From the very beginning we know the main story, that Jack will go mad. Like most films in this genre there is a warning of the danger to come at the start of the story. But even though we know the what, we still desire the how and especially the why. The music sets the tone, even early in the movie there is suspenseful music where nothing happens, already making you look around every corner.
The intriguing aspect of this movie is that the horror comes from within. Isolation from the outside world is a common aspect of all horror and thriller films, a theme that makes sense because we are more easily scared in smaller groups or alone. A haunted place, supernatural events, are also aspects that follow along with the common theme. But with many horror films it is an outside monster that scares and intrigues us, a demon or a Frankenstein. In this film, you see Jack throughout the movie and have some knowledge of him. It is Jack who attempts to kill his own family, not an outside horror. He seems influenced by the place and supernatural beings but they only seem to exacerbate a madness already there, not create it. It gets revealed he had already hurt Danny in a drunken fit, a precursor of the violence he seeks later. And Jack had already been writing the same ominous phrase “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” even before we know about him seeing anything supernatural.
So does that madness from within make this movie scarier? It certainly brings a different type of psychological fright. In his essay “The Paradox of Horror”, Noel Carroll says that we are drawn to horror because of basic curiosity of the other. But the paradox of such attraction is that while we want to know the other, because it is other it naturally repels and disgusts us. “Art-horror is the price we are willing to pay for the revelation of that which is impossible and unknown, of that which violates our conceptual schema” (175). In some sense this remains true in The Shining but it is not obvious as some monster or demon that we desire to discover. Instead it is the place and the madness that frighten but intrigue us. Why can Danny “shine”? Who or what is “Tony”, Danny’s friend he telepathically interacts with? How can Danny then Jack then Wendy interact with the apparitions? Did Jack already have the seeds of madness or did the place just plant them?
We are intrigued by these questions, by the supernatural, but our horror and disgust comes from something that is not necessarily even supernatural. The sad fact is such crimes as Grady’s and the one Jack tries to commit do occur. We cannot understand why, and that where the real horror and disgust but also the fascination with Jack’s madness come into play. It is more real, closer to home. Most people do not actually believe in demons affecting the world or Frankenstein’s roaming the earth but we do know these crimes exist. In the end, The Shining gives us a picture of many things we are curious about and also something something that scares us, partially because of its actual possibility.
As much as what we dont know in the shining compels us, as you rightfully point out, what I have always found intriguing about the film is what we do know about what occurs. Let me explain, we know that Jack and his family are the only ones in the hotel, they are for all intense and purposes a normal family, and they are there for the entire winter with no contact from the outside world. On the one hand this seems like, as many characters from the film point out, it is a case of cabin fever. On the other hand when we are exposed to the adventure through Danny's eyes we begin to find out that there is more to the hotel than we initially anticipated. What begins to happen is that this place is infected with madness and it begins to expose its patrons to its insanity. What is scary about Jack's character in the film, is that hes a normal guy, with a normal family and through no fault of his own, he is driven mad by forces beyond his control. This is just Carroll's point. This film is not intriguing because it is impossible to us, but it is impossible to the characters that are part of the film. It is their reality that is twisted and perverted into a horror beyond their ability to conceptualize it and this fear infects us the viewer with the feeling with a terror and captivation unmatched by any other type of film.
ReplyDeleteI am inclined to believe that it is a combination of both inside and outside influences that drive Jack off the deep end and makes him the monster of this horror film. For instance, Jack does not really even flinch when he is told that a former caretaker killed his entire family in the hotel. He also seems to have problems with his wife and son before they even get to the Hotel. I felt awkward watching that car trip up to the hotel and I was not even in the car. It becomes clear later on that Jack brings with him the assumption that Wendy does not trust him and in fact hates him for hurting Jack. He gave up drinking alcohol for her and his son, but like an addiction, has a hard time keeping his promise. That being said, I do not think that was enough to make Jack go crazy. The influences of the spirits or imprints also played a huge role in convincing Jack to "correct" his family. He also started drinking alcohol again, although we cannot really know whether or not that actually happened. I think the movie is completely plausible to us because of the characters and their experiences in the hotel. What makes the movie intriguing and makes us curious are the questions: how did Jack truly become a monster? Has he been there his entire life or why does he feel like he has? Why does he want to stay? Then of course there are all the questions about Danny and his "shinning" ability. What the movie does so well is create a monster that we can both relate to and be repelled from.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that Carroll's belief that impossible and disgusting events attract curiosity can be extended to plausible events as well. Just a couple examples of this are the fact that people rubberneck at car accidents and news stations devote in-depth coverage to the most gruesome crimes. While The Shining has supernatural elements, like the creepy twins or Danny's actual ability to "shine", to me, those aren't the aspects of the movie which really terrify the viewer. I agree with you that it's the actually possible events which are the most horrifying of all. There's no doubt that we're curious about gruesome things, but I wonder what this says about human nature. Are we all a little messed up to be so enticed by these things?
ReplyDeleteFor me, the most frightening situations of horror in film come about through elements of the uncanny. It truly is a paradox. The more familiar you are with a concept, or person, or anything else, the less likely you are to be afraid of it. When you take something familiar and shift a few things around (or add something unexpected or unfamiliar), you've suddenly made it scary. The family in the resort for the weekend, isolation, even the thought that something bad will happen later on - all of these things can be expected - they are familiar. But when Jack loses it in that one scene where he tells Wendy to fuck off...that's when we knew something was starting to go wrong. The buildup, intense music, and a bloody axe take care of the rest. A typical family in the snowy mountains of Colorado (the familiar) plus maniacal elements "from the inside" (unfamiliar) as you say, make it all bloodcurdling.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Jack's evolution into the monster is what is most terrifying about this film. I believe that this is because of how realistic Jack's character was. He was, from the outside, an alcoholic with a tendency towards violence. The way in which Jack was portrayed can be seen in everyday men. When he yelled at his wife, I felt that I'd seen other men act and speak in the same way. This is a man that we encounter in our daily lives, and the horror lies in this fact. What the house and the isolation brought out was just his true character. The house's role lets us pretend that it wouldn't have happened that way were it not for supernatural forces, and therefore we can't be too terrified and are able to go back to our regular lives because it was just a movie. However, due to realism of Jack's everyman character, there is still a question of whether he would've been led to the same actions if there hadn't been supernatural forces.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the movie, whenever Jack physically interacts with a sprit of his imagination there is a mirror in the scene. These scenes in the film show Jack slowly going mad and questioning his own sanity with his imaginary friends all while simply talking to himself in a mirror, like we see his son doing in the very beginning of the movie. Mirrors in this movie create two sides to every character. We see a sane Jack, while the reflection of jack we see through his interactions with others slowly descends into madness. There is a supernatural aspect to the film, but overall I think that the supernatural facets of the film are all inside the brains of the characters. One of the scariest aspects of this movie is the idea that we all could possible have this madness inside of us.
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