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Draft:Cultural impact of The Shining

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A door with lipstick on it that reads "REDRUM", a phrase from The Shining that is "MURDER" spelled backward. This phrase has been often referenced in popular culture.

Stanley Kubrick's psychological horror film The Shining, based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, has had a massive impact on popular culture since its inception in 1980 across different mediums, such as television, film, video games, and music. Quotes from the film like "Here's Johnny!" and "REDRUM" have been particularly referenced in both popular culture and common lexicon in English-speaking countries.

Imagery

The pattern of the Overlook Hotel's carpet, which is shown subtly in many films.

The Shining is heavily plagued with iconic phrases and symbols, such as the aforementioned "Here's Johnny!" and "REDRUM", but also the number 237, the Overlook Hotel's floor pattern, "Forever... and ever... and ever.", All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, and the elevator spilling out tons of blood.

Here's Johnny!

Although originating from the The Tonight Show, being Ed McMahon's Introduction to Johnny Carson, "Here's Johnny!" is particularly infamously iconic and unanimous with the film, being on American Film Institute's AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes list, being ranked #68. The scene where it is featured has been cited by The Guardian as the scariest film scene in movie history, according to a study conducted by Play.com.[1]

REDRUM

REDRUM (/ɹidː.ɹʌm/), stylized as REDЯUM, is the word "murder" spelled backward. It is repeated by Danny Torrance under the control of Tony, his supernatural guide. It is then written on the bathroom door with lipstick while Danny holds a machete near Wendy Torrance.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

Jack's typewriter at the LACMA exhibit, displaying the "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" pages
Main article: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy is the phrase that is repeated with different indentations on multiple papers that sit near Jack Torrance's typewriter. This phrase was immensely popularized by The Shining and has been parodied with varying intentions and meanings.[2]

237

237 is the room number of the haunted room within the film, often being referenced subtly in media. Opposed to 217, the room number in the novel and the room Stephen King stayed in at the Stanley Hotel. The reason the room number was changed was because the Timberline Lodge, the hotel used in exterior shots, requested the room number to be changed so guests wouldn't feel uncomfortable staying in room 217. Contrary to their belief, Room 217 is the most requested room there.[3][4]

Influence

Film & Television

Vince Gilligan, the creator of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, is an acclaimed Kubrick fan[5][6] and as such he has made references to The Shining in his works; The character of Walter White is intentionally similar to Jack Torrance's character arc: a schoolteacher that soon turns into a life of violence. Another similarity is the axe-murdering Salamanca twins, in contrast to the axe-murdered Grady twins. A minor reference is when a police officer radios "KDK-12"--the call letters for the Overlook Hotel.[7]

The 2018 science fiction film Ready Player One, directed by Steven Spielberg (a close friend of Kubrick),[8] substituted the Blade Runner sequence for a The Shining sequence as opposed to the novel. This is due to Spielberg not being able to get the rights to Blade Runner for a similar sequence. It features a plentiful of references; such as the ending portrait of Jack Torrance, the elevator spilling blood, and the Grady twins. Spielberg considers this a tribute to his friend.[9]

In 2019's It Chapter Two, based upon another novel by Stephen King, Pennywise the Clown tormented Beverely in a bathroom stall. One of the disguises it takes on is Henry Bower (who later that year would portray Jack Torrance in Doctor Sleep, the sequel to The Shining), peeking through the bathroom stall and exclaiming "Here's Johnny!". [10]

The Simpsons 1994 episode, Treehouse of Horror V, featured a parody titled "The Shinning", where the Simpsons family goes to stay at Mr. Burns's mountainside lodge, being the caretakers there for the winter. Similarities include Sherri and Terri, two classmates in Bart's 4th-grade class, being visually similar to the Grady girls, "No TV and No Beer Make Homer Go Crazy" parodying "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy".[11][12][13]

Former Pixar director Lee Unkrich has cited The Shining as heavy inspiration, citing how when he first saw the movie in theaters in 1980, he "... was just riveted and absolutely did not want to leave the theatre." He later attributed his references to the film as an obsession, stating "I've thought a lot about why it obsesses me, and I think it's multi-tiered.” This obsession is reflected in his and other Pixar films; with objects in his directorial films like Toy Story 3, who has a security camera and a license plate with the label "RM237" (referencing Room 237), and Coco, wherein the background in one of the scenes, an axe can be seen lodged into stump near a red drum, referencing Jack Torrance's axe and REDRUM. Other Pixar films also follow the influence of The Shining. In Finding Nemo, Bruce the shark exclaims "Here's Brucey!", referencing "Here's Johnny!".[14][15]

In an article published by Ted Geoghegan, he talks about how The Shining influenced his debut film, We Are Still Here. Citing the similarity in We Are Still Here's plot and The Shining; both films have living quarters that are snowbound and echo the theme of isolation.[16]

Room 237

Main article: Room 237

Room 237 is an American documentary about interpretations of the film; being directed by Rodney Ascher with starring narrator casts such as Bill Blakemore, Geoffrey Cocks, Juli Kearns, John Fell Ryan and Jay Weidner. The film has been received well from critics; holding a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes with the consensus being: "Mysterious and provocative, Room 237 is a fascinating journey into the world of obsessive cinephilles."[17]

Miniseries

Main article: The Shining (miniseries)

In 1997, Stephen King partnered with director Mick Garris to create a miniseries that is a more faithful adaption of King's novel. It aired from April 27 to May 1, 1997, on ABC in three episodes. It was created because Stephen King was disappointed by how his novel was portrayed in the Kubrick film, stating "... Stanley Kubrick's version of The Shining is a lot tougher for me to evaluate, because I'm still profoundly ambivalent about the whole thing. I'd admired Kubrick for a long time and had great expectations for the project, but I was deeply disappointed in the end result." [18][19]

Music

Dutch dance music duo Doop, under the name Hocus Pocus included the "Here's Johnny!" line for their song of the same name. It was immensely popular in Australia, reaching no. 1 in the ARIA Charts charts on 26 March 1995, where it stayed for six weeks. [20]

In their 2000 song, Slipknot pays homage to the film in their music video (directed by Thomas Mignone) for their song "Spit It Out", where each band member portrays a different character, with Joey Jordison as Danny Torrance; Shawn Crahan and Chris Fehn as the Grady twins; Corey Taylor as Jack Torrance; Mick Thomson as Lloyd the Bartender; Paul Gray as Harry Derwent; Anthony Stevens as Roger; Craig Jones as Dick Hallorann; James Root as Wendy Torrance; and Sid Wilson as Lorraine Massey.

The 2017 song "Enjoy Your Slay" by metal band Ice Nine Kills focuses on the film and novel, with Stanley Kubrick's son, Sam Kubrick, as a guest vocalist.[21][22]

The film influenced James Kirby to take on The Caretaker alias; which is the position the Torrance family is given in the film. Kirby adapts similar music from the haunted ballroom scene: Ballroom songs reminiscent of the late 50's. [23]

Video games

The 1996 horror video game Resident Evil has mansion backgrounds that are inspired by the Overlook Hotel. [24]

The 2017 video game Resident Evil 7: Biohazard's antagonist, Jack Baker, is directly inspired by the character of Jack Torrance, both in name and behavior. Director Morimasa Sato stated: "The Shining is a big inspiration for me. In fact, the two Jacks in that film, where Jack Nicholson plays Jack Torrance, are why I chose the name Jack Baker. That's how much I love it." [25]

Literature

In King's 2019 novel The Institute, King subtly references the film, writing: "The little girls, Gerda and Greta, were standing and watching with wide, frightened eyes. They were holding hands and clutching dolls as identical as they were. They reminded Luke of twins in some old horror movie." [26] This also references a common misconception among viewers that the Grady girls are twins.

References

  1. ^ "'Here's Johnny!': The Shining scene is scariest in movie history, claims study". the Guardian. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  2. ^ Miers, Paul (1980). "The Black Maria Rides Again: Being a Reflection on the Present State of American Film with Special Respect to Stanley Kubrick's The Shining". MLN. 95 (5): 1360–1366. doi:10.2307/2906498. ISSN 0026-7910.
  3. ^ "History". Timberline Lodge. Archived from the original on May 8, 2018. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  4. ^ Deering, Thomas P. Jr. "Deering Thesis: Timberline Lodge Second Floor Plan". www.tomdeering.com. Archived from the original on April 27, 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  5. ^ "'Breaking Bad' Creator On What He Learned From 'The X-Files'". HuffPost. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  6. ^ ""Breaking Bad": Unsinkable". Salon. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  7. ^ Lyons, Margaret. "What Breaking Bad Owes to The Shining". Vulture. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  8. ^ Madigan, Nick (May 17, 1999). "Kubrick remembered". Variety. Archived from the original on December 31, 2021. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  9. ^ Rottenberg, Josh (April 1, 2018). "How the team behind 'Ready Player One' wrangled a bonanza of pop culture references into a single film". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 2, 2018. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  10. ^ Stewart, Brenton (2019-09-17). "It: Chapter Two's The Shining Reference Makes Pennywise Even Scarier". CBR. Retrieved 2024-11-14.
  11. ^ The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy by Gary Westfahl states, "While the scope of reference to fantastic fiction in The Simpsons is vast, there are two masters of the genre whose impact on The Simpson supersedes that of all others: Stanley Kubrick and Edgar Allan Poe." p. 1232
  12. ^ "The Family Dynamic". Entertainment Weekly. January 29, 2003. Archived from the original on March 22, 2007. Retrieved March 3, 2007.
  13. ^ Miller, Liz Shannon; Travers, Ben (October 27, 2015). "12 Haunting TV Homages to 'The Shining'". IndieWire. Archived from the original on October 1, 2017. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  14. ^ "9 <em>The Shining References Buried in Pixar Films". Mental Floss. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  15. ^ "Pixar's Lee Unkrich On His Love Of The Shining". Empire. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  16. ^ "Stanley Kubrick's 'The Shining' at 35: Horror director Ted Geoghegan pays tribute". EW.com. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  17. ^ "Room 237 (2012) | Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  18. ^ "Why Stephen King hated Stanley Kubrick film 'The Shining'". Far Out Magazine. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  19. ^ King, Kubrick & The Shining Archived 2011-08-31 at the Wayback Machine
  20. ^ "Hocus Pocus – Here's Johnny". Central Station Records. Archived from the original on 18 September 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  21. ^ "Ice Nine Kills release 'Shining'-inspired song featuring Sam Kubrick—listen – News – Alternative Press". Alternative Press. May 26, 2017. Archived from the original on May 26, 2017. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
  22. ^ "Ice Nine Kills Celebrates The Shining Anniversary With Themed Track That Includes Stanley Kubrick's Grandson! – Dread Central". Dread Central. May 26, 2017. Archived from the original on May 30, 2017. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
  23. ^ O'Neal, Seal (October 31, 2013). "A scene from The Shining inspired a haunting ode to dying memory". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on November 3, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  24. ^ "Resident Evil: A Retrospective". Play
  25. ^ "Resident Evil 7: Capcom explains The Shining's influence". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on 2017-10-23. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  26. ^ "Stephen King summons his superpowers with 'The Institute' - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
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