Cultural Viscera

American History/Culture

Danny wears a handmade sweater

Danny’s sweater has Apollo 11 on it, a reference to the Apollo 11 space mission. 

Aligned with Danny’s face is a portrait of a Native American child. The style of the portrait is more authentic than the ones shown No.80

Domestic Abuse

When Danny is scared, he calls for his mother. 

The Maze

Kubrick as Unreliable Narrator:

The tennis ball is associated with Jack. 

Danny brings up Room 237, but we’re not shown any info about it. We don’t even see it in this scene.  

Danny plays right by the elevator. 

The brown plaid chairs are the same pattern as the chairs within the blood elevator hallway. 

Compression & Extension:

Kubrick uses sound to expand the themes or ideas of a scene into another. Much like how he uses the same music and stops it with The Doctor, here he extends the music to connect the trepidation and fear with the next scene, Jack telling Wendy about how he dreamed he killed her and Danny. 

Kubrick’s Aesthetic

The pattern of the carpet makes the space feel like an optical illusion in that you can’t tell which direction is really where. 

Fatalism

The layering around Room 237 is heavy. From the first time we are shown Room 237, it’s assumed that The Grady Girls are connected to the space, but they aren’t. They’re connected with the West Wing Living Quarters.This is the false fatalism. 

We see Danny interact with Jack in Room 237 and are shown a symbol that connects with Jack, harm, and boredom. 

“What about Room 237” and “Is there something bad here?” both connect to Jack. 

Color Palette reflection:

Danny’s sweater is the same blue as his trike. Danny is stationery, but the visuals connect to previous scenes. 

Pattern:

Danny’s collared shirt is the same brown plaid as the chairs. 

Colors:

Blue:Sadness, or at the most obvious: emotional heaviness. 

Orange: Danger/Warning

Red: Danger/Violence

Brown: Grounding/Natural

Yellow: The yellow tennis ball

Ghost Story

Who lures Danny into Room 237 with a tennis ball is anyone’s guess. 

Cabin Fever

Jack’s insomnia and distant behavior can be thought of as a result of Cabin Fever, but Wendy and Danny have always been shown at home, insulated from going out. 

Direct reflection:

No.41

This scene reflects a composite approach from A41; reversing the point of view of the camera from inside the space in A41:i699, anticipating Danny entering.  

Here, the camera is Danny’s point of view- looking inward. This (image) also relates to A41:i707, in that the duality of Jack in the mirror is metaphorically created by the potted grass reflected in the mirror. 

Jack’s beckoning hand can also be seen in the tennis ball that rolls towards Danny, bringing him to Room 237 to begin with. 

Through these shot composites and the Room 237 tag prominently shown, Room 237 represents Danny and Jack’s relationship.  

Jack and Danny’s dynamic

No.9

No.13

No.17

No.19

No.40

No.45

No.47

No.53

No.79

No.81, maze sequences

Room 237

The strongest argument that Kubrick is an unreliable narrator is that he does not show a single bit of Room 237 (as we’ll see here and/or with No.48) when he shows us foreshadowing of what goes down in this film, but we hear about Room 237 in an off-handed question between Danny and Halloran. 

What we ARE shown is that Danny’s afraid of it, or at the very least, aware of it.  The “why” is presented in semiotic bite-sized chunks. The “what” is delivered steadily.

No.19 “What about Room 237?”

No.30

No.48

Kubrick and the moon landing:

I do not think that Kubrick is telling us that he faked the moon landing. Much like the Mickey Mouse sweater shown in No.41, the Apollo 11 sweater is a handmade sweater showing a cultural moment that would be relevant to for that time. 

It’s showing assimilation within American culture, not Kubrick admitting his role in faking a moon landing. 

The camera is above Danny, watching him play with toy cars. The surroundings are completely removed from the shot. The camera follows him as Danny stands, first backing away as he walks towards Room 237 and then becoming Dannys point of view as he looks into Room 237. The music carries the scene through its transition to the next one: Wendy in the Boiler Room and Jack screaming in the Colorado Lounge. 

The 2nd floor hallway

Danny

 Utrenja II: Ewangelica