — and I was like, guys, you don’t get it. Anyways YOU definitely got the Shining. I’ll subscribe. As for me, I’m a 20 year veteran of the film industry. About 5 years ago I started writing again for the first time since college, even sold one of my stories to Netflix (below). “Bunny” is a darkly comedic sci-fi with a twist. My Notes are about the process of selling writing for film and TV. My team also reads fiction on Substack to scout talent. My Substack is not a guru or coach account and I don’t charge. Just happy to connect with other publishing and film professionals.
This was such a concise read with alot behind it. Thank you for taking the time to type it out. I love the shining but I had never considered it in this light before. I think that's what makes it such a great film is that something that came out 45 years ago we are able to still sit and discuss with new insights and perseverance!
This movie has layers upon layers